Judge Not, Yet Ye Be Judged

I’m behind on so many posts that I want to write – Ferguson, terrorism, etc. My actual day job is getting in the way of my life job, but I just got a little fired up so I figured I’d write about it. At this point you’ve probably figured out that I am a Christian. After almost 13 years of not attending church regularly, except for the 12 times I was a bridesmaid, I started going again after I turned 30. I thought it might help my singleness – desperate times, call for desperate measures- and while I may still be single it has provided me with a tremendous outlet for service to others.

I happen to be a United Methodist and if you don’t know much about Christian denominations I jokingly say we are like the Democrats of Christianity or there isn’t a social cause we haven’t championed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m fully aware that as with anything there are hypocrites and people that turn Christianity and the big JC’s words around on other people in order for it to fit their own agenda. I always say, “Don’t confuse God with something mankind is doing. Once mankind gets involved we will figure out a way to fuck it up.” We’re human, we’re flawed.

So, this leads me to my post. I follow the United Methodist Women on social media and this group has been serving the needs of local and world communities for years. Today, they posted a link about a recent report they did in Nepal about helping needy children get the nutrients they need in order to thrive and survive. In that post they asked for others to share what they’re doing in their community to help improve maternal, child and reproductive health. Those last two words is what got me all fired up. Another woman on the site said the following: What is “reproductive health?” Seriously, it sounds like a Planned Parenthood catch phrase.

And yes my friends that’s what this nice Christian lady who is supposed to love and provide for everyone had to say about that. Good ole’ Planned Parenthood, you know the demon organization that provides other life saving healthcare services besides abortions to women who are in need. I’m proud to say that Dallas will open one of the first clinics that meets stringent new laws imposed by the state of Texas on abortion clinics. If you remember the epic Wendy Davis filibuster that’s what she was bustering about.

Thankfully I’ve never had to make the choice of whether or not to have an abortion; but I know plenty of women who have. Just because it isn’t something that I would do doesn’t give me the right to judge. I believe in a woman’s right to do what she wants with her body. If you don’t agree with abortion, don’t get one and leave everything else up to her and her God.

Jesus was the ultimate human rights activist – he died for freedom of speech – where once we were told an eye for an eye he said turn the other cheek, when the Pharisees were after him to try and trap him with his words and accuse him of blasphemy (a crime punishable by death back in the day, and in some 3rd world countries still today) asked what the greatest commandment was he said this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. That is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

So with that I’ll leave you with my post back to my lovely friend who apparently missed these passages.

Post from UMW: Read our maternal and child health story from Nepal: bit.ly/VOCXd0. Then share your own story! What are you doing to improve maternal, child and reproductive health in your community or around the world? Share your success stories and challenges right here on our Facebook page, and get inspired to take action!

Follower’s post: What is “reproductive health?” Seriously, it sounds like a Planned Parenthood catch phrase.

My response: Reproductive health is defined by WHO as the the entire reproductive system and the healthy maintenance of that system. It could be a Planned Parenthood catch phrase since they provide life saving services like mammograms and pap smears to women who do not have access to adequate health care. One of our human rights as outlined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights is the right to healthcare; something people in our own country and many countries around the world do not have. Women and children in developing nations are especially susceptible to reproductive health issues during and after child birth. As a United Methodist I am extremely proud of this church’s staunch support of basic human rights. You don’t have to agree with everything, and if you don’t like something don’t do it, but judge not least ye be judged on anything that does not pertain directly to you as a person.

 

Humans of New York

If you don’t follow Humans of New York on facebook, you should. Brandon Stanton is the brainchild behind Humans of New York, a daily collection of photographs chronicling the seemingly ordinary lives of New Yorkers. However, Stanton’s work is anything but ordinary. Stanton is a New York Times best-selling author and more than nine, yes nine, million people follow his journey on facebook. Just in case you don’t know what nine million looks like in numbers (AP style be damned!) it looks like this, 9,000,000. And now Stanton can add UN photographer, a few more million friends around the world, to his list of accolades.

He’s currently on a 50 day world tour with the United Nations. They will visit 10 countries and highlight the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. The eight goals were agreed upon by UN member states and were to be complete by 2015. I think it’s safe to say, as of right now, many of those goals, in many of those countries, including our own, haven’t been met. What are those goals?

