This is an old Facebook post but I wanted it saved to my blog to be able to repost now and again...
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I felt the need to write this post/note/update due to some recent activity on my Facebook page.
An unwitting idiot got involved in something he knows nothing about when he commented on a status of mine:
“Cpl Jake Hartley, 20 Pte Anthony Frampton, 20 Pte Christopher Kershaw, 19 Pte Daniel Wade, 20 Pte Daniel Wilford, 21 Sgt Nigel Coupe, 33Thank you for doing your job and sorry you had to be there in the first place. RIP.”
Adam’s first response was:
Adam Knight *cough* sanctimony *cough*
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WHAT FOLLOWS IS THE RESULTING CHAT FROM MY FACEBOOK PROFILE AND THEN MY THOUGHTS ON THE EXCHANGE:
Helen Raw You are seriously saying that to the daughter of a serviceman who died for his country, Adam? Funny how you didn't say that when I said 'RIP Whitney Houston’.
Adam Knight Are we seriously listing dead soldiers on our Facebooks now, Helen? Like, actually doing that?
Tania Cristina Grant ??? Sanctimony??!! i think not... as a mother it's gut wrenching to know some one out there is grieving for her child/brother etc
Helen Raw Just redressing the balance - no-one hesitates to do it when a celebrity dies! Plus it's my Facebook profile - don't like what you see, you know what to do!
Tania Cristina Grant Adam there is nothing wrong with showing compassion for someone else's loss, that's what makes us human
Adam Knight Either the world has gone mad, or I have.
Helen Raw The world went mad a long time ago - the fact you are getting het up about this status just shows we have our priorities all wrong!
Adam Knight Let me get this straight, you see nothing funny/insincere/sanctimonious about anything you have done on your Facebook page today? And your friends are unironically agreeing with it? You actually sat there typing these soldier's names into your browser?
Helen Raw Wow, Adam. Just wow. Ask me that question again when your Father or good friend dies in combat. If acknowledging the existence of troops who have died for their country, as reported in the national press today, is the worst thing I do today, then so be it.
Helen Raw Don't forget Adam, it's young lads/lassies like that who, over the years, have afforded you the freedom to gob off on my Facebook wall and afforded me the freedom to choose to let you.
Sue Raw It's a pity there isn't a 'dislike' button on FB. As a proud RN widow, I'd have used it with abandon on Adam's posts.
Adam Knight Please feel free to use your words as you wish with me too. ;)
Helen Raw I would never hesitate in saying what I think!
Adam Knight Clearrrrrrrrly!
Jenn Taylor Knox yikes......
Helen Raw "From this day forth I shall be naming all the young men and women who have died for their country on my Facebook feed." - Adam Knight's current Facebook status. The sarcasm is not lost on me!
Adam Knight Stop publicising me!
Helen Raw Oh Adam, go and froth a cappuccino!
Stuart Gilbertson *Pulls up a chair*
Gillian Morrison Adam, what is your point? Genuine question.
Adam Knight That there's nothing selfless about posting the names of dead soldiers on your FB.
Adam Knight Ps. Go dress up and pretend to be someone in front of an audience!
Gillian Morrison ok, if 'there's nothing selfless' what's your implication? what does someone, eg helen here, have to gain? where is the self-interest? still genuine question.
Adam Knight I feel like I'm explaining human nature to an alien here! A self-satisfied sense of moral superiority is all there is to gain.
Stuart Gilbertson Adam, why are you being such a pharisaical cunt? :)
Stuart Gilbertson I'm just here for the Likes.
Adam Knight It's the same sense that one might get from posting a Gandhi quote as one's main Facebook photo.
Gillian Morrison the problem is, we are dealing with value systems Adam. In yours, you see a display of open remembrance or acknowledgment as inappropriate, you assume that it more in Helen's interest than the soldiers she names. In Helen's value system, I would assume, that it is important to not let the day pass without reminding herself and other people (friends) that as we debate on facebook, people are losing their lives across the planet. Ok, lets devils advocate. Imagine if you were correct. That the net effect was a 'self-satisfied sense of moral superiority'.
Gillian Morrison what is it you want to achieve with your protest? what is your goal?
Adam Knight I wish I had a nobler goal beyond highlighting carefully constructed bullshit. Good points though!
Gillian Morrison actually, can i ask a different way, what would you rather?
Adam Knight I think I'd rather Facebook didn't exist. Sadly, I'm just as much of a social network whore as Helen is. I'd rather we were more self-aware.
Gillian Morrison Again, and i say this respectfully, that is your value system. I have a love hate relationship with facebook, but actually Helen is one of the reasons i am glad it exists. I have never felt her solicit, just earnest about what she does. And very candid. In a world of PR spin and polished commentary, you really see her in that way? Whore is such a strong word, i'd say it has ugly connotations in the context here. I sound like a proselytizing sycophant, actually i'm just an independent campaigner who wants to change things, starting with getting people to be more media and policy literate. We are so distracted by stuff, especially corporate-funded lobbying in ways that would surprise us when we think, me included, that we know most of what’s going on. We are all so busy attacking one another, that we fail to see that actually that is the best thing to keep things in the status quo. Freedom of speech is great, it's essential, but it must have tolerance, because of all the violences on the planet, the most dangerous one of all, is that which is thought and then spoken. And no, I am not religious. At all ;-) Hope you are going to A Little April Foolery as you will know it is as much about freedom of speech as it is a tax on performers.
Gillian Morrison First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.
