AS news of the terrorist attack in France circled the globe, a television news personality in Asia asked, “Are we becoming immune and used to this kind of tragedy?” That is unlikely, but the number and frequency that has hit the West in the last few years is making the public response predictable.
There comes what one commentator called “tearful cartoons” followed by posts on social media with relevant avatars and comments, like “We are all Paris.” Monuments and buildings are lighted with the colors of the attacked nation’s flag and candlelight vigils are held. Governments issue the standard statement that “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and families. We strongly condemn this act of violence.”
Studies in Europe in the last few years have shown that the public’s emotional response varies between anger and fear, with fear the dominant emotion. When a person is afraid, the “flight or fight” mechanism is triggered. Confronted by a harmless but startling situation, like a prank zombie appearing from behind the corner, about 20 percent of people do not jump back in flight but immediately and instinctively attack the “monster”.
East Asia, including the Philippines, has not been spared from terrorist attacks. The 2002 Bali, Indonesia, bombings killed 200. The 2004 bombing of the passenger ferry SuperFerry 14 killed 116. In the Bangkok tourist area, a 2015 bombing killed 20 and caused major harm to Thailand’s tourism industry.
While people grieved in these instances as they do all over the world, the response was different than in the West. British music legend Bono of the group U2 was in Nice, France, as this recent terrorist attack occurred. He was protected along with others, as the police suspected bombs had been placed in the hotel where he was staying. His almost immediate reaction after the incident was to post on social media, “Love is bigger than anything in its way.”
Although “Love,” for those who want to kill you might be a noble emotion, it will probably not stop a bomb from exploding. Bono’s comment seems “un-Asian,” where the idea of karma—simplistically, the spiritual principle of cause and effect—runs more deeply, regardless of nationality or religion.
Certainly, the modern idea of karma is removed from the ancient concept. Yet, in the Sanskrit Mahabharata written centuries before the birth of Christ, it says: “As a man himself sows, so he himself reaps.” This idea is also found in the Judeo-Christian bible, but has been diluted in the West as to the righteousness of retribution for bad deeds. Asians tend to think that people who commit terrible acts deserve terrible punishment.
In the West, they want to understand the motivation for a terrorist attack. Asians are less inclined to worry about that and are more interested in making sure the perpetrators are unable to do bad things again.
The West may take more comfort from feeling they are standing on the moral high ground. In the East, the inevitability of deserved punishment may make more sense. However, there are clearly different reactions to the same type of event.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano