There is nothing worse than turning on the news and hearing that a building was just bombed. A man takes a sniper rifle and shoots random people in the street. Or more recently, when a man shoots into a club and kills 49 people, injures 53 more.

The Orlando shooting on June 12 was orchestrated by a man who affiliated himself with ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He was a Muslim man. Guns were involved. The LGBT community was targeted.

It was a tragedy for the nation, but a godsend for politicians.

When a tragedy that is bigger than we can accept happens, we look to our leaders for support. It’s at this time that a second tragedy usually occurs. We become united by sorrow, divided by beliefs. After the Orlando shooting, presidential candidate Donald Trump wanted to suspend immigration and be more vigilant against Muslims, even suggesting that the government continue old practices of spying on mosques. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate, believed in tighter gun control to counter future attacks on the United States.

People began to fire up their Facebook and Twitter, demanding changes in policies based on their own political affiliation. The victims were forgotten. The people were again divided before the tears dried up.

When an event occurs that is beyond our normal scope, we see how fragile our world is. We become fearful and panic, and the politicians use this to their advantage. The power of the people is strong, but we cannot rationalize through fear. We are humans. Politicians know this, and they have used this to win elections and raise ratings.

September 11th ushered in George W. Bush’s re-election. Obama found more votes in 2012 after his capture of Bin Laden. After 9/11, national security has been top priority in policies and election campaigns. We can forgive so many faults of our candidates if they can promise to keep us safe.

The tragedies that our nation has witnessed should not be boiled down just to talking points and buzzwords. Basing our conclusions on the beliefs we held when we were scared and angry is not rational. We do not make good decisions when we are faced with terror.

If politicians understand this and use this against us, then the shame should be on them. We do not tell a mourning son his mother’s falling death could have been avoided if she had only had a taller fence, safer stairs, and a direct line to the police. Why do we allow the government to do the same to us?

We do a disservice to ourselves and the victims of national tragedies when we dive headfirst into politics after an event has occurred. We don’t give ourselves time to grieve. We don’t give ourselves time to process. Violence, unfortunately, is spontaneous. It can happen anywhere at any time.

We should be willing to stand together in those moments instead of using them to tear each other apart. We should question politicians who are overly eager to use tragedies to gain our approval, especially those who believe the only way to win is to manipulate our fear and anger in a time where we feel most vulnerable.