Promoting Compassion and Acceptance in Crisis

A natural reaction to acts of extreme violence, like school shootings, rioting, and terrorist attacks, is the desire to lash out and punish the perpetrators or perceived enemy. People who are angry or frightened often feel the ability to “fight back” puts them more in control or that it will alleviate their sense of outrage. While anger is a normal response felt by many, we must ensure we do not compound an already tragic situation and react against innocent individuals with vengeance and hate. There is a tremendous risk of unfairly stigmatizing people who are perceived to resemble the perpetrators because of their apparent race, language, religion, or the way they dress.

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