For the last few days, something has been really troubling me. It started with a debate about whether one should be forced to pay for others in need via taxes. There was some discussion about individuals having more control over where their taxes went, and certainly, there are a lot of wasted tax dollars. What bothered me is the general attitude: why should I care about someone else, all while claiming to be Christian.
I then went to see a movie, Slumdog Millionaire. A Slumdog is what children who live in the slums are called in Bombay. There are entire village living in what we would call a city dump. At one point in the movie, American Tourists ask a beggar boy, who they think works as a tour guide at the Taj Mahal, if he can give them a private tour, because they're special. The boy tries to say, "I'm not a tour guide (and a product of very underfunded education) when they say, "Oh, I'll make it worth your while", offering him $100.
As an orphan who is left to beg on the streets, he of course accepts, and makes everything up, such as why the prince wanted the princess to fall in love with him, so he built this Taj Majal hotel for her. In the meantime, they have stripped the American's car bare.
At one point, a policeman happens by, sees the child, and says, "You fraud! You don't work here!" pushes the child down, and kicks him in the face. The American couple say, "What is this about???" The boy cries, "You said you wanted to see the "Real India"??? Well, this is it!!!"
The woman says, well," then we are going to show you the Real America" and hands the boy some money.
The later show the Indians in a call center, where "Jenny", a fake name from an Indian whose English is coached to sound like the call is coming from inside the country, and not exported, like it often is.
I was bothered more by the broader message. How can adults use children as prostitutes, or remembering the mansions in mexico living next to the people living in the dump, a wall so that they don't even have to look at their poverty.
It's been weighing on me kind of hard, making it hard for me to sleep, so I spent some time in meditation today, and cried for about 2 hours. During that time, I went back to my childhood. My father worked for the gas company, had five kids, so understandably, we had hand me downs, but did ok. Down the street were some kids from rich parents. They often thought themselves better because they had more. They thought that God loved them more because he showered them with wealth. I remember one of the bratty kids asking me if I wanted one of their games that they were going to throw in the trash. It was Operation, and the nose didn't light anymore, and it didn't buzz. Someone took it, not knowing, and then brought it back, saying, "It's broken!!" She said, "So! You should be thankful!!" He answered, "For what????? Your trash? Thank you for giving me YOUR TRASH!!!" And she thought she was being generous, and that we should be thankful. She said, "You hate me because you're jealous", and we would say, "No, we hate you because you have so much, and waste it, or use your wealth to make other people feel bad. I would never want to be you."
I went back to college, remembering my friend David from El Salvador. We worked together in the cafeteria. Those who didn't need jobs laughed at those who had to work, and mocked them. I looked over at David, and realized he was crying. I asked him what was wrong. He said that in his country, people often have no food to eat at all, but here in the US, people have more than enough, and waste it, and I have to watch them waste all of that food that could have been eaten by my people!"
David isn't an emotional guy. He told me that in his country, that he always walked around with a basketball, because soldiers would shoot you if they suspected you of being a guerilla without a trial. He told me once that he was in high school, and a kid came in with a mask on, and pointed out the guerillas to the soldiers. The soldiers took the kids out, and shot them on the playground. They then told the informant to run away, and shot him in the head. One day, he was running at 6am, and saw his friend's severed head in the street, and decided it was time to become a guerilla and fight against his oppressing, murderous government. I asked about the US involvement, and he said that we were supplying arms to those soldiers.
My partner said that he spoke with his mother, who is fighting pancreatic cancer. She said that she stopped going to church. When questioned why, especially in this time of need, she said that any church that is unable to see her son as a child of God because he's gay doesn't serve God. She also said that he preaches that God wants us to be rich, that accumulating wealth makes God very happy, despite that Christ says that it strangles in the Parable of the Seeds, that he says not to build up your fortune on Earth, but store it in heaven, or the more clearly stated: It is more difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
I spoke with a friend from Peru that said (around 2004 or so), I'm so sick of Americans talking about 9/11, and thinking the world revolves around them. There have been terrorist attacks in Peru about once a week, and we are ignored, but someone does it to them, and they want the whole world to watch, and care.
I thought of Gaza, and the Israelis thinking that God is on their side, so it doesn't matter how many they kill. Then, I looked at the US and Iraq. Oh, yes, we are the US, so God is on our side, too.
