I have just returned from a week-long stay with friends in Germany, north of Frankfurt. I had an absolutely wonderful time, and as usual I loved my time there. I find Germans on the whole very pleasant to deal with, and I’m extremely lucky to have some wonderful friends there who go to crazy lengths to be hospitable.
While I was there, however – on the 24th of this month, to be precise – we turned on the TV to find ourselves greeted with an absolute catastrophe. Most of you will already have heard of this by now, although I’m not sure how much coverage it got yet outside of Germany, but there was a mass panic at the LoveParade dance event in Duisberg and 19 young people (so far) have died as a result. Approximately 500 more are missing still, most likely traumatised, injured, and wandering aimlessly.
The LoveParade has been a staple event for German young people for the past 15 years or so – it’s pretty much just a massive dance event comparable to any music or dance festival elsewhere. For Irish readers, think of Oxygen, only 20 times bigger. It has always been held in Berlin in the past, but this year they decided to move to Duisberg due to the chaos it causes in the capital. Apparently, though, it was very poorly planned and executed in Duisberg, and the authorities did not properly plan for the sheer number of people attending (approximately 1.4 million). The facilities and space provided were totally inadequate, with a capacity in some places of just 250,000. Uncharacteristic of the Germans I think, but the consequences were fatal. A mass panic was started when too many people passed through a tunnel in the city, and the result was sheer anarchy. The fatalities were, essentially, trampled to death. 19 young, vibrant people in the prime of their lives, cut short in a horrific manner. Just looking at the videos and the photos was enough to send a shiver up my spine – it looked like my worst nightmare realised. I experienced something similar during my time in Africa last year, on a smaller scale, and let me tell you that even if you are not seriously hurt, it is utterly traumatising. People lose their minds in a panic situation, and it’s terrifying. You can’t breathe, you can’t move, and the noise is overwhelming.
Bearing this horrible situation in mind, there is one public reaction I have come to expect and be repulsed by, when it comes to major catastrophes. That is the “it was God’s judgement” response. This never fails to make me livid with rage. Honestly, every time I hear someone say this I want to beat them over the head with a fucking Bible. Or a brick. Anything that comes to hand, really, but I prefer the irony of beating them with religious paraphernalia.
And lo, someone came out with it! The callous, shit-for-brains individual concerned we shall name Nora X, and she’s a well-known publisher who stated via her Twitter feed that the LoveParade event was always inherently sinful, that it was their [the young peoples’, presumably] own fault, and that it was... of course... God’s judgement. I don’t think there are actually words for just how angry the injustice and the sheer logical fallacy of this enrages me. It makes me see red. It’s part of what I hate about the religious mindset, or at least that of fundamentalists. I think some people are constantly searching for ways in which to determine themselves superior to others in some way – sometimes it’s racism (I’m better because I’m white), sexism (I’m better because I have a penis), status (I’m better because I have a BMW), education (I’m better because I have a degree), and often, sectarianism or religious discrimination (I’m better because I follow the *right* religion, and ergo am morally superior).
This in itself infuriates me – this attempt to denigrate the rest of the human race for being different to you. What brings the “god’s judgement” response onto a whole other plateau of assholery, however, is the element of being willing to use a catastrophe, and the grief and despair it causes, as a vehicle by which to assert your superiority. I mean, you’re essentially sacrificing the peoples’ deaths, and the despair of their families, on the altar of your own self-satisfaction. Lack of empathy to that extent is just utterly incomprehensible to me. I mean, really – what the fuck is wrong with you? 19 young people are dead - people whose characters, behaviours and personalities you know nothing of, besides the fact that they enjoy a particular genre of music. However, you (and here I obviously mean Nora X) are meanwhile both callous and arrogant enough to assert that you actually have the answer to the massive question of why this happened, and that it is the fault of the unfortunate young people in question.
Go fuck yourself. Seriously. Just do us all a favour and go fuck yourself. And if you’re more offended by that statement than Nora X’s, you need to get your head checked.
I mean, the concept of such events being a reflection of God’s judgement is both offensive and fallacious on several levels. For starters, the God you assert is so pissed with us, may or may not exist in the first place, so please don’t go making any wild claims about him. Furthermore, if God really does cause natural disasters every now and again in a fit of rage - he should probably be tested for manic depression, as frankly his behaviour seems rather erratic and his judgement sporadic at best. Also, wouldn’t God have bigger fish to fry? I know if I was an omniscient, omnipotent deity there are plenty of things wrong in this world I would care about a great deal more than young people in Duisberg drinking alcohol, listening to music, eating too much junk food and *shock* maybe having sex outside of marriage! For instance, an earthquake would have swallowed the Vatican whole fucking years ago. Please excuse me if making the world safe for paedophiles ranks higher on my list of “sins” than enjoying dance music.
The Love Parade isn’t exactly the only place in the world where drinking and debauchery takes place – in fact, if these things really were smiteworthy I’m pretty sure that Ireland for one would no longer exist. God should see what goes on in Freakscene on a Wednesday night. I’m sure he’d be shocked out.
I know my response is somewhat satirical, but please believe it is in earnest. I’m not entirely sure how to respond to such wilful stupidity – on the one hand, it is illogical enough to be met with derisive humour from anyone of moderate intelligence, but on the other it’s also offensive enough to be met with a smack in the face. If the god of Nora X is responsible for the disaster in Duisberg, then he’s as much of an asshole as she is. I mean, how is such a horrific statement an incentive to follow her religious beliefs, or to believe them valid? A god who kills random young people sporadically and in a horrific manner is not someone I would ever worship willingly. Apparently, though, some would, and I think that it speaks to their character. And not in a nice way.
So, to summarise. If you are Nora X (unlikely), or anyone who believes as she does about such catastrophic events - fuck you. If your smugness is more important to you than the grief and loss of 19 young peoples’ families – innocent people who have lost daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, and friends and are trying to reconstruct lives shattered by sudden bereavement – fuck you. As far as I’m concerned you can crawl into a hole and die, as you deserve even less empathy than you’re willing to give.
If you’re not – please accept my apologies for the language, and rant over *^_^*
