We Britons must rediscover our stiff upper lip

Mar 27, 2016 by

By George Carey, Sunday Telegraph:

In the wake of the terror attacks on Belgium, we would do well to remember the hopeful message of Easter Sunday.

Do not be afraid!” were the opening words of Jesus on the first Easter Sunday. The disciples were totally dumbfounded when they saw the risen Christ. Fear is a perfectly understandable reaction at times of confusion and social unrest

But fear seems to have gripped our society and led to disproportionate responses. One of those was the arrest last week of a Croydon man for sending a silly and offensive tweet. Charges against him have now been dropped, but how ridiculous that his stupidity was thought by some to be a criminal offence.

And the social networks which rounded on that man have become a symptom of a problem. We are allowing fear and anxiety to dominate our responses to the crises Europe is currently facing. It is not just the fact that people in dangerous situations are updating their timelines or taking selfies when they should be hastening to safety or helping others, though bizarrely that happens. It is the way social networks provide the means for people to react instantaneously, and simultaneously seem to deprive them of the ability to behave rationally and proportionally. The immediate response of outrage and anger takes over and leaves very little room for rational reflection.

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Read also:  These terrorists aren’t religious radicals – they’re criminals with psychotic aims by Janet Dailey, Telegraph

We aren’t fighting a ‘war’ – they’re just a bunch of doped-up losers by Peter Hitchens, Mail on Sunday

 

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