Fortitude

Yesterday in my kid's CCD class, we talked about Fortitude and what it means to have fortitude. What a difficult concept for a child to understand. Standing up in the face of adversity. Not only standing up but standing up for things that you really believe in. I pray that this is exactly what I am teaching my kids. Being able to find passion in something (positive) and doing your part to support it.
How many of us walk down the street and see an injustice and step in. Probably not many. It takes a very strong person to be able to stop something that is happening. Perhaps, we have helped, scared off someone who was vandalizing or spoke to someone who was protesting something we didn't believe in. For that matter, how many of us have protested for something that we do believe. Fortunately, it is a rare circumstance to see something that will move you to action, especially in the suburbs.
There are so many people who would feel moved to action if they were walking down the street and saw a man beating his wife, or an adult hurting a child. At this point the mild mannered Clark Kent types would temporarily turn into Superman.
Why then when we see even more deplorable crimes happening on television via another country, we no nothing more than perhaps sigh heavily before changing the channel because it is too much to handle. I am guilty of the same thing.
I am sure that many of you feel it is wrong to abuse women, rape them, and steal their children only then to turn the children into prostitutes for some American businessman to have sex with. Why then do we see this on TV and in the newspaper and shake our heads thinking man I feel sorry for those other countries.
In America it is so easy to ignore what is happening but why should it be? Shouldn't the Government and media shove this stuff in faces on a daily basis until everyone is moved to action? The concept for fortitude does not end at the borders at the United States. If something is so vile and reprehensible here, why isn't the same there. Do we really think that changing the channel or closing the newspaper is going to make it go away?
It is time to be moved! It is time to at the very least support organizations and laws that are working to stop this.
I challenge everyone to research an organization, a law, or at the very least a current war in another country. Hint, hint there is currently one going on in Congo.