US Fires on Ambulance
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-12/03/article01.shtml
200 Children Die Every Day from the deterioration of Health Care since the Occupation
http://www.counterpunch.org/hassan12012004.html
Red Cross Finds Detainees Intentionally Tortured in Guantanamo as Lawyers in Germany Charge Rumsfeld, Tenet With War Crimes in Iraq
http://www.democracynow.org/2004/11/30/red_cross_finds_detainees_intentionally_tortured
The number of civilians we have killed in Iraq: Almost 150,000 - not soldiers, civilians.
Imagine that. 150,000 Americans were killed over the last 8 years by an invading country, tortured people, resulted in deteriorated heath care making more people die...
Wouldn't you see them as the Devil???
U.S. Soldier: 'I Was Ordered to Murder Unarmed Iraqi'
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/63780/u.s._soldier:_'i_was_ordered_to_murder_unarmed_iraqi'/
Army Confirms G.I.'s in Korea Killed Civilians
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507EED9163DF931A25752C0A9679C8B63
We're the good guys.
Promised opportunities to work, some come as nannies. Should they be without papers, all the better for the wealthy, who will pay them less than minimum, and should they complain, threaten with the INS or jail.
Man Dies After Wal-Mart Stamp
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/28/national/main4637170.shtml
What's even more disturbing? They didn't stop shopping.
We think God looks down on us with favor. I mean, why else would we be so abundant? (For one reason, our economy was built on slavery.)
It took me back to the bratty rich kids of my neighborhood, who saw sharing as others stealing from them, or offering trash as generosity, and smiling in church.
From Toronto, where gay marriage is legal, and passed pretty quickly, it is still debated and debated in the states, giving gay couples legal rights to live their lives.
In a lot of countries, including Canada, health care is considered a neccesity, not a luxury, or only for those who can afford it.
And yet, the US, with so much, argues that they shouldn't have universal health care. Why should I pay for my sick neighbor who can't afford it? I don't know - ask Jesus while you are at church and I'll bet he has an answer.
There is something seriously wrong with the US, and we need to identify it, and really look at the reasons why everyone hates the US. Like the bratty rich kid, it isn't because they're jealous, but because the US has a lot of power and can do whatever it wants, according to my Korean students, have killed or raped civilians, and there is nothing Korea can do about it, can exploit children to make your clothes, and not once care about it.
Ezekial 16:49
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
I then went to see a movie, Slumdog Millionaire. A Slumdog is what children who live in the slums are called in Bombay. There are entire village living in what we would call a city dump. At one point in the movie, American Tourists ask a beggar boy, who they think works as a tour guide at the Taj Mahal, if he can give them a private tour, because they're special. The boy tries to say, "I'm not a tour guide (and a product of very underfunded education) when they say, "Oh, I'll make it worth your while", offering him $100.
As an orphan who is left to beg on the streets, he of course accepts, and makes everything up, such as why the prince wanted the princess to fall in love with him, so he built this Taj Majal hotel for her. In the meantime, they have stripped the American's car bare.
At one point, a policeman happens by, sees the child, and says, "You fraud! You don't work here!" pushes the child down, and kicks him in the face. The American couple say, "What is this about???" The boy cries, "You said you wanted to see the "Real India"??? Well, this is it!!!"
The woman says, well," then we are going to show you the Real America" and hands the boy some money.
The later show the Indians in a call center, where "Jenny", a fake name from an Indian whose English is coached to sound like the call is coming from inside the country, and not exported, like it often is.
I was bothered more by the broader message. How can adults use children as prostitutes, or remembering the mansions in mexico living next to the people living in the dump, a wall so that they don't even have to look at their poverty.
It's been weighing on me kind of hard, making it hard for me to sleep, so I spent some time in meditation today, and cried for about 2 hours. During that time, I went back to my childhood. My father worked for the gas company, had five kids, so understandably, we had hand me downs, but did ok. Down the street were some kids from rich parents. They often thought themselves better because they had more. They thought that God loved them more because he showered them with wealth. I remember one of the bratty kids asking me if I wanted one of their games that they were going to throw in the trash. It was Operation, and the nose didn't light anymore, and it didn't buzz. Someone took it, not knowing, and then brought it back, saying, "It's broken!!" She said, "So! You should be thankful!!" He answered, "For what????? Your trash? Thank you for giving me YOUR TRASH!!!" And she thought she was being generous, and that we should be thankful. She said, "You hate me because you're jealous", and we would say, "No, we hate you because you have so much, and waste it, or use your wealth to make other people feel bad. I would never want to be you."
