Do-Gooders of all stripes (even Christian ones) always run the risk of beginning to consider those they are assisting as some sort of lesser being. That danger may be especially great when the persons concerned are part of a technologically less advanced nation or society.
However, advancements that we may label as "civilization" don't always bring with them an actual gain in human civility. A passing observation in a recent newspaper article really empahsized that fact for me. The time and place of this event are unimportant. It is sufficient to disclose that lines of people were awaiting life changing medical assistance from visiting health professionals. The number of people needing treatment was so great that when darkness fell many were still in line waiting for their turn. Those supplying the medical care observed that "as night fell, each person put down a rock to claim their place in line. Everybody returned the next day with no fuss at all."
Remembering to what lengths some parents in contemporary Canadian suburbia would go just to get their children enrolled in swimming classes at the local rec centre ahead of those of their neighbours, I am impressed. So, tell me, who really are the civilized people in this world anyway?
However, advancements that we may label as "civilization" don't always bring with them an actual gain in human civility. A passing observation in a recent newspaper article really empahsized that fact for me. The time and place of this event are unimportant. It is sufficient to disclose that lines of people were awaiting life changing medical assistance from visiting health professionals. The number of people needing treatment was so great that when darkness fell many were still in line waiting for their turn. Those supplying the medical care observed that "as night fell, each person put down a rock to claim their place in line. Everybody returned the next day with no fuss at all."
Remembering to what lengths some parents in contemporary Canadian suburbia would go just to get their children enrolled in swimming classes at the local rec centre ahead of those of their neighbours, I am impressed. So, tell me, who really are the civilized people in this world anyway?
2 comments:
Dear Bob,
I can add two examples of customs that are definitely not found in the more “civilized” world as it is usually defined. Both examples are first-hand and encountered while I was traveling in Africa. The first one had me puzzled for a while until I inquired and actually saw it happen. In Libya, when you’re at the market place or waiting for a bus, it’s customary to see luggage, shopping goods or other items sitting on the ground with a circle around it, drawn in the sand or with chalk. What this means is that the goods are left there by the owner for pickup later. Everybody respects this and won’t steal the sometimes obviously valuable goods. Let’s experiment and see how long your new LCD TV is left untouched at the local Wall Mart.
The second had a somewhat closer impact, literally. I was traveling on a bus from Mombassa (Kenya) to Somalia. Somewhere halfway, as more and more locals hopped on at the various points, the bus began to fill up and people were standing in the isle. One of the people boarding the bus was carrying a baby in a sling. She shuffled to the end of the line in the isle where she would stand for half a day till we got to the next stop. Prior to resigning to her faith, she took the baby out of the sling and in one smooth move it landed on my lap. The baby too one look at me, curled up and went to sleep. The woman gave me summary look and then turned to face the direction of travel. It took a few seconds to realize what happened, until we saw that babies had been unloaded onto a number of other people as well. Next time you see a woman unloading a baby to the only black man on an over-full bus in North America, let me know.
Is this a satire? Line-holding with rocks is evidence of a greater "civility" than the civility found in a society that creates and charitably donates medicine to a poorer society? Do-Gooders of all stripes (even Christians) always run the risk of romanticizing the people they are assisting as some sort of greater beings.
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