Poverty Porn

Pray not for lighter burdens but for stronger backs.
~Theodore Roosevelt

Have you ever heard the term "poverty porn" before?  I was reading an article and a woman said that she had made a documentary about, I believe, Tanzania.  When she showed it at her church, her pastor was furious - these children were in GAP clothes!  And they were smiling!  He said that she was trying to scam them - obviously these children were fine.  Of course, the clothes were donated from U.S. stores, but he saw what they were wearing and assumed that they were fine and, possibly, even lying.

I know this feeling though, even if it's shameful for me to admit it.  When my husband and I went to South Africa, I remember sitting in a house that had a television and thinking, "They can't be that poor if they have a TV."  But they have to, essentially, steal the electricity for it.  And they can't feed themselves or their children.  

I could imagine then the thought that, "If you can't feed your children, you shouldn't have a TV."

I've been reading a lot about Iraqi refugees and a group that helps them: Collateral Repair Project.  One of the women who runs the group had posted on Facebook that a woman had given meat to some of the refugees.  She asked vegetarians not to post on this.  She also made this comment:

I have also had people tell me straight out that Iraqis "should not" be having more children while living in such circumstances and I cringe, thinking 'how dare we who have killed the children they had and destroyed the lives they had where they could easily afford to have as many children as they wanted, how dare we tell them now that they should not have children because they cannot afford them?'

And really, they're right.

I sit and talk with a woman who sits outside of a Starbucks in Manhattan.  She has a home and she gets food stamps, but it's not enough to support her and her husband.  So she sits out and begs.  She hates it, but she can't make it through the month without doing it.  They have a very well-kept dog.  A woman today bent over and went to hand the woman $3 and then pulled her hand back and said, "Is that dog well-fed?"  Others have yelled epithets at her when they see she has a cell phone.  Her cell phone is part of the Assurance program, where people on food stamps and medicare can have a cell phone with 200 free minutes per month.  When they see she has a cell phone, they swear at her and call her a liar.

It's easy to look at a person and tell them that they should pull themselves up from their boot straps or to think that they are not as bad off as they seem.  A smiling child does not mean that child doesn't live in extreme poverty.  The Old Testament tells us not to judge between a rich person and a poor person.  Do not favor either, but love all people.  I'm still working on it, but I'm hoping to work towards it.

The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him."
Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
Luke 10:37