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and empower women
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve maternal health
• Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environmental sustainability
• Create a global partnership for development

I have loved watching Stanton’s posts these past few weeks as he’s traveled through Iraq, Jordan, and now the Democratic Republic of Congo. In every country there is pain tempered by hope, love coupled with loss, torture over triumph and a desperate hope and desire for a better life. So many of the people he has photographed have experienced unimaginable pain and situations that those of us in our comfortable Western societies can scarcely comprehend. Parent after parent have stated how they want their children to get a good education, something I think we often take for granted here in the US. Many of the adults themselves are hoping to go to college or just have enough money to finish school. If Stanton does not win the Pulitzer, and hopefully get nominated for the Nobel Prize in Peace, then I, along with millions of others will be sorely disappointed.

What I think is the most amazing thing about Stanton’s work is his ability to take an ordinary situation, someone walking down the street, sitting down for a cup of coffee, and turn it into something extraordinary. His ability to get people to open up and share their thoughts and often their most painful memories is truly a gift. So often in this world we are focused primarily on ourselves. We tend to stay in a world of I, I, I or me, me, me and we forget to look around and see the world around us. I have been so incredibly lucky in my life to have traveled to different countries around the world and see first-hand what it’s like to live in a country recovering from war and genocide, coming out of communist rule or still under it.

I live my life by two simple rules, one of which is part of the quote that makes up the name of this blog, the other is: “to whom much has been given, much is expected.” Trust me when I say it is far better to give than it is to receive. Look around you, look at your world and do something to make it better place.

Land on Fire

Israel and Palestine are once again a burning ground as rockets rained down from both sides and fragile peace talks crumbled to dust. I shared this story on facebook during a post at the beginning of this most recent conflict in Israel. I’ve mentioned before that I volunteer with a respite program for special needs kids and their siblings. Since most of us are rushing to the church straight after work they’re nice enough to feed us and give us a chance to catch up with our fellow volunteers. This particular night some of my fellow volunteers were asking me about my then upcoming trip to Israel (this was prior to its cancellation) and my thoughts on the area. A woman who serving our dinner that evening walked into the conversation and asked me in a somewhat perturbed voice “Well, whose side are you on?” I wasn’t surprised at her question, most people in this country don’t understand the complexities of that region or some of the root causes of these conflicts. I looked at her as calmly as I could and said, “I’m on no one’s side. I’m on the side of basic human rights.”

And that’s a statement I still stand by. It hurt to hear that the bombing had started once again because it’s innocent people on both sides who pay the price. The Israeli government has denied Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch access to Gaza so that they can begin their investigations on what is happening inside the Strip. The Israeli government has stated that they can’t enter the Strip because they aren’t registered with one of the governmental aid agencies and that the Israeli-controlled border has been closed. Neither of the groups were aware of this registration process and the border has in fact been open to journalists and aid workers. Both groups have published reports in the past that call both Hamas and the IDF out on various human rights abuses and they have both been very vocal that many of the IDF’s and Hamas’ actions are bordering on war crimes. Both groups are free to move within Israel and the occupied West Bank, they just can’t get into Gaza. Think about that for a minute; why won’t they let them in?

 

O Captain! My Captain!

Robin Williams died on Monday. Robin Williams the iconic actor who has made the world laugh as long as I’ve been alive. I remember my parents taking me to see Popeye at the movie theater and from then on I was hooked. So what does Robin Williams have to do with a human rights blog?

I admit, I wanted to write this post yesterday but I didn’t know where to begin. Strange that someone you never met can have an impact on your life. I think for most people it’s the shock that someone who was that funny and brought so much joy to so many people could be in that much pain. Williams was not only a prolific actor he was a great humanitarian.

Every Christmas he appeared in the St. Jude ads that run on TV and in movie theaters and he was a long time supporter of Amnesty International. In his more serious roles he was always cheering for the underdog and telling us that it was more noble to stand up for what you believe in than to go along with the crowd.

Yesterday, August 12, was UN International Youth Day and ironically the focus of this year’s day was mental health. According to the UN, 20 percent of the world’s youth population suffers from some type of mental health issue. I can only imagine that those numbers will escalate in the next few months due to depression and PTSD caused by war and conflict; I would expect there would be a sharp uptick in Africa and the Middle East.

According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness 1 in 4 American adults will suffer from some form of mental illness in one year; and approximately 14.8 million American adults suffer from depression. One of our basic human rights as outlined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights is the access to health care. Sadly in many countries, including our own, this right isn’t realized.

One only has to walk down any major metropolitan street to see homeless people, 46 percent of whom have a mental illness. The recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have led to sharp increase in suicides among military personnel and more than half of all soldiers suffer from some form of mental illness.

One of the highlights of my graduate experience was the honor of interviewing four US Army service members who had served multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was working on a paper that focused on PTSD and I followed the chronology and the development of the disorder from its first mentions during the American Civil War up to present day. None of the men I interviewed had been diagnosed with PTSD but their experiences still had a profound influence on them both mentally and emotionally. Most of them said the hardest part of adjusting back to civilian life following a tour was simply driving down the road without fearing they would be blown up.

We face a tremendous crisis in this world when it comes to diagnosing and treating people with depression and mental illness. Access to help and services should be readily available to those who are in need. Each life is precious and it’s a gift, but we’re human and we’re fragile. To quote  the tagline of my human rights program: “There is no such thing as a lesser person.”

Is There Hope for Iraq?

I go away for a few days to visit my family and it’s as if the world is ending. We have another cease fire in Israel that I am hoping will last and now the world’s attention is focused on Iraq and the murderous rampage of ISIS. I’ve been watching most of the summer as ISIS militants filtered out of Syria into Iraq and began murdering innocent men, women and children – the majority of them from Iraq’s Christian and Yazidi minorities.

Secretary of State John Kerry, in a press conference on June 22, stated that, “What is happening in Iraq is not happening because of the United States in terms of the current crisis.” I’m confused as to where he’s been for the past 10 years because what’s happening in Iraq is due in large part to the US. Part of the reason ISIS has been able to make so much ground into Iraq is because of lack of leadership in the Iraqi government and the United States’ weak foreign policy.

In the past few years the US government’s ambivalent attitude toward the Middle East has provided violent militants with the leeway needed to rise to power. Our vacillating on Syria, removal of troops from Iraq and soon Afghanistan and the mishandling of the Benghazi scandal have all shown the US to be inept in foreign policy. I’m not saying we need a war – in fact that’s the last thing we need. There are other ways to show strong foreign policy without starting a war. We never should have been in Iraq in the first place, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

ISIS has murdered members of the military, often beheading them and posting their heads on stakes or crucifying them. They’ve turned their guns on Iraq’s minority Christian and Yazidi population trapping thousands of refugees in the Sinjar Mountains where they risked death from dehydration and starvation. Ironically it’s the Kurdish armed forces who have been the saviors in Iraq’s most recent conflict. Once the target of Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons attacks during the Iraq – Iran War; the Kurdish people, now possibly being armed by the CIA, have stood their ground to protect these minority groups and themselves. This most recent conflict may provide the Kurds with the very ammunition they need to once and for all get their own country of Kurdistan.

As refugees flee into war-torn Syria the US government has finally begun to take action against ISIS and its rampage. We’ve known about ISIS’ rise to power for weeks, a group so vicious even Al Qaeda wants nothing to do with them, and what happens in Iraq over the next few weeks could have devastating consequences on the future stability of the extremely unstable Middle East.

A Bright Day in Cambodia

Two senior officials of Cambodia’s former Khmer Rouge genocidal regime were found guilty today in Phnom Penh of crimes against humanity. The UN-backed Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) (similar to the courts at Nuremburg) found Nuon Chea, 88 and Khieu Samphan, 83, guilty for their role in the forced evacuation of Phnom Penh and subsequent genocide more than 30 years ago.

Chea was the number 2 man under Pol Pot during the reign of the Khmer Rouge and Samphan was the former head of state. Many of the perpetrators of the Cambodian genocide have never stood trial due to ill health, death or political finagling that has left them exempt from punishment. The trial that concluded today took more than three years to reach a verdict. Pol Pot never stood trial and died in 1998. 

The Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, terrorized the people of Cambodia from 1975 – 1979. Approximately 1.7 million Cambodians were murdered through execution, torture, forced labor, disease and starvation. Sadly, it was a genocide most of the world turned away from, including the United States. We were still in the thick of the Cold War and had just wrapped up our wars in both Vietnam and Cambodia. Southeast Asia was no longer a place we wanted to be despite the overwhelming evidence that a genocide was taking place.

I was lucky enough to travel to Cambodia a few years ago with one of my best friends from college who was living in Shanghai, China at the time. Her then boyfriend, now husband, traveled with us along with another friend from college. While we were in Phnom Penh we visited the killing fields outside of the city. The Khmer Rouge targeted anyone they deemed to be an intellectual – if you wore glasses you were dead, professor, teacher, lived in the city you were dead. They forcibly evacuated the entire capitol of Phnom Penh marching people out into the countryside to work on collective farms where many of them starved to death or died from disease. Families were separated and people would disappear for “reeducation,” many at the notorious Toul Sleng, or S21, prison.

