Brendan, Sheppard, Queens University.

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The Amoral Response

They cheer for her.

But they don’t realize how this betrays them.

They don’t realize how they cheer for a woman who condemns them in terms as harsh as those with which they ignorantly condemned us.

When I hear them clap and cheer, I have to turn away. I cannot bare to watch this woman reduced to an idol to whom the rich and powerful commit their prayers.

She tells them she will not be their hope. But they want nothing else from her.

When she demands that they do what is right for no other reason than that it is right, they hunger for the same applause and praise they give to her. They cheer for her so her image, like a totem charm perched on a bookshelf, can bring them power. They chop off her rabbit’s foot to wear proudly round their necks.

She tells them they do not understand, and they cheer, “Yes! They do not understand!”

This is not a quiz, but they want part marks.

Is there a trophy for saving the Panda and the Polar Bear?
None for the pink mucket.
And when is the ceremony?
Not October 21st. Not November 3rd.

To anger they have gone deaf. Where we hear horror, they hear potential.

They cheer for her, they smile at her, they call her their idol, and she wants none of this.

But there are those who understand, and we do not cheer.

We feel sick.