The fuss plastered all over Facebook because we are experiencing some cold weather, which is after all a natural phenomenon, is nauseating.
Dogs in beds, kittens in blankets, families in their pyjamas cuddled up together in front of fireplaces, recipes for warm winter comfort food, requests for recommendations of good TV shows to stream.
Scrolling among the garbage, you might come across a post about the plight of the 49 immigrants stuck out at sea for 2 weeks, accompanied by, in the best of cases, “jaħasra!” comments, and in the worst, “we are already full, go back home!”. All written, of course, by the same people sharing their bed and hot chocolate with their puppies.
Most probably, these are also the same people who are liking and sharing the “news” about the Three Wise Men at the airport. The ones who dressed up in their finest for midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The ones who shared photos of their Christmas turkeys with enough leftovers to feed the neighbourhood, whose children are cozy and warm in front of their PlayStations.
Most likely they are also the ones who express a very strong opinion against abortion. Because, they argue, the life of the voiceless has to be protected, from as early as conception.
They are vociferous with their pro-life arguments, hurling abuse and mockery at the women who have abortions and calling them murderers, baby-killers and whores, and advising these man-eaters to keep their legs closed, while sharing videos of smiling babies in uteri accompanied by posts of compassion.
They somehow don’t picture themselves as the mothers of these unfortunate children, trying to keep their children safe and warm in the same way that we do, after escaping god only knows what hardships
However, it seems that they limit their compassion towards children to their time in the womb. Once they are born, they no longer care about their predicament.
And I have a feeling that they care even less if these children have a dark skin and belong to the migrants on the boats. It doesn’t pull at their heartstrings, that they are cold, wet, and hungry in a small boat on open waters at Christmas time. They somehow don’t picture themselves as the mothers of these unfortunate children, trying to keep their children safe and warm in the same way that we do, after escaping god only knows what hardships.
They are only comfortable preaching from their morality throne against abortion, feeling holier-than-thou, perhaps because they cannot see themselves (or their daughters, for that matter) ever in the position of a woman needing an abortion, so they smugly feel beyond reproach. They feel self-righteous when attacking a woman who terminated her pregnancy, but at the same time do not walk the talk to defend another woman who kept her baby, although they both opened their legs (by their reasoning).
This is a country of hypocrites, of people who are happy to wave any flag so long as it fits their agenda. The Catholic flag (against non-Catholics), the “L-Aqwa fl-Ewropa” flag, the “Malta l-Ewwel Qabel Kollox” flag (against the immigrants – even when the messages of such flags blatantly contradict each other).
For how can a Catholic comfortably insult and ignore the sad plight of fellow human beings at any time, let alone Christmas time, when the Catholics are celebrating the birth of their saviour?
Basic human rights have been swept behind the smokescreen of political agendas and stubborn stances by politicians playing chess with people’s lives. But then, who cares? That was yesterday’s news. Today we amuse ourselves with the ridiculous Three Kings landing at our airport in full costume, delivering gifts for baby Jesus on horseback. How ironic.