There was a picture last week that circulated the internet news outlets. It was of the 3 year old boy, lifeless on the beach, who drowned with his mother and brother when a small raft his father had secured from a migrant smuggler, capsized in the sea. The father and now widower, broken from grief, stated he wouldn't attempt to flee any longer because now he had no happiness to fight for. I think I held my breath the entire time I was reading the article.
I wondered why our leadership hadn't done something yet; why it seemed that NO ONE was doing anything. I also felt incredibly ignorant about the whole situation. What was happening?
Who were the good guys? Who were the bad guys? The best answer I could come up with is that it depends on what you need from one side or the other, and at what time you need it. At least that's how I see it from my vantage point here in the beautiful rural countryside of Indiana. In the country I call home, the one where some of our biggest news stories are about social injustices, I see little focus on the international crisis occurring right now. Ironic. I remember thinking that apparently all AMERICAN lives matter. Others, eh, not so much. I'm sick to my stomach thinking about it.
I liken ISIS to being the Westboro Baptist Church, those who have a faith in one God would likely say that the teachings and behavior of that particular congregation do not follow the teaching of Jesus Christ and this one commandment- Romans 13:9-10 "Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God's law." Being left with this teaching from Christ, it shows that what the Westboro Baptist Church teaches is a contradiction to the teachings of Christ, to the word of God. Full of hatred, self-righteousness, indignation (or as ISIS has shown- murderous, disregard for life) for anyone who doesn't submit to their religious truth- it seems to be unjust that they can use the label of Christian, or Muslim for that matter.The Quran, based on the teachings of the prophet Mohammad, specifically refers to Jews and Christians as "people of the book" who should be protected and respected. I have heard groups described as Extremist Muslim groups or Extremist Christian groups. I feel these are such misleading titles and that in all honesty "Muslim" and "Christian" should be dropped. The religion they say they identify themselves as, is not accurate- it would be like calling a stay at home mom an extreme feminist. Or myself, raised in a meat eating family, part of an Extremist Vegetarian group. It just screams insanity. Hanging on to a defined group because parts of your group share similarities with some parts of the overall group, isn't even logical. I certainly don't claim to be a vegetarian because I eat fruits and vegetables.
Could it be that few countries have stepped in because they don't want to be identified with a particular group of people, who happen to have a religious affiliation? Both of which believe in one God. Being fearful of accusers who would call them anti-Muslim or anti-Christian. Would championing an international social justice cause hurt a country's belief systems? If people will champion the keeping of religious beliefs, traditions and historical references from any social aspect of our communities, does that mean we have no duty to intervene when human rights are being violated, even if those violations are based on religious ideologies? As America seeks to remove God and Christianity from being the cornerstone principle that this country was founded on, and instead promotes a moral ground work based on individual rights, above all, (at least the rights that the current majority agrees with) then what happens when the majority becomes less and less moral? What will be the touchstone for those rights? Will the evolution of human rights be a progression of a loving, caring, compassionate people? Or will the evolution of human rights be a progression of entitlement, individual promotion and narcissism? Does it have to be either or? Can a country of people agree that the moral compass of a nation should be based on the inherent value of all life and maybe stop tearing each other apart when it's actually a common goal both sides believe in?
I want to believe that all people see the value in everyone they meet, because we all bleed the same. How will we become the change? How can we live the basic belief that life matters?
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