Gillian Morrison
Cpl Jake Hartley, 20 Pte Anthony Frampton, 20 Pte Christopher Kershaw, 19 Pte Daniel Wade, 20 Pte Daniel Wilford, 21 Sgt Nigel Coupe, 33
Thank you for doing your job and sorry you had to be there in the first place. RIP.
Sue Raw My daughter sees herself as neither self-satisfied nor morally superior. As the child of a military family, she understands the sacrifices that servicemen and women make in the service of their country. She's merely exercising her right to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice that some of them have made so the rest of us can live in a free country and spout whatever offensive drivel we like on sites like this.
Adam Knight I just hope it's not going to be a regular occurrence, that's all! I like my news of death to be in 10 second bursts on the evening news so I can forget about them quickly.
Sue Raw Unfortunately, death arrives often when we least expect it so, sadly, the newscasters won't be able to accommodate your wishes. You're a very sad young man.
Gillian Morrison adam, when we forget death as quickly as we would like, that is when we lose our humanity. we are not disposable. and we may pretend that's the way it is, but it doesn't make it so. my uncle died at 19 in the 2nd world war. He was the first and only son to my grandmother, born out of wedlock in 1923. Can you imagine the bond they had? I keep his medals with me, and his photograph. His name was David Hunter. You know what? I cry sometimes, because, when i look at his photograph, I think of the impact his loss had, then, with his mother, my mother (his sister he never knew) and subsequent generations. He died as a stoker on a ship torpedoed by a german sub, by a german commander later decorated for his war efforts. The ship was on its way home. My grandmother never spoke of her son to my mother who was born many years after his death, and my mum found out courtesy of an unkind older sister in law who announced it in an unkind spat. I don't judge my grandmother, i think, i can imagine the loss was too much to describe in words, but i hope that as a subsequent generation, i can do my bit. i want to make a little film one day to remember him. you can see his photo here. i'm happy to share it. i wonder what he might have become, or his children? http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=346306885408005&set=a.346306032074757.80223.100000860883042&type=3&theater
no less a life
David Hunter
My uncle who died in WW2. Aged 19.
Remembered.
by: Gillian Morrison
Gary Johnston Well baw bag of the day goes to Adam! Let's give you a gun and drop you in Helmand Province and see your 10 second bursts there! "forget about them quickly"??? Are you for real! Guys are dying so a prick like you can forget about them quickly!
Helen Raw Holy crap, I'm away from FB/laptop for a couple of hours and look at the drama.
Nothing more to add really except, Adam, you're not ever going to use my name and the word whore in the same sentence ever again are you? Thanks!
Adam Knight Get a grip, I said 'Facebook whore', which clearly has no sexual connotation.
Helen Raw you actually said "social network whore" and implied I wasn't self aware - be very careful what you put in print, Adam!
Gillian Morrison ok my work is done....
Helen Raw Thank you Ms M some nice comments from you and I liked reading about your Uncle. He's probably somewhere hanging out with my grandparents and my dad bitching about all the wars! x
Gillian Morrison i hope so ;-)
Gillean Young Who exactly IS this pre-pubescent little nobody twit who calls himself 'Adam Knight'...? He is clearly just a frustrated little virgin who is screaming out for attention and just wants to exorcise his angst to the world so that he feels more secure in his pointless little existence. Most insecure he is... and how pitied he should be! You are all indulging him far too much time with his pointless and ill-educated views... and giving him vastly more attention that he deserves. Soon enough he will experience firsthand the excruciating pain of losing someone he loves... and then, just maybe, then, he might grow up and suddenly reliase what life and the world is actually about. Unlikely though as his intellect, maturity and humanity are obviously grossly diminished.
Adam Knight I adore the fact you called me a virgin. :D
Gillean Young I adore the fact that out of all the things I have just said, it was THAT particular point that YOU picked up on... and by THAT in itself... you have just reaffirmed everything I have just said! :o)
Gillean Young Never fear, with a bit of luck, you WILL grow up a bit and join the rest of us in the real world one day... x
Adam Knight When I grow up, I wanna be like you! And I picked up on that bit because it was pretty funny, whereas the rest of what you said bored me to tears... X
Helen Raw Guys, let's lay this to rest. Adam you've said your piece and spouted what you felt the need to spout, let's not give this any more air time. The point of my post was to remember those who have fallen. If you don't like the sentiment, go and spout elsewhere.
Heather Hutchison-Cockburn One more post. 'Lest We Forget' says it all.
There is one thought that I can never get rid of throughout this exchange. Adam has clearly never known loss. He has never known a ‘knock at the door’. If he understood this, I feel he would have more compassion for our fallen men and women.
I am not happy that I understand the impact of ‘a knock at the door’. My Dad died as I turned 19 (literally on my 19th birthday). That is no age to lose a parent. But you know what, my mum lost her Dad at aged 17 so I already had a role model and knew that I would cope. My Mum coped! So would I!
My mum lost her Dad when she was 17 and her husband when she was 41.
Adam can mock me all he likes but I do shed a tear when I hear of military deaths on the news. He mocks me because he thinks I share their names because I need a pat on the back. What he fails to understand is that I would give up every pat on the back, every pay rise in a shit job and every amazing opportunity I am given in the film and acting world to have just 5 more minutes with my Dad, my hero.
My mum is my heroine and she knows it. I just hope my Dad knows the place he holds in my heart. He died far too soon. I only hope he is watching from above and knows that he is the moral compass that I hold high; his is the humour barometer I hold aloft when my life is dark and his sense of outrage is the one I hang on to when I see that things are pish and need to be changed.
I am a Raw. I always will be.
