I've explained in my earlier post, "Run For Life", the events that occurred that made human trafficking stand out to me and really catch my attention. Even when I share this with family and friends, I still get a questionable look or asked why human trafficking? I'm going to share why I chose this cause how this cause chose me.
I have always been concerned about two major injustices in this world, the ill treatment of women and the historical issue of slavery. From the Bible to issues in our society, the treatment of women as "second class citizens", of varying degrees in the United States and abroad bothered me. I saw conflicts constantly In the Bible where the men who were heralded as great men of God had multiple wives and/or harems. I just couldn't get past that fact, and the whole "that was common back then" didn't make it better. An issue I had currently was how it's acceptable for males to sleep around without being labeled, but females are described using every loose terminology known to man. I never understood the double standard in many things and could careless about having someone attempt to explain it to me. If it wasn't good for the goose, then the gander needed to back away from it too. Not to mention how our culture uses sex as a form of liberation, crams it down our kids throats in sitcoms, movies, music, etc., then are horrified when they regurgitate what we've allowed them to gluttonously consume. But I digress...
In regards to the issue of slavery, the whole "you need to get over it because it happened in the past", argument really aggravated me. How can a nation who mourned with those treated unjustly in other nations or rallied to bring aid or justice to other nations for past or present injustices, not sweep around their own front door first? Why did the grotesque issue of slavery get skimmed over as though it was not a horrific travesty! Being from the South didn't help my agitation, because I didn't have to travel far before I saw a Confederate flag flapping in the wind. There were two I saw on my path everyday on my way to work and back home. To me that flag represented a reminder that people saw my ancestors, and myself, as less than a human being. Property to be bartered, bought, and sold at another man's will.
Honestly I had a lot of silent rage within me towards males and the privilege society gives them to wrecklessly dominate and anybody who didn't understand and acknowledge the true atrocity slavery was along with the issues it created that haunts us, the descendants, even into this current era. To make a long story short, and a short story brief, through prayer and strengthening my relationship with God, I started to see my world differently. Good people of various races and belief systems were placed across my path, and I learned that we could agree to disagree with no love lost. Regardless of our differing opinions, these people would do whatever they could for me when I needed them and I would do the same.
I also realized that God's plan did not encompass the objectification of women. God's will had nothing to do with multiple wives and harems, instead that was man's plan. He did not give males the green light to dominate and belittle females. He created us to be a "help meet" not a doormat. In the Bible I began to focus on the stories of women who had unbelievable encounters with God that changed their lives, the lives of their family, and the world!
Basically, I had to take my eyes off the lies society was teaching me and focus back on what God was telling me. What He told me was that my life was important not because I was a particular race, gender, or born to a certain family line but because I am created in His image for His glory and loved by Him unconditionally. After this epiphany, I realized that I didn't need to build walls to protect myself from others, but that I could build bridges to extend myself to others. As long as we see each other as the enemy, we are.
So, why human trafficking? This cause chose me because there are groups of people who are being defiled, treated as though they are not worthy of protection, love, and respect, and this is a lie! They are being held against their will and made to believe that life will always be what it is in that moment, and that is a lie! Through various online sites, pornography, explicit sexual lyrics in music, and the glorification of the pimp-life, we live in a world that feeds the belief that some lives are property to be bartered, bought, and sold, yet this too is a lie!
I don't know the horrors or pain of being trapped in human trafficking, but I do know the anger that comes from wondering why people simply sit back and only watch injustices play out in our world. I refuse to be a bystander complaining about this world that I have inherited from those before me. Instead I want to be active, making sure those after me inherit a world that is a lot better than the one I'm living in now. My ancestors and yours did it for us, and now it's time to grab the baton and run our race to go the miles for change. #Miles4Change is my reminder that change only comes when we do something. What's yours?
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment