Faith and International Relief

Hello dear readers,

Something to tide you over 'til I deliver on my promise to have the third post of the series within the week:

Take a gander at this (and ignore the sensationalist title) :

Nicholas Kristof usually writes great columns on international relief and crises and draws on his wealth of experience in the field. I think he did a particularly great job this time with looking at evangelical Christianity as a positive force for social change.

That's not a storyline you typically hear in media that isn't explicitly Christian in focus; the MSNBCs of the world seem to focus on the negative when faith-based orgs come into play, I've seen the FOX News-es of the world co-opt it into their own larger narrative of mainstream media bias/ideological justification, and neutral outlets like CNN avoid going there (perhaps out of a desire to avoid the appearance of advocacy or partisanship on behalf of one faith/group). There's too much for a media outlet to gain by distorting tone, for it to be portrayed more simply or honestly for what it is. And even a media outlet being Christian doesn't necessarily mean that stories like this are treated objectively. (I'd say it's MORE likely but not 100%)

My favorite part of this article (and his attached blog post here) is how he addresses many of the out-of-hand dismissals often made of faith-based relief work. Take the mention of World Vision's practice of banning the use of aid dollars to proselytize. Or him pointing out the healthy, sustained evangelical pressure on the Bush White House that was no doubt a part of unprecedented increases in HIV relief and other foreign aid to Africa over the past few years.

I could go into the millions of $$ of support and all the positive work Rick Warren has done for HIV/AIDS in Africa with Saddleback Church, but most of what you hear about him in ANY media is his megachurch falling on financial hard times or his stance on Prop 8/his former support for that one Ugandan pastor who wants to criminalize homosexuality. (I guess I DID just go into that. Oh and I disagree with Warren on Prop 8, but you already all knew that).

My point is that regardless of how it's dressed up by the storyteller, sometimes it's people just helping others because it's a central tenet of their belief system that others should be helped. And I appreciate that sometimes that gets recognized by a columnist in a prominent paper like the New York Times.

One of the commentors on Kristof's blog had a great St. Francis of Assisi quote about social justice/living out the Gospel with good works that I'll leave you with.

"Preach the Gospel always. When necessary, use words."