Terrible tradgedy - more deaths...

by Simon 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  Simon

  Not the terrible act of terrorism that we all saw on TV...

  I was thinking of the 30,000 children under the age of 5 who will have died on the same day from malnutrition and other preventable diseases. Slow, horrible deaths. These people are poor but the parents must love them as much as any 'rich westener' loves theirs.

  The real tragic thing is that another 30,000 will die today and another 30,000 tomorrow... over 12 million a year in total

  I certainly don't want to lessen what has happened but we do have a tendancy to only see things from our well-off perspective and ignore some of the other terrible things that are going on in the world. Unfortunately, these poor souls don't die all at once on live TV so they are unlikely to have the response that the barbaric terrorist act did but don't they deserve our help too?

  I am beginning to understand how someone would feel resentment if they were in that position. Perhaps the best defence is more equality?
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  BoozeRunner

  Simon,

  You are so right. I suspect one reason we dont see more of such things (besides on late nite infomercial style programs) is that it is an embarassment to civilized society to allow hunger and starvation in our modern culture.

  "Justifiable" deaths such as retalitory strikes, terrorism, wars, etc are easier to stomach by many. It is truly a shame.

  Thank you Simon for this sobering reminder of EVERYDAY suffering.

  Boozy
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  Winston

  Totally Sound Reasoning Simon,I Won't Say More!
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  BlackMan4Life

  Excellent Post!
  Peace, Larry
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  ballistic

  Si, well said.
  The media may have replayed the wtc being hit from every perspective, but what they often completely miss is a wider perspective.
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  Billygoat

  Simon,

  Great post! It actually reminds me of the thousands of JW deaths due to the blood issue v. the tragic mass suicides of other cults. Those typically get more media coverage because those deaths are all at once and JW's are/were dying slowly one by one over the years. The world doesn't realize how many the WTS kills on an annual basis!

  Just something to think about...

  Andi
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  Seven

  Simon, Good post. Time and time again we have seen & heard reports of cargo planes loaded with food and medical supplies seized by oppressive governments(in Africa & Bosnia for example) to supply their troops and not to feed and assist their starving people. I don't know what the answer is but it seems that this should be a priority.

  peace,
  seven
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  Marvin Shilmer

  Hi, Simon

  Like many others, I have seen some of this suffering first hand, and it is sobering.

  Once I saw a small child quietly die in its mother’s arms while she was waiting outside a hospital for treatment. This woman was just sitting there silently, with tears running down both cheeks, while her child just burned to death with fever. The hospital was no more than a five room tin shack. The woman looked exhausted and at the end of her rope, and maybe nothing could have saved here child, I don’t know. But I do know that just up the street about two hundred feet was the “private hospital,” the one available to the wealthier residents of the community, the one where no one was waiting in line, the clean building, the one with air conditioning and new paint. It was encircled by two layers of fifteen-foot high razor fence, and an armed guard at the entrance. I don’t want to say the country where this was witnessed, but it was closer to the good ole US of A than many US citizens would believe. Too many are so ignorant of the day to day tragedies happening, sometimes in our own backyards.

  I know humanitarians who give themselves to help poor souls suffering in poverty and tyranny stricken countries, but one has to wonder if more can be done, and if more will be done, and what can be done. As you show, the suffering is immense, every single day. Statistically it can be argued that suffering today is less than in the past, but that does not take away the suffering we have today, and the fact that it is enormous.

  Not trying to pile on here. Just musing out loud, about things.
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  TR

  Good points, Simon.

  However, we need to remember that there are those militant dictator factions in power that keep their populations from getting the help they need, simply to be able to control the population.

  TR

  The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
  —Edmund Burke
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  SixofNine

  Thank you Simon, for the reminder. I think this is exactly the time to call such to mind, as anger needs perspective.

  The goal of good people, is to overcome ALL the earths suffering, not just that of people with similar skin color, beliefs, or nationality as our own. Whatever the goal of bad people is, it must be overcome by the goals of the good.

  It's a good time to decide which side one is on.