On our way to the killing fields our guide told us her own story of life under the Khmer Rouge. She was four years old at the time when Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge. She, along with her family, were force marched out of the city and separated into different work camps. She was alone and she told us of being caught one night in the camp digging for worms by the river; she was starving and she was only five years old. She was incredibly lucky that the Khmer Rouge did not kill her on the spot; any type of foraging was forbidden and basically seen as stealing. She never told us what happened to her family and I didn’t want to pry.

In the center of the killing fields is a large stupa that contains the clothing and skulls of some of the people murdered at that site. The surrounding fields of bright green grass have a gentle roll to them and it’s almost peaceful if you didn’t know that the sunken-in areas are the mass graves of countless innocent Cambodians. Due to Cambodia’s wet and humid climate bone fragments and pieces of clothing work their way up to the surface from time to time. As I walked along the pathways I looked down to see a pair of men’s red running shorts partially submerged in the mud.

Later on in the trip I was chatting with my friend’s boyfriend who is half Jewish. I could tell when we were at the killing fields that the experience was upsetting. We were in Siem Reap swimming after a long day of hiking at the temples and I asked if he was ok. He said yes and said that my friend had told him about our travels through Eastern Europe and Auschwitz; he asked me how I was able to go to these places and come out fine. I told him that when I’m there I’m very aware that every single step I take I am walking where someone suffered tremendously. Their fate was more horrific than what I have ever experienced, or can imagine, and while I’m there I say a prayer for all the people who are gone. I treat these places and the people in them with as much respect as possible.

The reason I go to these places and spend so much time in these dark recesses of humanity is that I want to understand why we do these horrible things to each other, how can we stop them from happening again and how do we help the victims of these crimes. After the Holocaust the world said “Never Again,” sadly that’s turned into “until next time.”

We’re the Oprah of Bombs

I wish I could take credit for that catchy title but I can’t. Jon Stewart used it in one of his opening monologues in the past week on The Daily Show called Automatics for the People. Today marks the 69th anniversary of the United States dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan; we dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki three days later. Was the second one really necessary? It was the first, and so far last, time an atomic bomb was used in warfare.

Stewart’s point in this hilarious, but true, monologue is that the US has a vested interest in the weapons industry. General Dwight D. Eisenhower in his farewell address to the nation as President of the United States warned of the military-industrial complex, which is advice we did not heed. In a Congressional Report dated August 24, 2012, the US supplied 44% of the world’s arms. We are still the world’s largest supplier of weapons.

In addition, we are Israel’s main arms supplier, so that means almost every time a bomb slams into Gaza it’s Made In the USA. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented the link between US arms and bombings in Israel. It’s against US law to use weapons where there is a strong possibility that the weapons will be used to violate human rights. In addition, the use of weapons against civilian populations is specifically prevented in the Geneva Conventions that were drafted after the horrors of World War II.

On one hand the US government is calling for a cease-fire in Israel and trying to broker a peace deal while at the same time steadily supplying the weapons needed to continue the assault on Gaza. We will see if the current cease fire holds. The majority of the people being killed in Gaza aren’t members of Hamas, they’re innocent men, women and children who are trapped in one of the world’s largest ghettos. They literally have nowhere to go, and as we’ve seen in recent weeks even UN run schools aren’t safe.

The arms industry is big business and I doubt anything will change anytime soon. However, as the so-called leaders of the free world we can put pressure on our government to withhold arms to Israel or any other nation that violates the rules of war. You can take action through Amnesty International at Stop Arming Israel or contact your Congressman via email.

Out of Africa

No I don’t mean the stupendously wonderful 1985 film starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford; I’m talking about three important stories that have come out of Africa in the past few days. While I am aware of the recent news out of Nigeria with the military being accused of war crimes I am not going to cover that in this post, I will cover that later however in a more encompassing look at war crimes.  I volunteer with a respite program for special needs kids and their siblings. At the end of the night when their parents return to pick them up we practice what we call the Oreo theory. What’s the Oreo theory? It’s simple, you start with something good, slide in something not so good and finish on something good.

So now our first good out of Uganda. In February, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law an anti-homosexuality act that went into effect in March. Members of the LGBT community in Uganda have long suffered from discrimination and the new act only made things worse, with many of them fleeing the country under threat of their life and loss of their income. Sadly, the message of homophobia is often preached from the pulpit and homosexuals are portrayed in an almost demon-like manner (clearly the love thy neighbor and do unto others message has been missed here). However, on Friday, August 1, Parliament overturned the law on a technicality stating that when the act was passed Parliament did not have the required quorum to make the vote legal. Now it remains to be seen whether or not the bill is reintroduced into Parliament for another vote but for the time being this is a small victory for the LGBT community in Uganda.

