The sinking of the Sewol : Die or disobey ?
Posté par ITgium le 8 mai 2014
“All I’ve done all my life is disobey”. Edith Piaf
A jùn mǎ 俊 马 tale 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)
The 16 of April 2014, more than 300 persons drowned at sea, trapped inside the Sewol ferry scrap.
Most of them, with an average age of 17, school students.
They were just setting out at the start of their adult lives, full of life and love, energy and enthusiasm.
Girls and boys, light-hearted, accustomed to the smiles, harmony.
Young beautiful faces eager to find out their life.
Together, they represented a part of the mankind, a part of our future, a part of ourselves
Gone, forever, in a few moments of extreme violence.
Death by drowning can occur within 20 to 50 seconds.
Because at that moment, the victims can’t get oxygen or expel carbon dioxide, to live quite a few seconds more, to recite the last prayer before the eternal sleep, the only way is to breathe. In Sea water, the high salt concentration prevents the water from crossing into lung tissue.
But unfortunately, this day, trapped inside the boat, the water enter to their stomach then the lungs leading to cardiac arrest
Did they witness their death ?
The eyes glued to their Smartphone, probably some thought that it was a just an unreal staging, a remake of the Titanic, as one of them stated, joking.
At the end, within a few minutes, they smelled their own death.
Some died silently, accepting their tragic fate.
For others, their deafening cries and paralyzing screams of fear and pain trouble us for days.
What kind of world is this one ? raised a grieving mother.
No voice tells us what the world is for.
No other light explains the mystery of our own presence on earth.
Troublesome responsibilities
Are we in a position to point a finger at who is to blame for this disaster ?
Various reasons have been discussed but the most troubling one is perhaps the meaning of obedience.
Passengers were told to stay inside cabins said repeatedly an alarm of the command of the boat.
A blind faith of loyalty and obedience to the Chain of Command can lead to dramatic situation.
The victim’s uncritical reliance in the boat team, in their ultimate safety, drove them to their death.
By contrast, those who have disobeyed, those who have misconduct the lawful command have survived.
Just a few.
Running selfishly, breaking the rules, assuming command of their own destiny, they are still living on Earth.
The issue
Many religions like the widely popular in Korea, the catholic belief, tell us that it is a sin to disobey God’s orders.
In addition, in this country, the cultural pattern urges the citizens to do so in a way to maintain the coherence and stability of the society.
Thus, the so well educated young people have complied with this principle.
Even worse, when they understood that the situation was critical, their unbeatable sense of respect, then their insufficient confidence in themselves make them incapable of disobeying.
At the end, their free choice is questioned.
Every one has free choice to obey or disobey.
Your choice determines the consequences. Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.
This disaster sketches a masterful reflection about disobedience-know-how as an essential component of our humanity.
During the Second World War, in France, some ordinary citizens attempted to protect the Jewish people from deportation to the concentration camps.
Others, law-abiding citizens, have fully respected the law to the letter, causing, by their passivity of collaboration, the death of the Jews.
Accordingly, as stated by Henry Thoreau : « disobedience is the true foundation of liberty ».