Robyn.Bowles.es

I am currently reading this book by Gary Haugen. He is the founder and director of International Justice Mission.. As I had mentioned previously on this site, I’ve been feeling led more and more toward a pursuit of seeking justice, and after reviewing the IJM site, I felt compelled to read this book.

Stories of injustice are rampant around the world, but the stories of the injustices in my country are few in comparison to what is common and even government-supported in many places like Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. I am merely a beginner as a student of this problem, but the little research I have done already has affected me so deeply that I hope I will never be ignorant of the suffering in this world, which I believe, we are called NOT to be ignorant of.

The public outcry, millions of protesters, and outpouring of grief, support and sympathy that followed the attacks of March 11, 2004 brought to mind the fragility not only of my life, and of “our lives” as Westerners, but the lives of the MILLIONS of innocent victims who die and/or are enslaved every year because of acts of terrorism. I’ve asked myself and others why it is that images of the attacks of September 11 and March 11 bring tears to my eyes, but when I read of thousands of innocent Sudanese civilians who have been massacred by terrorists in their own homes – my reaction is only to wince, and move on. Gary Haugen addresses a similar question in his book:

In my natural state my capacity for compassion and love begins with me and proceeds out (or not) to various concentric circles of human relationships with a decreasing fervency. I have a lot of compassion for my family, but by the time my compassion gets out to the remotest concentric circle where people in strange, faraway countries live, I usually don’t have much left. Granted, this is quite understandable. The limitations of my mind, let alone the limitations of my heart, do not allow me to embrace everyone in the world in the same way that God does. . . While this is quite natural and quite human, it is not particularly godly. . . but the extent to which our compassion extends beyond our immediate circle is the extent to which we are loving more like God and less like our carnal selves. – (Good News About Injustice, pp. 82-83)

When I read that statement, I was initially relieved to know that my reaction was “natural and human,” but was quickly reminded that it is NOT (thankfully!) how God reacts. Nor do I believe that God would want me to just accept the notion that I am burdened enough as it is by the compassion that I already extend to those closest to me. He calls us to “love our neighbors” and the neighborhoods extend to “the very ends of the earth.”

But not only to faraway places like “the ends of the earth” – places and countries we’ve never heard of; but also to those who live next door or down the street or those we see while walking along on the sidewalk. Mr. Haugen attempts to define injustice by saying: “Injustice occurs when power is misused to take from others what God has given them, namely their life, dignity, liberty or the fruits of their love and labor.” (p. 72)

This research has lead me to the knowledge of things that prompt me to act. “God has chosen us… to be his hands in doing those things in the world that are important to Him.” (p. 34)

If I interpret this to mean that God NEEDS ME to work on his behalf; if it means he has given me some power and some ability to work toward bringing justice – bringing His kingdom to earth, then may I not waste another day. May I prepare how I must, and DO what I can now.

The first step in DOING anything, and the thing I am most able to do right now is to inform others about the presence of great injustice in this world. We all “know” it’s out there, but have we had even a glimpse of how prevalent, how destructive, how heart-breaking it is for millions of people? And do we care to know how we – ever ignorantly – may in some way be contributing to it?

I encourage you to visit the following sites which represent two organizations doing great things to fight against injustice in this world:

Getting involved can be as easy as becoming informed, informing others and joining with others to voice your intolerance of governments (including our own) and businesses (including those in the U.S.) supporting such practices.

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men [and women] to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke

« Pascua     Real Men Make Quiche »