A study in American Self-absorption
19 Aug 2007
It’s no secret that we as an American culture are pretty well oblivious of things if they don’t directly affect us. I’d like to think that things are slowly changing, but the honest truth is it’s just part of our sin nature to be selfish, and Americans have that down as well as anyone. My goal tonight is not to go “America bashing”, I still (mostly) love being an American citizen and living in our fair country. But it has been blatantly obvious to me the last week or so through America’s greatest contribution to the world, the drive-by media (that’s Limbaugh-ian for ‘the media who only seeks to destroy our morale and innundate us with its leftist, democratic agenda’).
I don’t think it needs much other explaining, just a few comparisons.
9 People die in a Utah mining accident.
180-some Chinese miners likely dead in a flash flood.
Texas prepares for flooding from Hurricane Dean.
Hurricane Dean pummels Jamaica, a country of 2.6 million people, which has enough hurricane shelters to protect just 73,000 people.
David Beckham starts his first MLS game.
The Iraqi national soccer team, against all odds, wins the Asian Cup in an inspiring story of national pride and unity.
Products from China aren’t always safe, and they are a danger to Americans.
Thousands in China are losing their jobs (and only income) because their employers are knowingly producing inferior products to increase revenues.
Superbad topped the box office with $31.2 million in sales this weekend.
Peru set aside $31.7 million to rebuild the cities and lives of 16,600 families who are homeless after the recent earthquake. That’s less than $2,000 per family, assuming the entire amount went to housing (which it won’t).
These are just the things that popped out at me as I browsed the Google News just now. I’m sure you can make a hundred more pretty easily with very little work.
On a brighter note, the AP and MTV released results from a poll that, more or less, came to the conclusion that, “Hey, maybe those conservative, Christian, church people are right after all.” Of course they wouldn’t dare ever say it that way, but hey, take a look for yourself:
Aug 20, 2007 @ 23:08:07
You know what they say; “the difference between major surgery and minor surgery is, major surgery is done on ME, minor surgery is on someone else.” Our challenge as Christians is to continue to to grow in our ability to see the world as God does. Instead of a “cereal box” view that only feels pain when OUR box of corn flakes is empty we are trying to grow to feel burdened because someone else has an empty box. While we as individuals are not God and therefore not nearly big enough to handle ALL of the worlds empty cereal boxes,(and should never become overwhelmed by that limitation)we must expand our world view to the point that we allow ourselves to feel enough burden for mankind that we allow God to mobilize us to reach out to those who are in our sphere of influence.
Oh by the way… humanity has always been good at trivializing the glorious and glorifying the trivial. I guess that’s why we talk about ourselves so much and God so little.