Now for the not so good. West Africa is experiencing one of the worst Ebola outbreaks in history with more than 1,600 people diagnosed and almost 900 deaths. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 90% of patients that contract Ebola die. Ebola first appeared in 1976 and since that time outbreaks, of varying intensity, have occurred from time to time. While the outbreaks are typically reported as a quick blurb on the evening news something has changed in recent weeks. Why is that? First, one of the leading doctors fighting the disease, Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, contracted the disease and died. Second, two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and a missionary named Nancy Writebol were infected with the disease. Both Americans have been flown to the United States for treatment and an experimental drug has seen some very promising results. So why am I calling this something not so good? It’s simple, I predict that by the end of 2015 if not sooner there will be a vaccine for Ebola, or this experimental drug will be readily available to West Africans and the world. All it took was two, white, Americans to contract the disease to save thousands of others. If you don’t think that race plays a part in the decisions of major corporations you would be badly mistaken.

And for our last good. For months the world was riveted by the plight of Sudanese Doctor and Christian Meriam Ibrahim who was sentenced to death- for the straight out of Genesis archaic law of apostasy – which means to renounce your religion. Meriam gave birth to her daughter shackled to the floor awaiting her execution. I signed every petition that Amnesty International sent my way with every email address I have. It’s against international law to execute a pregnant woman or a woman who is nursing. The UN Declaration of Human Rights also protects a person’s right to practice the religion of their choosing. Meriam is marred to a Sudanese-American and they now have two children. After intense international pressure she was released from prison only to be rearrested by the Agents of Fear when she and her family were trying to leave Sudan. After intense negotiations between the Italian and Sudanese governments Meriam and her family were finally allowed to leave – stopping in Rome to meet Pope Francis – before finally arriving last week in Manchester, NH. Despite the fact that her case was a serious misstep in US foreign policy – everyone knew the danger she was in and she should have been taken immediately to the US embassy and sent to America – this story has a happy ending. Not only are Meriam and her family free but her story goes to show that ordinary people all over the wolrd signing petitions and taking action really can make a difference even if it is for one person.

The Talmud (or the ending of Schindler’s List) says it best: And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.

We Don’t Want You Here

Right about now I should be boarding a flight to Tel Aviv to begin two weeks of travel and learning in Israel. Sadly, due to the recent violence the trip was canceled. Like I’ve mentioned before, I was supposed to blog throughout the trip as part of my master’s program, but despite the trip being canceled I found myself needing to write.

One of the greatest things about getting an education is that it opens your mind and exposes you to different viewpoints in the world. As the conflict in Israel began to escalate I found myself reading some of the most awful posts on Facebook that were without historical or factual basis. For someone who rarely posts on Facebook and relies on friends to “check me in” all over town and the world I’m sure it came a shock to some to suddenly see a constant stream of postings from me. I just couldn’t stand seeing so many people so clueless about such an important issue.

The SMU human rights undergraduates organized a peace rally on Saturday featuring speakers from the Dallas Peace Center and Dr. Rick Halperin, head of SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program. The event didn’t draw the same size crowds you see in all of the other protest rallies, however, had school been in session I think those numbers would have been a lot higher. It made me think though – why do so many come out to protest but so few for peace?

What’s happening in Israel isn’t a case of they’re Arabs and Muslims – they want to kill Jews. I’ve seen that more often that I care to. Many Americans would be surprised that a lot of those Arabs are in fact Christians – not that it should matter. Palestinians have been occupied for more than 50 years and subjected to humiliating treatment, forced into ghettos and deemed second class citizens. What I find so hard to comprehend is that the people inflicting this punishment endured the same harsh treatment at the hands of the Nazis – yes I’m well aware that there are not concentration or death camps in Israel, that’s not what I’m talking about. It’s more Germany in the 1930s with the humiliation, inability to work, lack of access to healthcare and basic standards of decency.

Now Human Rights Watch has announced that there have been reports of the IDF shooting and killing civilians as they tried to flee. They’ve bombed UN schools, innocent civilians and now those trying to flee. This isn’t the first time the IDF has been accused of such actions; there are copious amounts of research and interviews that can be found through Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

I stand with Israel too in their right to defend themselves from terrorists but I also stand with Palestine in their right to self-determination and their basic human rights as outlined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights. I was supposed to meet with Parents Families Circle Forum, a support group for bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families, I think they said it best in their recent PSA – We Don’t Want You Here and neither do I.