OK, this is a short post.

And this is an easy quiz. What do the following people have in common?

Whitney Houston, singer/actress, age 48
Amy Winehouse, singer, age 27
Michael Jackson, singer, age 50
Heath Ledger, actor, age 28
Chris Farley, actor/comedian, age 33
John Belushi, actor/comediean, age 33

Or. . .if you are from my generation, what about these people?

Jim Morrison, singer for The Doors, age 27
Brian Jones, founder of the Rolling Stones, age 27
Janis Joplin, singer/songwriter, age 27
Jimi Hendrix, singer/songwriter, age 27
John Bonhom, drummer for Led Zeppelin, age 32
Elvis Presley, singer/actor, age 42

And what about screen legends Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe?

What do all these people have in common? You know the answer: they were celebrities who died prematurely – in part because of addictions to drugs or alcohol. Sad, tragic, senseless deaths that all made big news.

I don’t want to minimize their deaths but. . .how many people are dying every day in Syria as people there boldly try to gain freedom? How many children died today in Homs? How many people know about their deaths? How many people care?

Thankfully, some news services are reporting the tragic events going on there (caution: the video below has graphic images of wounded or dying people – some are children).

Rights groups say more than 6,000 people have been killed in Syria since government forces began cracking down on democracy protests launched 11 months ago today.

I grieve over senseless loss of human life – but not just the deaths of celebrities. I grieve over the senseless loss of human lives today – in Homs, Syria.

Do you feel the same?

To my Muslim and Christian friends: what do you believe God feels regarding the loss of these lives in Syria – especially the children?