RIP Harambe... Everyone else, take a breath.

Was it a tragedy that a beautiful, majestic animal was shot and killed?  Indeed it was.  It was doubly tragic because the animal was of a highly endangered species.  Was it horrible that the people who have worked with this animal on a daily basis were forced to kill him resulting from a situation that probably never should have happened in the first place?  Absolutely.  That being said, I have but one thing to say in the midst of the tsunami of emotion this event has caused.  Breathe, everybody.  Just BREATHE.

I am astounded by the hatred and vitriol that are being hurled by a judgmental public at a woman who has just gone through what I am sure was one of the most heart-stoppingly terrifying moments in her life.  A 400-lb. brute of a beast was dragging her CHILD underwater,  with his head bouncing along the bottom of a concrete moat!  It was NOT playing with or protecting the little boy.  It was hauling him around and crouching over him, which many wild animals do just before they kill their prey.  Thank God that the zoo officials took action as swiftly as they did in order to save the child’s life.  It wasn’t a matter of making the “right” choice.  In this situation, THEY HAD NO CHOICE!

Now, I can feel the rush of righteous indignation rising up against me as I say these words.  And I have to admit, when faced with the question, “Shouldn’t this mother have been keeping a better watch on her child?”, my initial response was a resounding, “YES!”.  But memories of some of my own motherhood moments started creeping in and changed my response to, “Probably”.  And after more memories and more thought, I would have to say the best answer I can now give to that question is, “Maybe”.

We were not there.  We did not see what happened from beginning to end.  There is no way we can judge the mother and say that she is a bad parent because she wasn’t paying attention.  We live in a world that is rife with distractions.  Sometimes things get past us, even when we are sure that we are paying close attention.  When my younger son was four, he was absolutely fearless and would climb on or over any place he could get a toe-hold.  And he was FAST!  One second I could have him firmly by the hand and before I could blink, he would break loose and be on top of something, smiling and saying, “Look at me, Mommy!”  Just because the little boy got away from her doesn’t mean the mother wasn’t paying attention.  I am sure that nothing anyone can say to or about her could possibly be worse than what she is saying to herself.  And, in the midst of this terrifying situation, what did this mother do?  Instead of carrying on and having a screaming melt-down (which many of the onlookers were doing and clearly, exacerbating the animal’s agitation), she was speaking calmly to her son.  She called his name and told him to be calm.  She said, over and over, “Mommy is right here.  I am not going to leave you.  I am here, and I love you.”  She must have been thinking that it would be the last time her child would hear her voice, but she did all she could to remind him that he was not alone and that he was loved.  That, in my humble opinion, is not an example of being a bad mother.

So now, instead of being able to recover from this horrifying event, this family has to worry about being arrested, having their children taken away from them, and even bodily harm, all because a large portion of the public, in their uninformed fury, are calling for vengeance over the death of an ANIMAL.  And I have to wonder why none of this indignant, retribution-seeking public seems to be willing to stand up for the babies that are killed on a daily basis in our country’s abortion clinics.  The rights of a 400-lb. wild beast are more important than the rights of unborn human children.  I can only shake my head.

In closing, I would like to relate an event that occurred when my older son was little.  He was a toddler, just beginning to be able to go places and do things on his own.  One day, my parents came up for a visit.  In all of the hugging, kissing and welcoming when they arrived, no one noticed that the front door didn’t close completely.  My Daddy sat down in the living room and I took my Mama back into my bedroom to show her something.  I, mistakenly, thought my Daddy was keeping an eye on my son.  My Daddy, mistakenly, thought my son had gone back into the bedroom with me.  In actuality, my son had pulled open the front door and toddled down the front steps, probably reveling in his new-found freedom.  When I came back into the living room, imagine my panic when I saw only my Daddy and the front door standing open.  I cannot accurately discribe the feeling of absolute despair I felt as I flew out the front door screaming my son’s name.  We lived at the corner of a very busy road and our yard was not fenced.  I found my son around the side of the house, smiling and happy to be outside.  That happened almost 24 years ago and the memory of that day still makes my throat close up and my stomach hurt.

Now, could the results of that day have been horrible and heart-breaking?  Absolutely it could.  Was I a bad parent that day?  I don’t think so.  Should my Daddy and I have been arrested for not keeping a closer watch on my child?  No, absolutely not.  Should I have had my child taken away from me due to my negligence?  NO. BECAUSE IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. 

It is easy to judge someone else when you don’t have all the facts.  But to use that judgment to hurl hate at someone you’ve never met, even to the point of calling for her arrest, injury and death is just SHAMEFUL.  Y’all, please take a breath and give this poor mama a break.  She made a mistake.  We all make mistakes.  Her mistake and its results are just more public than ours.  How fortunate we are that our Father forgives us when we make mistakes.  We should do the same.