Idealists often justify helping a person in need by saying, "If we help this person
now, maybe someday they will go on to accomplish great things, like discovering a
cure for cancer or bringing world peace." But let's face it, that's not very
likely.
In the world of harsh reality, it is almost certain that none of the people we have
been helping in Ghana and elsewhere will ever go on to anything but continuing to
struggle to survive for all of their lives before they finally die from hunger,
disease, or accident. We are not saving a future Jonas Salk or an Einstein. John's
work is with the poorest of the poor in a country filled with poverty and no
opportunity at all for any but a very few.
The idealist will say, "But every person has value," or "everyone is worth just as
much as every other person," but this sentiment, worthy as it is, is not true in
the real world. A physician who saves lives, an educator who teaches children, a
taxi driver who helps people get from place to place, these all have more value
than a blind cripple or an old man lying helpless on a mat, twisted with arthritis.
In any sort of social situation some people are of more worth than others.
But- and it is enormous but- how can we justify judging people by what we can get
out of them? Are people nothing more than machines- " slaves " to be bought and sold
like commodities on the open market? Does a person have to be good for something
before anyone will help them when they are in need?
Modern society does, indeed, value people who are " useful " more than people who are
not- people who can give us something we want or need more than people who have
nothing to give. And this is certainly one way to decide who we will help and who
we will not, but in a higher sense it is a perversion of the soul.
You may believe that you will never find yourself in a situation where you have to
choose whether to save a person or let him die but in real terms you find yourself
making those decisions every day. Just reading through the updates here you are
making those decisions. In most cases we provide a link that you can use to send
money to help the person we are writing about. In most cases as little as fifty
dollars will rescue them from whatever situation they are in, and without it they
may well die.
We are not asking, demanding, or trying to guilt you into doing anything. We are
merely presenting you with the details of their situation and a way to help. When
you choose to help or choose not to help you are making the same decision as a
refugee mother who has to decide which of her children she will give food and which
she will not. Or, less dramatically, walking down the street you see a child about
to be hit by a car and can rescue them if you choose.
This is not to say that you must or should give, we are simply pointing out that we
can each of us help or not help others. The question is in our hearts do we feel that
someone is 'worth' helping, worth giving from our own pocket, or whether they
aren't worth helping at all.
A spiritual person will say that every man, woman, and child is made in the image
of God and therefore all are worthy of all the help that we can give. A utilitarian
materialist will say no one is worthy of sacrificing for. Or perhaps one will
simply say, 'This person is in pain; I will try to ease that pain' and not think of
them in terms of how much they can be bought or sold for in the market.
We help because empathy feels pain seeing the pain of another. This is our
motivation and goal.
