The Right Thing

The Plymouth Canton Interfaith Community Outreach (PCICO) is an organization focused on people working together amidst our religious and secular diversity (Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, gender, sexual orientation, color, and more) to help our neighbors and community. As a Christian Minister, my viewpoints, experiences, and vision are through the lens of Jesus' teachings. How PCICO engages the community through service projects follows Christian ideals in so many ways, but like so many faith communities we limit ourselves to treating the sick, helping the poor and outcast, etc., without addressing the underlying foundational causes that leave people in need. 

I know I limit my actions in the same way. I benefit from the variety of the produce in the grocery store and never speak about the slave-like working conditions of those who make it possible. My lifestyle spews carbon into the atmosphere contributing to the inevitable ecological collapse as we continue the path we have chosen. I receive solicitations from more worthy causes than I can count, occasionally I will send a small check, but generally I click ‘delete’ sending the message to the trash. I silently watch as my government bombs locations worldwide without any plan of restoring the damage done to people and things. There are so many more examples, I suspect I’m not alone.

So how do we, as persons of faith, respond to injustice in ways that encourage others to do the same, in ways that work? We need to overcome the fear of looking like a radical. Many will say to pray, and I cannot disagree, but Jesus took action; even he realized more is required than prayer. Jesus himself healed the sick and fed the hungry, but he did not shy away from calling the powers-that-be of his age to account for their oppression of the average Joe or Mary.Continuing to help those in need makes us feel good inside, but still more is needed. Protesting sometimes helps, but can trigger pushback from opponents, and might leave us further behind than when we started. I suspect there is no single answer, and my response to injustice might not be yours.

I have been struggling with the same issues since the early 1960s, and the only regrets I have are about NOT doing something; every time I confront injustice, even if I am not successful, I know I did the right thing.

Please feel free to respond by commenting, we all need new ideas.

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. Duke Morrow

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent PCICO.