A tale of a consuming conscience (or am I a fashion victim for the victims of fashion?)

Dan Kimball has this great post asking whether all the current interest in social justice is just  the trendy thang to be doing at the moment - a great Q which has pricked my conscience to write this response to Dan's thoughts...

The scary thing is that most of us (including me) do care for the poor through consuming an event  or a product- so I go watch 'live 8,' wear the white wrist band for make poverty history (or if we have a blog put it in the corner), go buy a red GAP tee using my red american express, give a few $ to  some guy collecting on the corner get my sticker and feel suitably smug that I am helping the poor - "heh what did you do?"  "I bought the live 8 dvd box set!"  Wow that is so awesom, can I watch it after you?" etc...

cont...

or maybe that's just me - that's the problem on the one hand it is so achingly cool and trendy that i can see why, Dan, your friend who has been doing it for yrs (probably wrist band free) suddenly finds himself embarressed.

Who of us know or even care if live 8 did what it said it would do? After consuming the event and living the experience how many of us have held our politicians accountable or have we moved on to the next cause/colour wrist band? Do we care about the on-going experience of millions of people who live in poverty and facing death - what sort of commitment backed with my time and money am I prepared to make? what sacrifices to my own consumeristic tendancies am I willing to contemplate?

I see that the miniture earth flash aninmation is doing the blog circuit at the moment - is this the next trendy thang for me to post? to view, to discuss? Ok it has an amazing impact, especially in reflection/re-commitment but how soon will it become for me that really cool thang I saw once???

I guess I need a good reminder, like your post Dan, to actually make me look at my motives - there is so much I can do to lobby my politicians and encourage people I interact with to engage and stay engaged rather than just feel trendy about it - although i guess anyone who is helped by my trendy $'s and consumption of the event probably doesn't care if i am feeling good about it or, they are just glad to be alive.

To keep remembering, repeating, repenting, rethinking that Jesus in his manifesto in Luke 4 stated that his mission was to preach good news to the poor - not just poor in spirit but the actual poor. If there was ever a calling to take on the challenge of my own self interest and consumeristic tendancies it's right there - the poor can not give me anything back and yet Jesus states we are to preach good news to the poor. The poor who have the least to lose and the most to gain from that good news...

I am also reminded again of the quote attributed to St Francis to "preach the gospel whereever you go and if necessary use words."

Or maybe I could just add another colour to my rainbow collection of wrist band...

Comments

[molly]

Okay, true confession time.

Can we actually make poverty history? This is probably my Dispensationalist Background speaking here, but didn't Jesus say, "the poor you will always have with you?" Obviously He wasn't saying to IGNORE them, because He sure focused on them BIGTIME, but...can we get rid of poverty altogether on this planet? Or can we not worry about that, and instead focus on lifting up the downtrodden in our own sphere, including getting into their's, including getting them into ours, including the spheres that are global as well as our own local communities.

I am ALL for giving, and all for reaching out to those who are the "have-not's" of this world, and I have been ever since I was a little girl. But I am not, at least at this point, wanting a Make Poverty History thingy on my blog, because I don't think that's possible. What I *do* think is possible is living out a Gospel that reaches out to the lowly, right here and right now, in very practical tangible ways.

NOW that I'm off that rabbit trail, let me start another one (stop rolling your eyes at me!)...

I thought Kimball was on to something, personally. We are a rather faddish bunch. HOWEVER, this is an awful good fad, and, who knows, maybe it will start something, spark something...? If I was a person without anythign and someone gave me a blanket, I really wouldn't care if someone was motivated by a "giving" fad. I'd just feel much warmer at night. You said as much in your post. Whether it's a trend or not, it sure is nice to see it happening. :)

So I think that those of us who are not "faddish" in this regard, if we can continue to educate others (as to the real needs, the real sufferings) and continue to bring this subject up---when it's cool and when it's not cool---that will help keep it alive even when the fad is gone.

Okay, my opinionated self is leaving the building now...

[Paul]

It's a great point Molls.

And I suppose we need to take Jesus words in Matt 26 in context - here were people tut tutting about extravagant worship that a prostitute has just lavished on Jesus and saying well that hussy could have given Jesus the perfume and he could have sold it and given the money to the poor... you can almost here the sort of judgemental, ain't we so good/holy/pure - and Jesus, in my take is basically saying shame on you, you don't really care about the poor you're just trying to put shame on this gal, trying to diminish her sacrifice - if you really care about the poor you have plenty of opportunities to do something, but this woman only had the one one opportunity to acknowledge and annoint me and she took it...

