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God, you are the one who gave me life.
Why are we suffering?
- Lines of a hymn sung among the survivors of Haiti's earthquake while camped overnight in St. Pierre's Plaza, Port-au-Prince. (Source: McClatchy)
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Haiti: God Is Suffering With Those Who Are Suffering
There are times when events make everything else pale in comparison. I’m in Los Angeles today on my book tour, but the news of Tuesday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake hitting Haiti is one of those times. Over the past few hours, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off CNN. The tragedy in Haiti is unbelievable -- the pictures of the pain and destruction are haunting. My heart breaks for the families and the victims of this tragedy.
Information continues to develop, but what we already know staggers the imagination. Both the Haitian prime minister and the consul general to the U.N. have said that as many as 100,000 people are likely to have died. The International Red Cross estimates that one-third of Haitians -- about 3 million people -- were affected by the earthquake. The Catholic archbishop of Port-au-Prince is known to be dead, and the chief of the U.N. mission in Haiti remains missing.
In a heart-rending story, the The New York Times reported on the scene in Port-au-Prince:
The tiny bodies of children lay in piles next to the ruins of their collapsed school. People with faces covered by white dust and the blood of open wounds roamed the streets. Frantic doctors wrapped heads and stitched up sliced limbs in a hotel parking lot.
The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, still struggling to recover from the relentless strikes of four catastrophic storms in 2008, was a picture of heartbreaking devastation Wednesday after a magnitude-7 earthquake.
In response, the world is mobilizing. President Obama, in a statement, said:
I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives. The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief -- the food, water and medicine -- that Haitians will need in the coming days. In that effort, our government, especially USAID and the Departments of State and Defense are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region, and around the world.
The U.S. has sent Agency for International Development helicopter search-and-rescue teams, a U.S. Navy amphibious ship with medical capabilities, and is sending the USNS Comfort hospital ship. Other military and civilian aid teams are also on the way. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has canceled the remainder of her trip in Asia to return to Washington to help direct the relief efforts. Canada, European nations, and countries across Latin America have mobilized supplies and aid.
In this kind of natural disaster, it is almost always the poorest who suffer the most -- those who have the least to lose are often those who lose the most. Life is always hard for poor people -- living on the edge is insecure and full of risk. Natural disasters make it worse. Yet even in normal times, poverty is hidden and not reported by the media. In times of disaster, there continues to be little coverage of the excessive impact on the poor.
Tragic moments like this bring out the best in global citizens, as we put aside our differences and unite in support of the victims and their families. Haiti is no stranger to hardship, poverty, or sorrow. As Katrina revealed in New Orleans, this earthquake will once again unmask the unbelievable poverty that exists in countries like Haiti. Nearly 80 percent of Haiti’s population lives in abject poverty. I pray that this is not simply another tragic event we see on TV as we channel surf, but I hope it reminds us of our brothers and sisters around the world and down the street, who suffer not only from tragic events -- but who suffer every day.
I also want to say a word about God and evil. Pat Robertson said that Haiti’s earthquake was caused because of the country’s “pact with the devil.” I don’t even know what he means, nor do I care. But I want to say this: My God does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down; instead, God is in the very midst of this tragedy, suffering with those who are suffering. When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, where is God? The answer is simple: God is suffering with those who are suffering.
Let us all keep the people of Haiti in our prayers. And let us all give what we can to help in the relief efforts. Sojourners readers are posting recommended ways of responding to the Haiti earthquake on our Facebook page. Please click here to post your suggestions there or to find ways to help.
Help Haitians to Help Haiti: Grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the U.S.
President Obama has said his administration will halt all deportations of Haitians currently detained by immigration enforcement officials. This is the wise and compassionate choice, but we urge him to take the next step and grant Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to all undocumented Haitians currently living in the United States.
TPS would allow the thousands of Haitians who are already in the United States the ability to stay here temporarily, secure work permits, and send money home to support relief efforts. TPS was intended to help in situations like this natural disaster.
+Click here to ask President Obama to grant Temporary Protected Status to Haitians in the U.S.
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INSIDE SOJOURNERS MAGAZINE |
Donald Miller Video
Don Miller is the founder of The Mentoring Project and author of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. Miller spoke with assistant editor Jeannie Choi during Sojourners' Mobilization to End Poverty last April to share his vision to provide role models to the fatherless, and his practice of tithing as a spiritual discipline.
