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Is it my problem?
Often, apart from a little sympathy, we don’t really seem to care about anything that happens beyond our own egocentric world. Five North American homosexual students committed suicide this month after being bullied because of their sexual orientation. Someone somewhere must have witnessed these boys being harassed, and yet it was only after their deaths that we
became concerned.
Or did we? Did we do anything more than shake our head and say “that sucks! Poor kids?” Our hearts may go out to them, but then we return to our lives.
According to starvation.net every 2.43 seconds a child dies of starvation. In the time it took to read this article, 10 children have died. We know these statistics already; we are constantly shown them on commercials, on posters, and in Philosophy 210. But it’s not anyone I know who’s dying, so I am not affected.
David Byrd, in his article “Why apathy affects us all” wrote, “most human behavior can be traced back to the basic motivation of self-preservation and security.” As humans are so focused on what immediately affects “me” that we are honestly disinterested when the lives and rights of others are violated. Turning a blind eye is just easier.
This means that, when it is us being persecuted, we should not be surprised when no one comes to our rescue, because we have all thought at some point “it’s not my problem.”
What we often fail to recognize is that if one person is allowed to be persecuted, we cannot draw a line and say “yeah, but it’s not me.” If homosexual boys are allowed to be bullied, beaten, and dehumanized, how can I say “I know, but leave Christians alone”? If, according to cozay.com, six million children under the age of five die every year, how can I declare “yes, but my little nephew, niece, brother, sister, child must live”?
The very fact that it affects another human being means it affects us all.
YES- how frustrating it is to be dealing with an apathetic world!!
Earlier this month I spoke at a press conference on national television and spoke out against human trafficking- modern day slavery- in Canada. During the question period one journalist asked us, “Why should [he] care?”. I immediately had to remain calm because my first instinct would have been to look him in the eyes and demand to know why he didn’t care in the first place?!?!
Modern-day slavery is a thriving business in Canada enslaving thousands of people each year, yet no one “cares”. There is a market within Canada that is based on the buying and selling of human beings as if they were commodities. It violates every single fundamental human right that has been set out by the United Nations Declaration of human rights! WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE!!
So, Why should we care?? I agree with Bekki 100%- because “the very fact that it affects another human being means it affects us all”.
Furthermore, as CHRISTIANS- people who are striving to follow the life and teaching of Jesus, we’d better start caring about the world because if “God so loved” then we must as well. This is not a polite suggestion, but rather the Great Commandment and Great Commission- “Go forth”, “Feed [His] sheep”, love the “least of these”.
GET SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR FAITH. “Faith without deeds is dead” GO. RIGHT NOW!
GO.
Right on, Tara!
There are over 2 billion Christians around the world. If each of them simply got passionate about something and dedicated themselves to changing the world each in his or her own way, we would be living in a much better place. We have heard many stories of the impact one person can have. Imagine then the impact of one person multiplied 2 billion times! I believe there is still hope for us. After all, attitudes are contagious, right? If we have passionate people like Tara around, maybe not every individual person, but certainly more and more people will have passion rub off on them and wake up from their state of apathy.
I don’t think that our problem is apathy. I think that we are often aware of problems in our world and are very concerned. However, we don’t often feel we have the tools to know what to do to make a difference.We are paralyzed by the magnitude of the problems that we face and are not often aware that other people are concerned or are acting to create change. For example, there are thousands of movements taking place around the world right now around a vast array of issues and many North Americans are involved. But when we only label ourselves and our generation as apathetic, it is very difficult to start a conversation or even learn about other movements.
So, instead of complaining about the “apathy of today” let’s figure out some tools and ways that we can empower both ourselves and those around us. Just saying “go”, while a great step, isn’t enough or empowering. It only ends up creating guilt when people really don’t know what to do and what “go” means in their everyday life. That attitude is what creates the symptoms of apathy.
I don’t believe that people are completely self-centered and self motivated and proclaiming that they are only creates more inaction. After all, if this is just human nature, why/how do my actions make any difference? Therefore, how can we work on empowering people so that they don’t feel guilty, yet at the same time moving all of us to action?
I think in this entire discussion, the empowerment we seek can be found by changing the picture a little bit. As Christians, it’s not all about us doing everything and changing the world by our own desperate actions. It’s about the work of Christ in the world and our participation with him. I don’t have to change the entire world. I don’t have to achieve global justice. Rather, we are called to take one action at a time, building up the community around us, as we work within the work of Christ in the world. This does not equal inaction. Instead, we are empowered because we don’t have to do everything. It’s not up to us. What is required is one step, then another step, and then another, one day at a time. I’ve been amazed at where some of my small steps have taken me!
You, combined with the people around you, have all the tools you need to act in a meaningful way as we all participate with Christ. Start small. Ask questions. Spark discussion. Write letters. Go for nature walks. Watch documentaries. Eat less meat. Journal. Listen to really good music. Meditate. Smile at a stranger. Turn off the lights. Address some of the brokenness in your own life. Volunteer somewhere. Be mindful. Keep asking questions. Consider fair trade. Integrate creativity into your life. Listen to elders. Tell stories. Be yourself and be aware that participating with Christ means becoming more fully yourself as you in turn help others become themselves, no matter who they are.
Breath in, breath out. Find a friend and take a small step.