The world is coming to an end. Well at least that’s what you might think if you’ve been watching the news recently. We’ve witnessed terror attacks, shootings, corruption, racism, flood, fire, natural disasters, and famine. Yep the world has gone mad.
And if that wasn’t enough, Australian media personality Sonia Kruger made a controversial statement this week on the Channel Nine’s Today Show. Supporting columnist Andrew Bolt’s sentiments, she said, “Personally, I would like to see it [Muslim migration] stop now for Australia.”
Predictably, in the days to follow, an avalanche of criticism flowed her way.
Andrew Bolt believes Muslim migration in France has opened the door to terror. Thoughts? #9Todayhttps://t.co/d1VIqB0PVv
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 17, 2016
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 17, 2016
When U air ur divisive views to audience of 100,000 today
— Mariam Veiszadeh (@MariamVeiszadeh) July 19, 2016
A Muslim child gets labeled a terrorist in playground the next day#SoniaKruger
Speaking as a father, I'm concerned when influential public figures promote bigotry and ignorance #SoniaKruger
— Mr Denmore (@MrDenmore) July 18, 2016
In an astounding show of empathy, Waleed Aly (media presenter, writer, academic, lawyer, Gold Logie winner, and all-round-rock star) spoke out in her defense on Channel Ten’s news program The Project.
"Sonia Kruger is not evil — she's scared and she's trying to make sense of the world," he said. "Yesterday she admitted to not feeling safe."
In the thought-provoking segment Aly spoke of a common feeling shared by everyone around the globe right now — fear.
“Fear's the one thing we’re all sharing right now — cause I’m scared too.”
He used the image of a gravitron speeding up to demonstrate how this fear is pushing us further apart, making it harder for people to come together and meet in the middle.
"I can't escape the thought that how we deal with our fear is becoming the defining measure that determines us as a people. Awful news leads to fear which leads to an outrageous statement, which leads to a pile-on, a hardening of positions".
Aly goes on to appeal to Australians to think about how they respond to confronting current world events.
“When we’re presented with an outrageous opinion we’re actually presented with two options: destruction or construction."
And then he finished with this hopeful message:
“Wouldn’t it be amazing if just once we could send forgiveness viral. These are dark times but the best thing to do is reach for a flashlight and not start a fire.”
Global citizens, join us in fighting fear and #sendforgivenessviral.
In other words, when the world goes mad remember to spread the love.