I get that everyone has their own opinions about how healthcare should work, what we should do
about Social Security, whether big or small government works best (I almost walked out of my own house after that sentence. Ugh. So boring).
 |
| Me when someone starts talking about politics |
Republican, Democrat, whatever. Everyone has opinions based on their life, experiences, current situation, etc. And that's fine with me. I'm actually all for it. And to be honest, I couldn't care less what you (or anyone) thinks about any of those things.
But this Syrian refugee crisis has rendered me completely powerless to avoid politics (no matter how much I might want to). I cannot sit quietly while people talk about other peoples' lives so carelessly, while they sit on their couch-thrones and feel like they have the authority to judge the outcome of someone else's life. It makes me a kind of furious I didn't know was possible.
This newfound political fury has gotten me thinking about some things. Not just about the refugees, but about people in general. What has been driving me absolutely insane is the differing amounts of value we place on life. Republic, Democrat, or Independent-- it seems none of us can decide for certain who matters most. (Spoiler alert: it's everyone. Everyone matters most.)
Some people are consistently up in arms about abortions. And rightly so. Hundreds of thousands of babies are killed every year before they're even born. Planned Parenthood is accused of dumping baby parts into landfills and selling them to the highest bidder. All of those things are horrifying to think about.
Other people are focused on animal rescue, which is also a just cause. Over 2.7 million animals are euthanized in shelters every year. No, these aren't human lives, but these are God's creatures that don't deserve to be murdered because of our lack of empathy and responsibility.
In 2010, 1 in 4 children lived in food insecure homes (which is another way of saying 25% of America's children are hungry. Not like, I want another fruit roll up hungry. More like, someone please feed me a meal today hungry).
Around 50,000 people in America die of drug overdoses every year.
More than 21,000 people die of hunger every single day around the world.
Over 220,000 people have been killed during the crisis in Syria, not to mention all those who die trying to escape. Around 6 million of those who have escaped are now living in poverty around the world.
And this list doesn't even begin to cover the people that are sick, dying, and in need all around us. Single mothers who can't feed their children. Thousands living in abject poverty. Millions of people being oppressed around the world. Americans who can't afford medical procedures that will save their lives. Syrians who can't even get access to a doctor to cure a treatable condition. People who are being enslaved, trafficked, imprisoned unjustly.
Here's the part that I can't understand...
People who are broken-hearted by abortions are begging the government to keep refugees out of America.
The people who spend their weekends volunteering at animal shelters are donating their money to Planned Parenthood.
The ones collecting money to feed hungry children are judging and condemning all the addicts who died from overdoses.
People who are traveling to Africa to build clean water systems are speaking out against families on welfare.
Why? How? How can anyone look at one life and say it's worth more than another? How can one person be so concerned about refugees, but think an abortion is a perfectly acceptable answer to a pregnancy? How can someone spend their nights feeding the homeless at a shelter but think drug addicts deserve what they got? How can a person collect clothes for a needy family then say hateful, heartless things about Muslims? How can a person look at one group with compassion and another with fear and disdain?
How does this work? I'm genuinely asking because I can't wrap my mind around it. Souls are souls. Lives are lives. Why isn't this a concept people understand?
I have no great insight, no amazing answers, not even any Scripture to quote (because we all know
God calls us to love people, I don't feel like that's a disputable point).
So someone please help me understand how this works. Why one person means more than another. Why one person deserves life and another doesn't. How can someone be so involved in one humanitarian effort and completely against another?
Does one life matter more than another? Am I completely idealistic to think that we should consider all life important?
If so, I think I'm ok with that.
** I'm sure someone will dispute the numbers I found. Here are all the places I got those stats, feel free to share a correction with me if you think any of those are wrong! That's just what I was able to find.
