I was reading on another blog about a reporter who did an investigation on where the little trinkets in Christian bookstores are produced. Shockingly, they found a few examples of these items that were made by sweat shops.
This sprung the thought in me; I don’t investigate where any of my belongings are made and what conditions are provided to those employees. I know, I know, this issue seems like one of those hopeless “never going to change” subjects. In my head, I think “Well at least these poor people have a job; they could be making nothing at all versus pennies per month”. That mentality doesn’t really improve anything though. It’s a stagnant way of thinking and not progressive at all.
Obviously, this issue extends past Christians, but as a believer, I think we are called to social justice. Consider this verse:
James 5:1-6: Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. Your riches have rotted, and your clothes are moth eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
I am sure that my closets are filled with clothing that was produced by a child who had to work a 14 hour day. That makes me a hypocrite. I think it’s time to start moving forward and thinking about these kinds of things. The world is much bigger than my comfy life here in the United States.
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4 comments:
Back the guilt trip up Mr. Are we called to have compansion for the needy? Of course. But the beauty and uglyness of human nature means that everything has a price. While you feel guilty for what you think is improper remember this, the person who made the shirt made it at the market price where he or she was. And was glad to trade the time for the money. Would you do it for that price. No. But it was precious to them.
I am not trying to create a guilt trip here. I realize I seem like a young, idealistic moron sometimes, but I refuse to give up hope. My close friends make backhanded comments to me about my ideals, and I just deal with it, but I refuse to just sit back and have the mentality of "well it's better than nothing"...
Is getting a wage (though small), precious to them? Of course! We still have a command as Christians to stand up and improve conditions for people in need...
I want Christians to stand up and improve my conditions.
as you should!
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