"The word survivor suggests someone who has emerged alive from a plane crash or a natural disaster. But the word can also refer to the loved ones of murder victims, and this was the sense in which it was used at a four-day conference in early June at Boston College"
About this Quote
The subtext is a battle over legitimacy. Labels decide who gets recognized, who gets resources, who is expected to “move on,” and whose pain counts as socially intelligible. By yoking plane crashes and natural disasters to homicide bereavement, Danneels borrows the moral clarity we grant catastrophes (no one asks the storm’s victims what they did to deserve it) and transfers that clarity to people often stuck with suspicion, sensationalism, or fatigue from outsiders. “Survivor” becomes a protective name: it pushes back against a culture that treats grief as private dysfunction rather than a public wound.
The Boston College conference detail matters because it signals an institutional setting where language is being standardized and, implicitly, sanctified. A clergyman isn’t just describing usage; he’s helping authorize it. The intent isn’t poetic. It’s strategic compassion: expand the word, expand the circle of care, and force an audience to confront the living aftermath of violence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Family |
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| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Danneels, Godfried. (2026, January 17). The word survivor suggests someone who has emerged alive from a plane crash or a natural disaster. But the word can also refer to the loved ones of murder victims, and this was the sense in which it was used at a four-day conference in early June at Boston College. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-word-survivor-suggests-someone-who-has-53841/
Chicago Style
Danneels, Godfried. "The word survivor suggests someone who has emerged alive from a plane crash or a natural disaster. But the word can also refer to the loved ones of murder victims, and this was the sense in which it was used at a four-day conference in early June at Boston College." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-word-survivor-suggests-someone-who-has-53841/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The word survivor suggests someone who has emerged alive from a plane crash or a natural disaster. But the word can also refer to the loved ones of murder victims, and this was the sense in which it was used at a four-day conference in early June at Boston College." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-word-survivor-suggests-someone-who-has-53841/. Accessed 26 Mar. 2026.