Watch the video interview, or read Miller’s commentary in this month’s issue of Sojourners.
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ON THE GOD'S POLITICS BLOG |
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Haiti: Praying, Waiting, and Worshiping in the Rubble
by Leah Beidler
The Bible School building collapsed all over the attic and the office floors. Students were in classes. Bruce, David, and a bunch of students are still working trying to get the last two students out. We haven't heard noises from them recently so we're not sure they're alive. We don't have the equipment for this.
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Haiti: God's Love is Greater
by Tony Campolo
Haiti's former dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier, was a voodoo witchdoctor, and when he was driven from power it was widely rumored that he offered an infant boy as a blood sacrifice to Satan, and cursed the country with an evil spell to bring disasters and suffering upon the Haitian people. You may not believe in that sort of thing, but many Haitians do. Now we must show them that God's love, expressed through sacrificial people, is greater than the forces of darkness.
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Haiti and Anti-Evangelist Pat Robertson's 'Gospel' of Disgrace
by Jarrod McKenna
Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have nothing on the greatest evangelist of atheism today, Pat Robertson. We cry out with the Psalmist, "How long O Lord", and let these tear soaked prayers [for God's healing Presence to penetrate the pain of our world] fuel our compassionate response to the suffering of these sisters and brothers. Yet our heart-break has turned to anger as another 'teleevangelist' offers ridiculous easy antidotes that are devoid of compassion (let alone sanity) and filled with self-righteous pretence.
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Beyond Wealth Without Work
by Chuck Collins
This morning's Wall Street Journal headline reads, "Panel Rips Wall Street Titans." At yesterday's first meeting of the Congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, finance industry CEOs sheepishly acknowledged their role in driving the economy over a cliff. Watching the commission hearing, however, I wished that Jim Wallis got to ask a few of the questions of the bank CEOs.
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Michael Steele and Racially Insensitive or Racist Comments
by Randy Woodley
Chris Wallace confronted Steele with the implication the incident that occurred on Hannity was racially insensitive. Steele responded by saying, "If it is, I apologize. It wasn't intended to be a racial slur." The words of any apology that begin with "if it is" are a good indication that the offender has no idea if the offense is offensive or not. It means the offender has not thought through the implications of the words. In other words, it's a cover up and a non-apology, apology.
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The Televangelist and the Archbishop: Contrasting Christian Responses to Haiti's Tragedy
by César Baldelomar
Robertson suggests that the earthquake is somehow the Haitians' fault for turning away from God. Where is the sympathy and compassion? Where is the Christian response? Perhaps we can look at a statement by the Catholic Archbishop of Miami.
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Ayiti...ke'w an Dey: My Lament for Haiti
by Martha St. Jean
Ayiti...ke'w an Dey... "Haiti believe in God," reads a friend's Google mail status. Underdeveloped + Overpopulated = Recipe for disaster. Chaos. Catastrophe. Anguish. Destroyed. Shattered. I grew up with these words and they have been repeatedly used to describe what is currently occurring in Haiti.
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When Money Gets Messy
by Kathy Khang
Let's put it this way. I've been asked to speak about sex and sexuality more than a dozen times in a given year. I have yet to be asked to speak about money...
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Avatar and The Blind Side: The Never-ending Messianic Complex Story
by Soong-Chan Rah
The last two movies that my wife and I had the chance to watch were Avatar and The Blind Side. Not sure how that happened, but both movies had very rich missiological and race themes to them. Or maybe I just see everything in that way.
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Woza 2010 Woza! Reasons for Optimism in Africa
by Nontando Hadebe
Woza 2010 Woza! Meaning 'come 2010 come!' There is an air of excitement not only in South Africa but across the continent as the World Cup Football Tournament will be hosted in Africa for the first time. Despite the tragic attack on Togolese team members at the African Cup of Nations Soccer Tournament currently taking place in Angola, there is an unstoppable optimism and excitement.
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Trail of Dreams: Undocumented Students March from Miami to DC
by Juliana Schnur
While many college students slept off their New Year's festivities, Gaby Pacheco, Juan Rodriguez, Felipe Matos, and Carlos Roa began the decade on a more agile note. These four protesters, former students of Miami Dade University, began a 1500-mile march on Jan. 1. The march, titled "The Trail of Dreams," will run from Miami, FL to Washington, DC to raise awareness of the broken immigration system and the urgency of reform.
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The Author of Time's Report on Race and Megachurches: Interview with David Van Biema
by Edward Gilbreath
When a trendsetting megachurch like Willow Creek makes racial diversity a priority, people take notice. But will it stick? With that question in mind, we called Time religion reporter David Van Biema to ask him about the story behind his article and what he learned, as an impartial observer, about the evangelical community and race.
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Time's Report on Race and Megachurches: The Backstory
by Edward Gilbreath
I was a bit taken aback when Time's religion writer David Van Biema called me out of the blue last year to pick my brain on the "desegregation of evangelical megachurch" theme around which his article was taking shape.
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Terrorism and 'the Primitive Brain'
by Brian McLaren
The reflexive reaction to danger has great survival value when you're trying to escape from a saber-toothed tiger or when you are trying to bring down a mastodon to feed your clan. But the primitive brain isn't so helpful when you're in the middle of a tense conflict with your spouse, or you're negotiating with a high-strung teenager. Or dealing with terrorists.
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Not All Racial Comments Are Created Equal
by Valerie Elverton Dixon
Trent Lott expressed a desire to keep African-Americans as second class citizens in the United States. Harry Reid expressed confidence that an African-American could be elected to the highest office in the land.
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Do You Believe in (Compounding) Magic?
by LaVonne Neff
What troubles me is that the word "compounding" is often coupled with the word "magic." Google the two words together (or try "compounding" + "miracle"), and you will see what I mean. The idea is that if you reinvest the interest on your initial investment, over time it will grow to dizzying amounts.
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Bishops Flex Moral Muscle for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
by John Gehring
While attention is focused on final negotiations over health-care legislation, Catholic bishops have signaled they will play a leading role in pushing for comprehensive immigration reform this year by using the power of their pulpits and bipartisan political influence on Capitol Hill.
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Five Ways (and 27 Million Reasons) to Fight Human Trafficking
by Julie Clawson
There are some 27 million people held in slavery in our world today -- many of them kidnapped and trafficked victims: children stolen from their families to work in the cocoa fields; young girls who know of no other life than give sex to men -- girls as young as five or six; women promised a decent job who end up locked inside some rich person's house without papers forced to clean, cook, and provide sex for the husband.
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Free Markets and False Dichotomies
by Douglas Kmiec
I recently thought of the book's message against mindless consumption and materialism that distorts the true meaning of work and community as I met with a senior White House advisor on economic policy. He is one of the brightest economists in the land, so it was a bit disturbing that when he outlined his advice to the president, it did not contemplate the considerations of the book.
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Live from New York: It's the New Conversation
by Onleilove Alston
As a native New Yorker I am all too familiar with how being the center of economic power causes us to devalue our time. I think many New Yorkers would benefit from considering the fact that, as stated by Rev. Wallis, "a calendar is a moral document." What does it mean for us to consider calendar keeping as a spiritual practice?
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Oldest Known Hebrew Script, Recently Deciphered, Links Worship and Justice
by Duane Shank
David. Prof. Gershon Galil of the Department of Biblical Studies at the University of Haifa, who deciphered the text and determined it was an ancient form of Hebrew, explained that "This text is a social statement, relating to slaves, widows and orphans."
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Asian Does Not Equal White
by Kathy Khang
Asians are not white. Asian Americans are not white. If we were, my answer to "Where are you from?" would never be followed by "No, I mean where are you really from? You know. Like where were you born?"
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ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Words like "crisis" get thrown around fairly regularly these days, in the era of the Great Recession, spiraling health care costs, and record budget deficits. Another kind of crisis is the focus of the Rev. Jim Wallis’ new book, Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street. +Click to continue
What Is Today's Greatest Moral Issue?
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Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, is beginning a book tour promoting his new book, Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street—A Moral Compass for the New Economy. The book examines how to respond to the economic recession through the eyes of faith. On Sunday, Wallis wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post on how the economic crisis is also a spiritual crisis. +Click to continue
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