There are some moments when words are inadequate, when one can only remain silent. Death is at the forefront of these moments.
While people are deeply saddened by the loss of their loved ones, the scenes we witness in the middle of this pain, in the courtyard of the mosque, are as heavy as the loss itself. “disgusting” another reminder of reality: Our dying humanity in the grip of digital exhibitionism.
I have been wanting to say a word or two about this issue for a while, and what I have seen recently is really shameful for humanity.
Funerals are stops where we confront the barest truth of life, where we put aside arrogance and remember our mortality. Or at least they used to be. Now, next to the mourning stone, where the tears are flowing, the light of the phone screens is on. The race to “fit a coffin, a pain, a farewell into the frame” pierces the solemn silence of mourning.
What are we trying to prove?
That we attended the funeral?
Has it become more important to register to our followers in the digital world that we were there than to accompany a person on their last journey? Taking a photo at the coffin, capturing the grief on the grieving family's face “story” is not only unkindness, but also a deep spiritual decay.
On the one hand, the funeral of a deputy mayor, and the fact that the deceased is a deputy mayor does not justify turning it into a protocol showcase or a social media platform. On the contrary, this is the kind of behavior that is exhibited at the farewells of public figures. “image acquisition” appetite is the most painful testimony to the lack of empathy in society at large.
Today, even goodbyes are just goodbyes. “content” has become. The only thing that should be done in those moments is to recite a fatiha, give a shoulder or just be there in silence. A crowd that does not respect the memory of the dead and the privacy of those left behind has no lesson to learn from the coffin it carries on its shoulders.
Real pain is not seen on the screen; it is felt in the heart.
The nauseating photo-taking scenes we witness at the farewells of well-known people are not an isolated incident; they are the manifestation of a social insanity. Funeral prayers are no longer places where one prays for the dead; some people “celebrity sightings”, “staying close to the protocol” and “don't look for proof” It turned into a podium, unfortunately...
Remember; at the funeral of veteran actor Kayhan Yıldızoğlu, those who walked with their phones on Şener Şen, who wanted to experience his grief... Şen, with his famous and righteous anger “Enough!” When she cried out, she was not only shouting at the harassers at that moment, she was shouting at all this unconsciousness.
Today, it's not just about catching a celebrity in the frame “I was there too” "I'm a dead person, I'm a deceased person". For these people, the identity of the person in the coffin, the cries of the family or the sanctity of death mean nothing. For them, the funeral is a content mine and the mosque courtyard is an open-air studio.
Zero Respect for Pain: To walk up to a mother who has lost a child or a friend who has lost a brother or sister, and to flash a flashbulb is not a lack of empathy, it is sheer emotional barbarism.
Digital Consent Addiction: “Those photos shared with the hashtag ”He was at the funeral" are actually the satisfaction of one's ego, not one's conscience.
Instead of facing the coldness of death, those who take refuge in the brightness of the screen are actually performing the funeral prayer for their own humanity.
These scenes at the funerals of those who have passed away hurt the grieving hearts once again. Şener Şen's reaction that day should be the reaction of each and every one of us against this lack of manners.
The most dignified action to take when seeing a person off to their last journey is to put the phone in your pocket and share the silence. If you are too much of a “content addict” to respect the memory of the dead and the pain of a family, do not enter the courtyard of that mosque. Because it is not your showground, it is the place to say goodbye to the harshest reality of life.
A little bit of decency, a little bit of haya and a lot of silence... That's all we need.
With love