I commented on the same story in my journal, so I won't re-iterate here. However... I think that in the end, no one--not the religious, not the people in general--really care. Look at it this way: When was the last time you, your friends, your church, me, my family, my colleages--when was the last time any of us found an action so reprehensible we were able to take action on it?
Oh sure, we vote our different ways, but that's the barest a single person can do. When was the last time any one of us was willing to sacrifice our relatively comfortable lives for a cause? When was the last time your friends sold their house and moved into a mobile home so they could use the money to try and put a stop to something like IVF, abortion, or any other conflict that--according to religious doctrine--is the murder of an innocent? I can't name even one person, and my parents do quite well in their business and are very strong Catholics. Anyone can donate from their excess, but none of us is willing to ante up to the real bet.
And it's not exclusively a religions point, it regards Americans in general, much of the Western world in general. Things like IVF, even if it meant the destruction of one billion potential human lives, is so low on anyone's list of priorities that I guarantee you'll be planning your next vacation before you wept for one of those lives. It does not mean you're a bad person, but ultimately no one these days makes sacrifices for another. Oh, the military folks may die in the line of duty, and people may be the odd hero for running into a burning building--but much of that is adrenaline, a spur of the moment thing.
If it sickens people that one child may live for every few hundred that die , consider that the medicines we so value today exist because of entire histories of mistakes, errors, deaths, even murders of the past. No one seems to mourn them, either. Instead we are happy for what we have, regardless of the cost. Are the people who own a reasonably decent home worried that illegal immigrants worked it without medical coverage or long-term pension plans? Not a bit. Are you worried that the plastics in your computer were manufactured with the assistance of children overseas? I doubt any of us so much as blink an eye. When was the last time anyone cared about the lives of those dying in Africa to the point we had to do something about it--even if it was just to get enough money to one family so they would have food, blankets, and a roof over their heads?
People can talk about the cost of living, but the bottom line is that if there is a devil, we have already sold our souls to him in exchange for the comforts we enjoy now. Homes, cars, computers.... and for some of us, children. What do any of us really think Jesus would have to say when the average American values his home more than the lives of a single person living in their own country who wanders the streets sick, without medication because the government they elected decided they were not worth the price? If there is a Christian God, I assure you, we are damned, all of us.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-05-11 08:20 pm (UTC)Oh sure, we vote our different ways, but that's the barest a single person can do. When was the last time any one of us was willing to sacrifice our relatively comfortable lives for a cause? When was the last time your friends sold their house and moved into a mobile home so they could use the money to try and put a stop to something like IVF, abortion, or any other conflict that--according to religious doctrine--is the murder of an innocent? I can't name even one person, and my parents do quite well in their business and are very strong Catholics. Anyone can donate from their excess, but none of us is willing to ante up to the real bet.
And it's not exclusively a religions point, it regards Americans in general, much of the Western world in general. Things like IVF, even if it meant the destruction of one billion potential human lives, is so low on anyone's list of priorities that I guarantee you'll be planning your next vacation before you wept for one of those lives. It does not mean you're a bad person, but ultimately no one these days makes sacrifices for another. Oh, the military folks may die in the line of duty, and people may be the odd hero for running into a burning building--but much of that is adrenaline, a spur of the moment thing.
If it sickens people that one child may live for every few hundred that die , consider that the medicines we so value today exist because of entire histories of mistakes, errors, deaths, even murders of the past. No one seems to mourn them, either. Instead we are happy for what we have, regardless of the cost. Are the people who own a reasonably decent home worried that illegal immigrants worked it without medical coverage or long-term pension plans? Not a bit. Are you worried that the plastics in your computer were manufactured with the assistance of children overseas? I doubt any of us so much as blink an eye. When was the last time anyone cared about the lives of those dying in Africa to the point we had to do something about it--even if it was just to get enough money to one family so they would have food, blankets, and a roof over their heads?
People can talk about the cost of living, but the bottom line is that if there is a devil, we have already sold our souls to him in exchange for the comforts we enjoy now. Homes, cars, computers.... and for some of us, children. What do any of us really think Jesus would have to say when the average American values his home more than the lives of a single person living in their own country who wanders the streets sick, without medication because the government they elected decided they were not worth the price? If there is a Christian God, I assure you, we are damned, all of us.