This wasn’t at all what I thought my first blog would be about, but after creating this six or seven months ago, I finally have something I care enough about to write on.
I guess the best way to start this is to explain what actually prompted this. Today in one of my classes, our professor started talking about the Roma people in Europe. There has been a prejudice against these people ever since their arrival in Europe, so they have been nomadic due to persecution. All this is upsetting, but what really got to me was when something was said about the nations having issues with these people due to social problems such as prostitution. Shortly after that statement, a student said that some governments refuse to educate these same Roma girls. Here’s the thing: research shows that lack of education leads to higher risk of prostitution. In almost all cases of prostitution, it’s forced upon the girls. Or maybe it’s all they know. But they didn’t wake up one morning and think, “I want to sell my body to make my living.” Ultimately, these governments are compounding their own problems. They want to end the prostitution, but they don’t want to educate the girls who are at risk. Where’s the sense in that?
Until this moment, the End It Movement that I have seen so much about recently had not hit home for me. Yes I thought ending slavery and prostitution altogether was/is a good thing. A great thing to strive for. But did I really find a personal reason to want to help? If I’m being honest, not really.
This isn’t some new problem that is isolated to the issue of prostitution. Governments and societies have been doing this for ages. So many issues turn into self-fulfilling prophecies. In some ways, this is a pretty good summary of my classes this semester. Besides this topic, which came up in my geography class, my women and gender history class often points out ways that society has compounded their own gender issues through legislation and expectations. I’m also in a history of the Holocaust class, which speaks for itself. As these classes point out, humans expect something to happen, create the environment for it to happen, and then simply accept those happenings when they do occur. Just because these things have been happening forever, doesn’t make them okay. As a friend said when I talked to her about this issue, if we just stuck with the status quo, women would have never entered the workforce, and this change has been beneficial to our society and individuals.
Why am I saying all this? Well, what it all comes back to for me personally, is a thought that I’ve had on my mind since reading it voiced by someone else (I can’t remember who and even tried to Google it so I could give credit). There’s this idea that Christians (which I am) are more concerned with BEING right than DOING right. This is not every individual, but often, it is the front that we give off. At the risk of some backlash, it upsets me that there was such a bandwagon Christian movement to inform others of what is right and wrong, but many times we ignore the needs of this world. We are called to love our world. I’m glad that even though I haven’t done a thing for it beyond this blog post yet, the End It Movement is taking hold so strongly, as it seeks to actually do something.
I also realize that I might sound a bit judgy or possibly like I think I have all the answers. I strongly believe that if it were simple, these issues would be solved already. They’re not, obviously. But it does nothing to stand by and watch bad things happen to people. I’m guilty of doing this all the time both for fear of failing and for the simple fact that I alone can not fix the entire problem. I’m learning that it really is okay to care even if I can’t do it all.
In the end, we’re all responsible for the fate of our world, and every little thing can help. I’m learning, and with time, I’m hoping to stand up more for the things that I believe in. Also, this is the song that I hear in my head whenever I think about these kinds of issues.
The Greatest is Love 