An Opinion Article On My Facebook Profile - 1653 Words

With the recent Paris attacks, people have been showing solidarity by changing their Facebook profiles with the Paris Flag superimposed onto their main profile picture. When I heard of the attacks, as the rest of us did, over breaking news, I felt a range of emotions from anger to helplessness. There was nothing I could do at that moment to help those who were victimized senselessly by the hands of radical jihadist. Changing my Facebook profile was my small way of showing support for the people that were killed, terrorized, and forever affected by ISIS in Paris. A few days after the attacks, I read an opinion article on CNN by James Mulvaney on how showing solidarity through superimposed flags on your profile picture cheapens the†¦show more content†¦The danger of these thugs disrupting our way of life is too great to marginalize into a self-serving Facebook profile picture. He states the new cycle of response to terrorist is this: Grieve loudly, adopt a symbol, justify suspicions of anyone different from ourselves and eventually go back to our relatively carefree and careless lives (Mulvaney 2015). To justify, or draw parallels to his point of view, Mulvany points to the September 11th attacks of 2001 as an example of how we rallied behind the FDNY, NYPD, and hardhats, yet 14 years later, there may not be enough political will to even pass the Zardoga act to extend health care benefits for people injured saving others that day (Mulvaney 2015). He points out that after a few more news cycles, the show of our French Flag solidarity w ill fade from Facebook and Paris will drop the headlines. (Mulvaney 2015). However, terrorism will not go away or be deterred by symbols of solidarity. In his conclusion, Mulvaney feels American leadership should turn the requirements against the war on terror from symbols to tangible action. He writes that an American with a French Facebook flag demeans the war on terror and is as effective as a smiley face (Mulvaney 2015). Mulvaney makes a few good points on how using a Facebook Flag trivializes the gravity of the Paris attacks. However, I disagree with his opinion piece because I feel he is pointing the