In Postville, Iowa, people protested
Working conditions at a kosher meatpacking
Plant that was raided in May by
Immigration authorities.
In the world we live in it’s difficult not to notice injustice on every corner. In this case, literally. My office is located across the way from a major ministry organization. If you asked 100 people about this org I would assume about 99 would praise it for all the good works it does around the world. It has a great reputation and I believe it has changed millions of lives. Last week each time I left my office for a lunch break there were a few people on the corner holding a huge banner that read “SHAME ON (INSERT ORG NAME HERE)” and then listed a website for labor abuse of some sort. Now I admit I never memorized the website and have since googled the organization and possible issues regarding the banner, but I haven’t found anything. So I’m speaking here without have any actual facts. The point of this rant, however, isn’t the facts of this particular issue. It’s what a coworker said as we drove past the corner yesterday.
“Did you see the people on the corner here last week?” She asked. Yes, but I never really figured out what it was about.” She replied, “Me neither because I would never look at them because I didn’t want them to think I believed what they were saying because I like “insert org name here.”
Hmmmm. That really got me to thinking. Doesn’t it seem strange to decide to ignore a potentially valid problem with something or someone because you like them? Is it even ethical to turn a blind eye when a person, organization, political group, church, etc, is doing something wrong-perhaps something small in the grand scope of all the good they do-because you want to continue to believe they are wholly good? And how often do we do this? What stores do we continue to shop at when we have a sinking suspicion they get some of their products from sweat shops? What political figures to we continue to promote or vote for when we know they condone killing of innocent people in the name of war? What industries do we drive by each day knowing that they are polluting the very air we breathe? What products do we purchase from conglomerates who use heavy handed or violent tactics on their workers? What foods do we consume even though they were produced by people who were abused or not paid a living wage? What houses do we worship at knowing they spend $95 million on renovations that include waterfalls rather than a shelter for the homeless or some other practical addition? (OK, so no one I know actually worships at this church, but you know what I mean.) What national events are we watching every night this week on a network that spent $900 million that could have gone to help so many poor, sick, dying people around the world? And how, in this world we live in, with injustice on every corner, do we even find the courage to leave the house, knowing we’ll encounter perhaps all of this and maybe more in one day?
Is that why we just don’t look at the “banners” we drive by? Because there are just so many? And can we pick just one thing and take a stand for that without taking a stand for everything else? And then, how do we even take a stand? Is only buying local produce really doing enough? Is taking the literature from the people on the corner enough? Do we need to write letters to congress? Do we need to donate money? Do we need to quit our jobs and give our lives to some issue somehow? What is enough? I think the more important question might be what isn’t enough? I don’t know. I’m sure it’s quite different for everyone. Plus, it's OK and even good to recongnize the good that many if not all of the things/people/orgs I mentioned above do. But is mostly good enough to outweigh some bad? Please understand I’m struggling with this, I’m not pointing fingers. I wish I could be more like the person I wish I was. Get it? These are just my thoughts. And lucky you, you get to read about them :)
Here are some cool related websites:
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/corporateHRviolators.html
http://www.hrw.org/
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
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