I think we need to also say contrast this with Lk 12:33 Jesus says to sell our possessions and give to the poor... something that I don't really do, so is it any wonder the poor are always with us...

some good links worth checking out if/when your opinionated self returns to the building ;):

Micah project http://www.micahchallenge.us/(HT to Mak for highlighting it on her blog)

and I thought this post over at Rick's was challenging:
http://blindbeggar.org/?p=317#comments

[molly]

Hm. Okay, I'll think about this, read about this, and then get back to you.

...

:)

[Joy]

Ok, I'm slow... blame it on my inability to watch tv before 11pm! But I just got the "go buy a red GAP tee using my red american express" thing... I happened to catch Oprah and Bono this afternoon.

I see the problematicness of trendy consciousness (err... does that make sense??). I am so new to all these ideas, that my head is literally pained!! I can't believe how little it takes to get the necessary meds to those who need them. I can't believe the incredible bilking that is going on. I am saddened and ashamed!

I am reading "Exiles" and realize just how little I do know!! I just want to say, "God, can you possibly give me a five minute BREAK!!??"

After watching Bono, I really did want to buy a red T! They are cute! But for $28?? I think I'd rather send 100% of it rather than the GAP get their cut. I don't shop there anyway.

Ok, so we have the poor always. Maybe we can alleviate hunger, poverty, maybe AIDS can be like smallpox and become much more easily treated and even cured! But I'm telling you now, I don't know which way to go with all this... it is too much!! It is too hard! MY kids don't go to the doctor unless it is life or death and we have NO dental care... so how do I get involved in helping to alleviate suffering in the world?

I'm glad you are on this trip, too, Molly... I know you are a mom. And I know this is all newish to you... Thanks, Paul, for letting us air it out here.

[Paul]

Thanks Joy - I know i slammed it a lil in my post as a trendy thang to do - but miniture earth is well worth checking out, at least it puts it into perspective how much we have, the fact that our kids can get to a doctors in an emergency and they'll get top quality health care etc just shows how far we are ahead of most of the world.

By nature in the west we are a consumer society so I think the whole red thang is tapping into that - buy something (that's cute/cool :) and btw feel good as you'll be helping poor people - now if that is our common cultural meme then why not, it's all a win win. Cos the Q i ask myself is i might buy the tee and consume for social benefit because how likely am i to really take the $28 and give it to christian aid, oxfam, DATA or any of the other charities working...

maybe that is one reason for writing about this... to keep challenging me not to settle just for me...

Appreciate you stopping by and for sharing the journey

Warmly

Paul

[Tim]

There’s an anecdotal description regarding the distribution of wealth around the world I heard recently. It goes – ‘If all the worlds wealth were collected together and given to each man woman and child inhabiting the earth, within 18 months the 2% that had 90% of the wealth in the first place would have it again.

Cleary this indicates that Jesus wasn’t naïve in commissioning us to ‘make poverty history’ (in my opinion impossible), he just frankly tells us to look after the poor, as they will always be with you.

People are poor for all different kinds of reasons (squandered wealth, lowly economic start in life etc) – but surely as Paul say, ‘do good as you have opportunity’ fills us in on our part to play. So next time we buy cheap food, clothes etc from some far off land, think about what the person life is like so that we can have ‘X’ product at a ridiculous price and have it to excess.

[Paul]

Tim, I think you are right bro, chucking cash at the problem is maybe part of the problem, that would be the easy solution in some ways as where are they going to buy from but western corporations, there is no wealth/health infrastructure/investment in that scenario...

So I agree I think it is a long term, long haul thang - for instance abolishing slavery in america didn't free black americans from economic oppression, class injustice and racism... that took and probably still does take an enourmous amount of effort, energy, commitment, investment...and money. Look at what was exposed in New Orleans after the hurricane hit - it was not so much the economic damage but the social damage that had been there for so long, hidden away...

I think it comes down to not how much am I prepared to pay but what cost I am prepared to meet... am I really ready to try and enage in this in a constructive sustainable ways or just at the whims of my conscience? Hmmm i should stop asking myself tough Qs...