A few weeks ago I wasn't big into the idea that we are in "the most troubled times" in human history. In fact I literally argued against it. The past few days have taught me otherwise. We are living in a sick, morally depraved world. A world in which people hesitate to take five minutes to do something that won't directly benefit them. (Now many people may not see this is "sick or morally depraved, but I see selfishness and uncaring as a slippery slope into which we all much guard ourselves.) I say this with great caution because I know the consequences of believing these statements can be dire. I do not, however, say this without a lot of thought and contemplation...
Let me start with an example from my own life: Recently I helped conduct a campaign to get signatures for a petition that would be sent to the Chinese embassy regarding their interests in Burma. All that was needed for this petition was a person's name, hometown, and an optional email address. You would think ten seconds of your day wouldn't be too much to ask, right? I was severely disappointed when faced with this question during our campaign. A number of people, after hearing about the atrocities in Burma, hesitated to sign the petition. Why might you ask? Here are a couple of the 'favorite' reasons: "I don't want to get spam" and "What will this even do?" They seem legitimate reasons at first glance, but let’s look deeper.
1) First to the issue of receiving spam. I understand fully people's desires to not get spam email. My inbox in particular has been ravaged by spam since being in Tanzania. I receive probably 20-25 spam emails per day. There is something I have discovered, however, to combat this invasion of my inbox...it's called filters and blockers. It's really not that difficult, when you receive and email that you deem as 'spam' then you block the domain name from ever reaching your inbox. It's really quite simple. As I have observed, however, simple is asking too much. It doesn't matter that putting down an email may be helping some people, or even yourself in the event that you may be more informed by emails received. The effort it takes to right click on an email and select "add sender to blocked senders list" is apparently more that the average college student can afford. When did we become so lazy and self-serving that in helping someone we are to benefit as well? Now this is an isolate example-one that some may view as being blown out of proportion by yours truly-but I urge you to view this in light of the world as a whole. Look around you and I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to see exactly what I'm talking about.
2) "What will this even do?" This seems to be a favorite response to people who are either too lazy or uncaring to do anything for people they don't know, as if this exempts them from their Christian responsibility to "to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?." (Isaiah 58:6) My question to them is, "What will signing a piece of paper hurt?" They may be right; it may not help at all. By why not at least try? “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” That was Margaret Mead. I believe this with all my heart. So next time you think, “What will this do?” remember this quote and know that you can change the world.
Now to an example much more fitting to my comment about the “sickness and moral depravity”: China. For many of you that is all I have to say. You know exactly what I’m talking about and I should hope that you agree with me. For those who don’t know, let me enlighten you (or scare you as the case may be). China is exactly known for its humanitarian efforts; by that I mean the government is quite heartless in its pursuit of wealth and power. They are well known for dumping money into the Sudanese government, much of which is being used against the people in Dar fur. Another example is an offer that is on the table right now for the DRC. They have offered the DRC $5 billion to they can “develop their infrastructure.” Inherently there is nothing wrong with this, in fact it is quite good. It is not until you hear what the DRC must give in return that the true face of China is uncovered. In return for the $5 billion China wants full rights to ALL of the DRC’s natural resources. This means that China will rape the DRC of all its natural resources. They will cut down all their forests, because there are no trees left in China. They will also take any oil deposits that exist. This will leave the country helpless when the $5 billion runs out (which it surely will because most will go into the pockets of the government leaders). Without natural resources a country like the DRC will be helpless in the ever increasing economic world. This is all not to mention what is going on in Burma, which China could be stopping.
Now all of this may be life as usual in terms of the existence of humanity, but I cannot imagine how we have lasted this long if people have always acted in this way. It’s a scary world out there, and all we can do is be a hope in the dark. Be a light in the dark; make an impact, nothing is too small.
Peace and love.
