Sister Earth

Poor Lazarus and the Good Samaritan

I ran across a local news story today that could have come straight out of the Gospels. A homeless citizen collapsed on the grounds of his Legislature, and was noticed and resuscitated by a legislator with a history of care for the homeless. Here is how one newspaper described the incident (in part):

Cowichan-Ladysmith MLA Doug Routley was walking toward the provincial legislature in Victoria at around 8 a.m. when he noticed a disheveled man sitting on the ground. “When I got to him, I asked him if he was OK,” Routley said. “He was breathing, his eyes were glazed over and he was stiffening up.” Routley glanced to the security department as he mulled the option of alerting employees there. When his eyes returned to the disenfranchised man, he was lying on the ground and no longer breathing.

Immediately, Routley began administering CPR; meanwhile, he was contacting 911 with his phone pinned between his shoulder and ear. “Someone out there really cares about this guy,” he was thinking. “There’s a man lying there whose parents, 40 years earlier, struggled with what to name him.”

Soon, an employee at the legislative library raced out to help. That employee was Shawna Duffill, a registered first-aid attendant, whose husband had just dropped her off at work. “I saw Mr. Routley attending to the patient, who was unresponsive,” she said. “I just knew instantly he needed some help.” “I thought it was incredible,” she continued. “To be honest, I might not even have noticed if he wasn’t already attending to the man.”

It wasn’t long before two security guards were on the scene with a portable defibrillator. Duffill used it on the man, who was breathing by the time an ambulance arrived to take him away.

The incident left Routley more than a bit shaken. “I was in tears,” he said. “I’m not quite sure why. “I don’t know how he ended up there, but there’s something wrong when people who are clearly not able to take care of themselves are left to fend for themselves.”

[In other news reports, Routley went on to say, "It seems tragic that he should end up that way, right on the lawn of the legislature, this ornate building that is his in a way.”]

Routley, former NDP housing critic, has been a key player in helping bring a permanent homeless shelter to the Cowichan Valley. He’s also known in the community as an affordable housing advocate. He said Tuesday’s incident has inspired him to challenge every MLA to start putting a greater emphasis on establishing social equality. “We have to take a look at what’s really holding people back,” he said.

While the other news reports emphasized the Mr. Routley's heroism, the victim's body odour, and the importance of learning CPR, Routley's home town newspaper, through its editorial choices, boldly interpreted the challenging symbolism of this event: our government is failing in its moral obligation to take care of the poor. I should note that Routley is a member of the social-democratic opposition, not the government. The party in power has not simply neglected the poor but has been actively removing their support systems (despite huge budget surpluses) so that we are now experiencing an explosion of poverty and homelessness in B.C. This government has created a new generation of Lazaruses, and the Good Samaritans can do little more than bring them back from the brink of death if they happen to see them fall. Yes Mr. Routley, there is definitely something wrong here.

San Romero de las Américas

Brothers, you came from our own people. You are killing your own brothers. Any human order to kill must be subordinate to the law of God, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill'. No soldier is obliged to obey an order contrary to the law of God. No one has to obey an immoral law. It is high time you obeyed your consciences rather than sinful orders. The church cannot remain silent before such an abomination. ... In the name of God, in the name of this suffering people whose cry rises to heaven more loudly each day, I implore you, I beg you, I order you: stop the repression.

—Archbishop Oscar Romero, Martyr, Servant of God, Patron of the Americas

Plant a tree in honour of Oscar Romero.

Saint Tommy

Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick, welcome the stranger, plead for the widow and the orphan. Our divine model for this behaviour is Jesus Christ. Our Canadian model for this behaviour is Tommy Douglas. He is known in Canada as the Father of Medicare, and the Greatest Canadian, but this Baptist minister from the prairies did so much more. Education, labour, welfare, infrastructure, human rights, the arts—this great Christian helped to transform Canada into the progressive and humane country that it is, and he did it with a balanced budget. If that isn't cause for sainthood, I don't know what is.

“Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.”

Tommy Douglas, pray for us.

Right now the CBC is airing Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story (see also behind the scenes). Find out more about this great man and his achievements at the Tommy Douglas Research Institute. You can hear and see some of his speeches and interviews at the CBC Archives.

Immaculate Consumption

A few days ago I received a flyer by e-mail that proclaimed: "Tis the Season for Immaculate Consumption!" That sacrilege got me thinking about and noticing what seems to be the increasingly crass commercialism of Christmas. I know it's a cliché to complain about commercialism at this time of year, but for some reason it seems to be worse this year.

A week or so ago when there was talk of an impending election (here in Canada), reporters were interviewing merchants and financial gurus whose only complaint was that a Christmas election campaign would interfere with Christmas shopping. Not family time, not the holiness of the season, not the sense of good will, but shopping would be the victim of bringing politics into December. While I certainly appreciate that merchants make most of their money at this time of year, I think what I was witnessing was an appropriation of Christmas by retailers. Christmas has become the time to shop, and therefore belongs to the shopkeepers.

Ideology vs. Reality

Daily Kos posted this comment about the ideological implications of the Hurricane Katrina disaster:

We have two competing world views in American politics. The first says that government cannot help people. That government must be as small as possible, and exists only to provide security from external enemies. The other says that government can be a force for good and can help make people's lives better.

This week, we are seeing the effects of the lack of government. The American people are seeing what happens when the GOP worldview is dominant. We've talked about the two disasters -- the hurricane itself, which was unavoidable, and the response to the hurricane and lack of leadership, which was.

We are seeing a third disaster -- the conservative world view itself, crashing and burning as reality meets ideology. Where government programs are slashed in the name of Norquist's drownable government, only to see an entire major city wiped off the face of the map as a result.

The reality that many people seem to be out of touch with is the reality of human suffering, especially those slow, personal disasters that show up more often in dry statistics than in dramatic media images. However this is exactly the reality that Jesus lived in and preached about. If people are thirsty, the only response that could be called Christian is to give them a drink. It is wise to identify and, where possible, eliminate the root causes of human suffering, but first, and always, human needs must be met.

The needs of about 30% of New Orleaners were not met; they were living in poverty. Many of these people were simply unable to leave the city before the storm. It is always the poor that suffer most in times of calamity, and this disaster is no exception. What we fail to recognize is that it costs society far, far more to rescue and repair than it would have cost to support and prevent beforehand—and those costs are not just economic, but also human and environmental. The reality is that any ideology that leaves human needs unmet will inevitably lead to disaster.

Doing Unto Others

"Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me."

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'

Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

—Matthew 25:34–46

He said it, I didn't. And I know enough about U.S. race relations to see the irony in the photograph above.