Silence Isn't Violence
but it might be anti-semitic
On October 7th, Hamas militants entered Israel and wreaked the worst type of havoc. They slaughtered over 1,000 Israelis, many of whom were civilians, and took hundreds hostage. I avoided the barbaric footage but read enough horror stories to make my skin crawl. As a mother, as a Christian, and as a human, I was horrified. Israel, the world’s only Jewish state and a place I’ve longed wished to visit, was having their version of 9/11.
I know what you’re thinking—we really need the take of a middle class American millennial on the ins and outs of peace in the Middle East. I aim to please.
But I am, shockingly, not an expert in Israel/Gaza politics. I found myself reading a thousand and one articles and watching a lot of those The Israel and Palestine Conflict Explained-type YouTube videos. I understand more than I did a month ago, which still isn’t much.
There are a few universal tasks all Catholics of goodwill should complete when confronted with the abhorrent evils of the world: they should pray—real, on-your-knees type prayers. They should refrain from dehumanizing even the most savage of oppressor. They should consider where they tithe and whether or not their own monetary influence can help make earth look as it is in heaven.
And according to one uber-obnoxious type of Online Christian1, they should…post on Instagram, I guess.
We all know this person.
They Care. They Care way, way more than you do, actually. They are devastated at the state of our world. They are shocked by the silence of white Christian women. The silence is deafening, they remind us. And they “see” you! This type of Christian feels the need to post about every hot topic du jour in the news, whether or not they have spent eleven seconds educating themselves on it or not. They care about clean water and racism and reproductive rights and the environment. They are on the side of the oppressed, and if you dare to post a meme on the day you’re supposed to post a black square, your ass is grass. They have never met a social justice cause they could not warp into an advertisement for how With The People they are.