I went back to college, remembering my friend David from El Salvador. We worked together in the cafeteria. Those who didn't need jobs laughed at those who had to work, and mocked them. I looked over at David, and realized he was crying. I asked him what was wrong. He said that in his country, people often have no food to eat at all, but here in the US, people have more than enough, and waste it, and I have to watch them waste all of that food that could have been eaten by my people!"
David isn't an emotional guy. He told me that in his country, that he always walked around with a basketball, because soldiers would shoot you if they suspected you of being a guerilla without a trial. He told me once that he was in high school, and a kid came in with a mask on, and pointed out the guerillas to the soldiers. The soldiers took the kids out, and shot them on the playground. They then told the informant to run away, and shot him in the head. One day, he was running at 6am, and saw his friend's severed head in the street, and decided it was time to become a guerilla and fight against his oppressing, murderous government. I asked about the US involvement, and he said that we were supplying arms to those soldiers.
My partner said that he spoke with his mother, who is fighting pancreatic cancer. She said that she stopped going to church. When questioned why, especially in this time of need, she said that any church that is unable to see her son as a child of God because he's gay doesn't serve God. She also said that he preaches that God wants us to be rich, that accumulating wealth makes God very happy, despite that Christ says that it strangles in the Parable of the Seeds, that he says not to build up your fortune on Earth, but store it in heaven, or the more clearly stated: It is more difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.
I spoke with a friend from Peru that said (around 2004 or so), I'm so sick of Americans talking about 9/11, and thinking the world revolves around them. There have been terrorist attacks in Peru about once a week, and we are ignored, but someone does it to them, and they want the whole world to watch, and care.
I thought of Gaza, and the Israelis thinking that God is on their side, so it doesn't matter how many they kill. Then, I looked at the US and Iraq. Oh, yes, we are the US, so God is on our side, too.
US Fires on Ambulance
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-12/03/article01.shtml
200 Children Die Every Day from the deterioration of Health Care since the Occupation
http://www.counterpunch.org/hassan12012004.html
Red Cross Finds Detainees Intentionally Tortured in Guantanamo as Lawyers in Germany Charge Rumsfeld, Tenet With War Crimes in Iraq
http://www.democracynow.org/2004/11/30/red_cross_finds_detainees_intentionally_tortured
The number of civilians we have killed in Iraq: Almost 150,000 - not soldiers, civilians.
Imagine that. 150,000 Americans were killed over the last 8 years by an invading country, tortured people, resulted in deteriorated heath care making more people die...
Wouldn't you see them as the Devil???
U.S. Soldier: 'I Was Ordered to Murder Unarmed Iraqi'
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/63780/u.s._soldier:_'i_was_ordered_to_murder_unarmed_iraqi'/
Army Confirms G.I.'s in Korea Killed Civilians
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507EED9163DF931A25752C0A9679C8B63
We're the good guys.
Promised opportunities to work, some come as nannies. Should they be without papers, all the better for the wealthy, who will pay them less than minimum, and should they complain, threaten with the INS or jail.
Man Dies After Wal-Mart Stamp
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/28/national/main4637170.shtml
What's even more disturbing? They didn't stop shopping.
We think God looks down on us with favor. I mean, why else would we be so abundant? (For one reason, our economy was built on slavery.)
It took me back to the bratty rich kids of my neighborhood, who saw sharing as others stealing from them, or offering trash as generosity, and smiling in church.
From Toronto, where gay marriage is legal, and passed pretty quickly, it is still debated and debated in the states, giving gay couples legal rights to live their lives.
In a lot of countries, including Canada, health care is considered a neccesity, not a luxury, or only for those who can afford it.
And yet, the US, with so much, argues that they shouldn't have universal health care. Why should I pay for my sick neighbor who can't afford it? I don't know - ask Jesus while you are at church and I'll bet he has an answer.
There is something seriously wrong with the US, and we need to identify it, and really look at the reasons why everyone hates the US. Like the bratty rich kid, it isn't because they're jealous, but because the US has a lot of power and can do whatever it wants, according to my Korean students, have killed or raped civilians, and there is nothing Korea can do about it, can exploit children to make your clothes, and not once care about it.
Ezekial 16:49
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
