As Haiti begins to fade from the headlines and our country turns its attention to things like the Super Bowl, the Olympics and American Idol, will we now turn our backs on Haiti? Will there still be vigils, concerts, and fundraisers? Or will we simply begin to move on?
The tragedy in Haiti began well before an earthquake leveled Port-au-Prince at 4:53 p.m. on January 12, killing as many as 200,000 and leaving millions inured and homeless. An earthquake of a magnitude equivalent to the Haiti disaster (7.0) hit the San Francisco area in 1989, but only 63 people were killed. Haiti was already the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere. With an average income of only $520 a year, Haiti was among the poorest nations in the world and lacked basic education, healthcare, and infrastructure.
It is important that we not let mere charity replace true justice. The longstanding tragedy of this story is that it takes a tsunami or earthquake for us to wake up to the realities and vulnerabilities of extreme poverty and inequity. Perhaps the "good news about Haiti" is that we don't have to wait for another earthquake to get serious about poverty and injustice.
It can be hard to sustain a commitment of faith and justice when we aren’t flooded with a constant flow of stories, images and reminders. Pop stars return to selling albums, the television reverts back to new programs, elected leaders focus on the next campaign, and each of us naturally return to our own day-to-day lives.
What would it look like to move justice from an afterthought to the center of our community life? To re-examine how we view, spend and even earn money? To encourage our elected leaders to make international development a priority? And to truly pursue and carry out Christ’s “good news for the poor?”
The Hole in Our Gospel
- Relevant Magazine
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