In a speech at the White House near the end of the twentieth century Elie Wiesel spoke of the perils of indifference, ignoring or not caring about the suffering of others. We don’t have to wear sackcloth or donate all of our money to charitable causes, but we must be aware of injustice and need in the world around us. We must work to erase the horrors of the present even if it means sacrificing some of our luxuries. The wrong approach would be to insist that sufferings happening far away from our neighborhoods or our nation have nothing to do with us. If we are indeed to be compassionate and loving Christians or Jews or Muslims or agnostics we must be willing to speak out whenever and wherever we see humans being persecuted or ignored. It is up to each of us to actively work to stamp out ignorance and hate and brutality. Averting our glances or proclaiming that it is none of our concern is the prelude to assassinations and wars and genocides.
Every person on this earth is worthy of enjoying a good life of freedom, security and respect. Sadly far too many souls are victims of circumstances over which they have little control. When they come to us pleading for understanding and help we must not allow indifference to their plights cause us to ignore or even persecute them.
We often refuse to ask the right questions when massive numbers of people are risking their very lives to cross over our borders. Instead of seeing them as problems that must be eradicated we need to ask why they are here. We need to know what they are attempting to escape, what they hope to find. We must treat them as the beautiful individuals they are. We would do well to show them respect and kindness. But for our own good fortune we might be one of them, dreaming of a decent life for ourselves and for our families. When our only thought is to deport them or treat them like criminals without ever knowing them, we are practicing the most vile form of indifference.
When we condemn the students who are attempting to make us aware of the destruction of life in Gaza we might be inclined to see them as trouble makers, rabble rousers who are behaving like spoiled children. Our indifference to what they have to say clouds the real issue which is that they want justice for the innocent, not for Hamas or evil doers. They want the displaced children and families of Gaza to be safe. Their intentions are admirable, not anti-semitic. They only criticize the extreme violence being inflicted on people who had nothing to do with the October attack on Israel. The majority of them advocate for peace and fairness. They are not indifferent to the nuances of the conflict, but many times those of us who criticize them are in fact indifferent to their good intentions.
When we hurl our religious invective at people that we consider to be perverse we are acting exactly the opposite to true Christian beliefs. We become hardened and indifferent to Jesus’ message to love each other. Our judgmental attitudes keep us from seeing those whose lifestyles are not the same as ours as human beings worthy of love and compassion. Our indifference to the the taunting and suffering that they continue to endure in the name of all that is holy is in stark contrast to how Jesus urged us to be. He did not hang out with the wealthy or even the most religious men of his time. He spurned sacred rules that hurt people. He embraced those who were shunned by society over and over again. Surely as we read about his life it should be obvious that he was never indifferent to the most vulnerable outcasts. In fact, he died because of his audacious behavior that pointed to the hypocrisy of religious men who hid behind the rules of indifference.
I firmly believe that most people are good. They want what is best for all people. Sometimes they just feel overwhelmed by the many events that are wreaking havoc in the world today. Sometimes they simply believe that they must first begin with themselves and their families. After all it would be incredibly daunting to be responsible for the entire world. Not even the great President Franklin Roosevelt thought that he should interfere with the way things were by welcoming the Jewish refugees who sought relief in the United States when they sailed here on the St. Louis. He watched as they were sent back, perhaps hoping that they would ultimately be okay. Instead many of them eventually perished in concentration camps.
We might have thought that being part of the Civil Rights movement of the twentieth century was really none of our business but our indifference to segregation and prejudice toward our Black brothers and sisters forced leaders like Martin Luther King Jr and others to show us the faces of fellow citizens who had yet to be freed from the prejudices of slavery. Those marchers made the people who were still waiting to be released from the chains of racism visible and real to us. It was imperative that we be roused from accepting things the way they had always been.
Indifference is the enemy of justice and compassion. There are times when we must not look away no matter how uncomfortable it may be to seek the truth. We cannot suggest that because something does not directly affect us that we should not worry about it. We must always be open to learning about the problems of people the world over. We should be willing to listen to them without preconceived notions and we must act when we have the opportunity to help them. Most among us already do such things. Others are unsure or maybe even a bit afraid to take on the problems of people they do not know. We can start by being open and loving and caring about making a difference.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 