• “What matters today is not the difference between those who believe and those who do not believe, but the difference between those who care and those who don’t.”  Georges Pire, Nobel Laureate, Peace, 1958.
• “Everywhere, everywhere, children are the scorned people of the earth.”  Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate, Literature, 1993.¹
• Vulnerable (adj.)  Capable of being wounded.  From the Latin vulnerare or “to wound.” ²

There are days when I am a bit embarrassed to be a Christian.  It’s not that I am ashamed of my personal faith in Christ, but the label “Christian” sometimes carries embarrassing baggage. 

After the breaking news about the so-called Christians from Idaho who were either ignorant or malicious in their treatment of Haiti’s children, we are hearing of other, previous forays into ignorance by groups struggling to do good in Haiti in the name of Jesus or…doing bad under the cover of the name.  There are too many examples in the Church of the oddly fine line between ignorance and malice. 

Today I Agree With Pire, The Better Question Is Whether Or Not We Care. 

I wish it wasn’t so hard to tell the difference between caring and not caring.  When it comes to vulnerable children around the world, I want it to be clear.  This isn’t a debate about some obscure point in theology or history.  This is about vulnerable children. 

We either care or we do not.  Sure, accuse me of simplistic naivete.  The accusation might stick.  But it seems to me that when it comes to the most vulnerable among us we ought to be clearer about what it means to care or not care for them. 

Today, I think Georges Pire was right.  The Church has devoted (wasted?) decades if not centuries debating what it means to believe, or what we should believe, or how we should articulate our beliefs…on and on leading sadly to splits at best and violent confrontations at worst between groups who disagree about the nature of our beliefs.  As Pire seems to suggest, a better debate may be whether or not we care.  More than words.  Action.

What Are We To Do With Haiti’s Children?

So, what are we to do with Haiti’s children?  How do we clearly care about them?  Let’s start by not scorning them.  Let’s start by not hauling them away from their parents or relatives.  Duh.  Let’s feed them.  Let’s clothe them.  Let’s give them water to drink.  A famous member of our Church once said something about caring for the least of these…you know, the most vulnerable among us.  Who said that?  I thought he was fairly clear.

If we are not careful, Haiti’s vulnerable children are capable of being wounded even more.  The famous member of the Church I mentioned above was known to focus persistently on those who are the least, the last, and the lost.  In his religious tradition, a faith community is to give special preference and care for those who are most vulnerable — widows, orphans and strangers, for example.³

So, what do we do?  Start by doing no harm.⁴  Then, carefully, prayerfully, let us support the good work of the relief agencies (religious or secular) engaged in repairing and rebuilding the people of Haiti.  See my January 15 article There Must Be Something I Can Do for ideas.

At the least, let us be clear.  Let’s just feed the children and give them clean water to drink.  Let’s just clothe them, and keep them safe from harm.  If this is not clear, then let us get out of the way so others who are willing to care can help.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. Both quotes found in David Pratt, Editor (2007).  The Impossible Takes Longer: The 1,000 Wisest Things Ever Said By Nobel Prize Laureates.  New York: Walker & Company.
2. http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/vulnerable
3. I’ve been a bit narrow in my expression of the “most vulnerable”.  Of course children in poverty, including orphans, deserve our special care.  But our Judeo-Christian tradition also has much to say about caring for strangers (or aliens or sojourners).  There are many among us today — our neighbors and co-workers – who are strangers among us because they are from a different place and have few, if any, of the legal and social protections the rest of us have a citizens.  I believe we are to care for them in the same way we care for other vulnerable groups.  Our nation’s immigrants deserve the Church’s special care.  Look for more from me in the future on this issue.
4. I offer here an apology to the rest of the world for a few stupid Christians who are either ignorant about what it means to care, or sadly seeking to exploit vulnerable children.