Make Joseph Kony Famous

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According to the Invisible Children’s website among their core focuses is this:

So they are being very transparent that part of their focus is to assist those affected by the LRA, not just to take the LRA leader out of action. And sure, I would certainly imagine that any Christians IC has on the ground in Uganda or other parts of Central Africa are not shy about evangelizing, along with providing other key assistance and aid to many broken Ugandan communities.

I see nothing wrong with this. In fact, on the contrary. I see this all as a positive thing that’s going on. And if the message of Christianity is providing some people a greater sense of hope and purpose, whether you believe the message or not, this is also a positive thing that is happening. I will agree with Tal’s earlier assessment that this sort of assistance isn’t likely to make Uganda a healthy, vibrant country (i.e. it’s not going to “solve their problems”), but damn, as a human being it sure seems right to provide even some small help for the helpless.

The alternative that many around here seem to be advocating is to pull IC the hell out of Uganda. Personally, I’d rather have some hope there, whether the helpers be Christian, Muslim, Hindu, secular, or any combination of religions and creeds. I believe it’s better to help our fellow man, even if that help only affects a few, and even if that help doesn’t solve larger geopolitical issues that plague an area. Let Africa sink? Well, if they’re going to sink I’m not sure the world can do much to stop them. Provide a few souls some lifeboats? Sure, that, to me, is a worthy human endeavor.

I begin to understand that Invisible Children is about more than just stopping one bad dude from doing bad things. It’s about providing hope and aid to those who literally have nothing. It’s about loving your fellow human.

@Ragusa, I watched the entire Liberty video at your suggestion. I’m not at all repulsed by what I saw. I saw a man who is far more dedicated than I am to helping other human beings. How people can laugh and point fingers at such a person as he completely unravels on the side of a road is beyond me.

Perhaps this is where I have to accept that my philosophy about what is good and worthy to pursue in life just does not align with that of what seems to be most of the BoM community. That’s okay, and is nothing for me to get snappy or defensive over, as I allowed myself to do yesterday. The bottom line for me is, I remain confident that IC is doing good things in Africa, and I’d rather that it continue than not. I don’t purport to believe they are a perfect organization, and they may be more flawed than many others. But they are also young and learning on their journey.

This all makes a lot of sense to me. I’m morbidly curious if what I'm saying here all just sounds like Swahili to the rest of you.

 

What is transparent about that? It's just what they say on their website. It doesn't tell you how they do it, and neither does it tell you why they do it. And besides, what they describe is precisely what missionaries do when they are not praying and preaching. That they want to do good things is one thing, but it is about saving people's souls.

Point is, you are inclined to take them at their word whereas I am not. Indeed, why should I? Just because these people say so?

Gee, I am such a misanthropic, distrustful person that I even distrust the very honourable Nigerian barrister Dr. Peter Umkhawaizee, who only yesterday informed me that I can make half a fortune if I only send money to him in order to help him get me the money, and have him spend the other half of that fortune for orphans, and children without parents. Double good, that. If I won't help him do that, all the money will go to terrorists and people who kill little puppies. A shame, and it must not happen. I like puppies and I loathe terrorists. Still, I can't really put my finger on why I think so, but have a nagging feeling that he isn't really a barrister.

 

Save the puppies!

 

There was a time I would have liked nothing better than to see the armies of the world gear up and go into Africa and clean it up. Kill all the warlords. Feed everybody. Save the girls forced into prostitution and the boys forced into soldiering.

But we know now that such actions don't work. You simply can't kill off all the bad guys, others just move into the vacuum. And local populations don't appreciate outsiders coming in to "fix" their societies. In addition, in doing this, there's gonna be a butcher's bill. Are Western societies willing to pay it? I doubt it. And we can't stay there forever. When we pull out, there's a really big chance that things will degrade into an even worse situation.

Does this mean I don't care? Of course not. My heart breaks for the suffering inflicted on these people. But I refuse to be guilted into believing that because my life is good, it is my fault that others are suffering. That's crap logic. i give to the charities that I believe will reduce suffering in this world most effectively. just because I don't give to a particular charity, I will not sit still and be insulted by that charity's proponents, particularly when those charities are somewhat sketchy.

The USA is learning that for all its power and might, it simply cannot be Globocop and change the world overnight. Other Western powers are learning this too, though I thuink they are further ahead in realistically assessing the change they can effect.

I've been bombarded by images of starving kids in <insert country here> for over 35 years. Billions has been poured into the situation, and the bombardment is still coming. Then I get some pimply faced little twerp of 19coming at me fresh from his mother's basement and his nintendo, sanctimoniously telling me that I need to "open my heart" and that THIS donation will magically change the situation, trying to guilt me into it with stats that I knew before he was an itch in his daddy's pants? That sort of thing ticks me off.

I don't mind being approached by someone who is respectful in their solicitations. But when someone who thinks that having watched a 20 minute video makes them an expert of the world and that they know far more than I ever could starts talking down to me, THAT's when I lose it. I think that might be a source of the hostility we are seeing. And believe me, I know all about being a hostile person!