Last summer I took a Sunday School class in which I was introduced to a concept called solidarity and I realized I had very little of it. Before that class I was really very uneducated and honestly uncaring about events and situations going on in other parts of the world. If a plane crashed in Illinois, I’d be all over cnn.com reading the footage and following the case. “How tragic,” I’d think. But if I read of a plane crash in Mongolia, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t even click on the link. Why? Why do I care more about the fate of fellow Americans than of those in another continent? As a Christian, I should care a great deal about the suffering of any fellow human being.
While in DC last week, we saw this quote on a world war II memorial near the capital building.
As I read it, I couldn’t help but think about the fact that despite all we learned from the Holocaust, similar events are going on in the world with very little being said or done about it.
I can remember when I was in school and I read of the horrific events which took place during the Holocaust, I kept wondering why it took so long for America to get involved. “Why,” I’d ask. “Why didn’t we do more? Why didn’t we care? Why did we wait until Pearl Harbor before we stepped up and ended it? “
And I can’t help but wonder why, despite all we learned, and despite all we have as Americans, are we doing so little now for the hundreds of thousands of people in Uganda and Darfur who are suffering and dying due to extreme acts of violent genocide and complete starvation?
Why aren't we “mobilized” on this? Why does it seem that Hollywood cares more about the hundreds of thousands of people be murdered in Africa than evangelical Christians?
Why? What will it take? Surely there is something I can do to ease their suffering.
That’s what I am pondering this weekend.
What are you thinking about this week? Heard a song lyric that touched your heart? Read something in a Bible study that got you thinking? Why not use your last post of the week to highlight something a bit "deeper" then the average Momblog fair? I’d love to read your thoughts. Please feel free to write and link up a new post below, or to link up a thoughtful post from earlier in the week.
...and again, why does it seem that there is so much news coverage about Michael Jackson's death than the violence occurring in Iran right now, or the issues in the countries you listed above?
ReplyDeleteWonderful post. Some may not agree with me but I think part of the reason American Christians don't think much outside this country is because there seems to be a conditioning going on to tell people that America=most important, best Christian, smartest, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the news goes, we vote with our remote & computer. When news sights get millions of hits on Michael Jackson stories, they know to create more Michael Jackson stories. When they get 2 hits on stories of genocide, well, they know what to do.
Maybe we should start a movement to get people to NOT read celebrity sights and news about things that DON'T REALLY MATTER!
I agree with you! It is so easy to allow ourselves to become isolated in our own world. Yet, God calls us to reach out. I believe that the church must find ways to be the solution to these issues. That is what we are called to do (Isaiah 58)!
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about this much, but wow, you're one hundred percent right. I will admit to knowing next to nothing about the goings on outside of the U.S. and I know its quite shameful. I think I like to live in my own little comfortable corner of the world, which is totally wrong. I really need to educate myself and make myself more of use. This was a really good post. You were thinking real deep this week.
ReplyDeleteif people died in mongolia, i think i would care since i have been there 3 times. how strange for you to pick THAT country of all countries. it's not that i want to live there, but i know and love people in that country.
ReplyDeleteyou know what's kind of weird? i live in mn and when the bridge collapsed in 2007, all i could think of was that it wasn't the biggest tragedy since "only" 13 people died. good grief, gianna, if one person dies, that is sad. where's my heart? and since i had driven across that bridge only 30 minutes before it went down, you would think i would care more. weird how we disassociate with people. and totally not cool!