Ukraine - We Mustn't Turn Away

Atrocities continue to occur in Ukraine daily. We see images on the nightly news, in newspapers and across our digital feeds. It’s becoming more difficult to tolerate the constant flow of images – but we mustn’t turn away.

The level of destruction and brutality is overwhelming and incomprehensible. Images of civilian executions, mass graves, dead children and bombed-out train stations – are deeply disturbing. Entire neighborhoods and communities have been leveled, and thousands of civilians murdered.

Millions of refugees have fled – people like us who were just living life when the invasion began. The Ukrainian crisis seems overwhelming. We may wonder what any of us can do to stop the destruction – but we mustn't look away.

The urge is understandable. The images are terrible and the feelings they elicit intensely uncomfortable. It’s painful to imagine what it must be like to be the target of such hatred. But we must imagine it.

The Ukrainian people need us to bear witness to the horror and injustice. If we turn away, if we become numb to their pain, we may no longer be willing to make the small sacrifices required of us. We may no longer support providing the military and humanitarian assistance so necessary for their survival.

By understanding the impulse, we can override the urge. We may also - periodically - need to limit our exposure. Those of us who are most vulnerable – because of our own trauma or unique sensitivities – need to determine how best to remain informed without becoming overwhelmed or despondent.

But turning away permanently and ignoring the truth of what’s happening in Ukraine because we feel uncomfortable, helpless, hopeless, angry, anxious.... or worried about our own self-interests – is not healthy. It’s destructive to our mental health, it’s a poor example for our children and it places the security of our world at risk.

When we turn away from pain, we override our natural tendency to feel empathy. And it’s our ability to empathize – to feel for others – that is at the core of what it means to be human. Our civil society depends on empathy. Fairness, orderliness, generosity – are all rooted in empathy. Empathy provides the foundation for compromise. It leads to service to others and altruism. Empathy is at the heart of many of our religious beliefs.

But we humans shut down emotionally – and our empathy fails us – when we feel helpless or hopeless for too long. We begin to feel numb because we can’t stop the suffering we see - so we seek distance or distraction. We have a term to describe the phenomenon – compassion fatigue.

Tolerating our discomfort as the war grinds on is critical. Continuing to feel for these people who have families and lives – just like we do – ensures that we continue to see them as humans – not statistics, not collateral damage.

Dehumanization is ugly and deadly. Dehumanization allowed the world to ignore the Holocaust, the genocide in Rwanda and the enslavement of 4 million people in the U.S. If we hope to evolve into a global society where every life is valued as sacred – we mustn’t look away now.

Beyond the danger of compassion fatigue, there are other reasons we may feel the urge to turn away. We may be disappointed – angry that we aren’t doing more to help and frustrated that we aren't responding with more military might to defeat this dangerous threat to the world. So we give up and tune out.

We may turn away because we’re afraid that we’re moving closer to the brink of another World War. Perhaps we believe we should focus only on that which is in our nation’s immediate interest. And while the Ukrainian suffering is terrible, we may believe we can’t get too involved because it doesn’t affect us. So, we turn away.

But this crisis affects all of us. We are one people sharing one planet – with deep interdependencies. Whatever happens in Ukraine will have profound and long-lasting effects economically, politically and psychologically.

Some of us will have larger roles to play in this crisis – but all of us can continue to feel empathy and compassion for those affected. For the sake of our humanity and the future well being of our world, we must continue to see the truth and we mustn’t turn away. It is the least we can do.

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