Quote:
Originally Posted by NashvilleDiva_83
I do see your point and respect your opinion but my opinion is this: who cares about darfur... We have enough problems in our own country that need to be worked out to worry about this... Once we have healthcare for all ... Better education and roofs over all American people, then we can worry about that but until then I agree to disagree and say: who cares about darfur
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Nash,
I think we all walk a fine line when it comes to who comes first and what charities and organizations are first on the list to be helped out.
Darfur affects me because we are talking millions of lives being threatened and extinguished through hunger, disease and war. How can we justify allowing a country to treat their own people like that?
When I was younger and a democrat, I was up in arms about every little thing. I was the ultimate pro-choicer (and then I had children - that changes everything) I didn't know how I could fix any of these things, but sitting in college classes and ranting and raving sure felt good. In 1994 it really hit home though. My roommate was a Tutsi from Rwanda. She found out that her entire family had been slaughtered WITH MACHETES a month after it happened. That small country had been cut off from the rest of the world and was quickly eliminating an entire tribe of people. I was absolutely sickened by the Rwandan Genocide. Over 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered by the Hutus. These two tribes had lived peacefully side by side, marrying and having children with one another. And then to literally slaughter your own wife because she was a Tutsi. Unthinkable. But so real. She had nothing to go back to. Her entire family, including aunts, uncles, grandparents, all gone. And those who were Hutus wanted nothing to do with her, obviously.
And then in Yugoslavia. Again, another senseless massacre. And it makes you wonder why. How can this happen?
So now, at this point and being a proud Republican - (something that pretty much everyone becomes when you start your own company, buy a house and begin to pay serious taxes), I think we as the most powerful nation in the world, need to stand up for the little guys. And sometimes this means crossing country borders and making other people angry. Tough.
I teach my children the saying, "What would Jesus do?". Whether you are Muslim, Jewish, Atheist, Christian, you have to admit that he was an amazing man - regardless of whether you believe he is the son of God and died for our sins or was simply an amazing man. He spent his life spreading peace, tolerance, love and forgiveness. And even at the end, when he could have cursed Pontius Pilot and damned him, he forgave him. He forgave them all.
So when I look at all of these countries, all of these innocent people who don't know any better, can't do any different, I have to ask myself, "What would Jesus do?" And Jesus would fight for them all, whether they were humans here and abroad or animals in local shelters. And so my husband, my children and I do. We fight and support causes for them all.