Katrina and Accountability
Accountability has fallen out of fashion in the last few decades. We seem much more interested in deniability. We need to ask ourselves the question, "As people of faith, how are we called to live?"
Katrina has been a tragedy of unprecedented proportions, and throughout the crisis we have seen just how much we, as a people, value life. When we stop to consider the things that are usually used by special interest groups to measure how we as a society value life -- murder rates, violent crime rates, the abortion debate, capital punishment -- we see that they all can be discussed rather easily because the issues themselves require no immediate response from anyone.
Katrina has been different, however, in that Katrina called for an immediate response. Katrina simply can't be discussed dispassionately. Lives were lost, lives were in immediate danger, and the very people we have elected to lead us in these situations failed. Why did they fail? They failed because they place more importance on an agenda than on human life. They care more about buzz words like terrorism and national security than they do about people. They care more about clearing brush from their ranch than they care about human life. In the last few days it has become clear that they care more about deniability than accountability. How tragic.
As people of faith, we are called to be accountable for our actions. The best way to do that is to develop relationships of mutual accountability. We need to find a friend or friends who will hold us accountable to what we claim we believe, and we need to do the same for them. When we look at our elected officials, we need to recognize that we have a responsibility to hold them accountable for their failure, as well. It isn't a matter of politics, it is a matter of responsibility and accountability. As people of faith, we simply must stand up for human life -- in this case for the lives lost and injured in this terrible tragedy as a result of our government's lack of response.
It's easy to talk about the value of human life when all we have to do is talk. The time for action is here. Will we, as a people, stand up for life, or do we need to clear some brush from our yard?
Peace,
+cb
Katrina has been a tragedy of unprecedented proportions, and throughout the crisis we have seen just how much we, as a people, value life. When we stop to consider the things that are usually used by special interest groups to measure how we as a society value life -- murder rates, violent crime rates, the abortion debate, capital punishment -- we see that they all can be discussed rather easily because the issues themselves require no immediate response from anyone.
Katrina has been different, however, in that Katrina called for an immediate response. Katrina simply can't be discussed dispassionately. Lives were lost, lives were in immediate danger, and the very people we have elected to lead us in these situations failed. Why did they fail? They failed because they place more importance on an agenda than on human life. They care more about buzz words like terrorism and national security than they do about people. They care more about clearing brush from their ranch than they care about human life. In the last few days it has become clear that they care more about deniability than accountability. How tragic.
As people of faith, we are called to be accountable for our actions. The best way to do that is to develop relationships of mutual accountability. We need to find a friend or friends who will hold us accountable to what we claim we believe, and we need to do the same for them. When we look at our elected officials, we need to recognize that we have a responsibility to hold them accountable for their failure, as well. It isn't a matter of politics, it is a matter of responsibility and accountability. As people of faith, we simply must stand up for human life -- in this case for the lives lost and injured in this terrible tragedy as a result of our government's lack of response.
It's easy to talk about the value of human life when all we have to do is talk. The time for action is here. Will we, as a people, stand up for life, or do we need to clear some brush from our yard?
Peace,
+cb
