Karma, Dharma and Justice

One of the funniest lines in a movie comes from the 1989 movie "Lethal Weapon 2" occurs when Sgt. Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) tells the South African Consulate worker that he wants to go to South Africa to stand with his black brothers and fight against their white oppressors:

Roger Murtaugh: How you doin'?

[his handshake is ignored by the Envoy]

Consulate Envoy: I think there must be some mistake.

Roger Murtaugh: Say what?

Consulate Envoy: Listen to your friend here, he knows what he's talking about. I don't think you want to go to South Africa.

Roger Murtaugh: Why not?

Consulate Envoy: Because you're black!

Leo Getz: [to Murtaugh] You are.

Leo Getz: [to Envoy] He is.

Absolutely hilarious in its delivery, in fact, we still joke with that line today. And yet it is of course not a joke at all. When the movie was made, South Africa was dealing with the very serious question of Apartheid. It was clear that apartheid could no longer survive in South Africa (or anywhere for that matter) and the world joined forces against the racist system to help bring equality to Africans in South Africa. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Klerk, among other helped to pave the way for a new government in South Africa, one based on more equitable terms for people of all races. This could not have been as successful had it not been for the efforts of the individuals involved and for the support shown by the world in demanding an end to the racist system. I even remember attempts to boycott Coca-Cola because they operated in South Africa.

Today South Africa has the opportunity to stand with the world and help bring greater equality to others oppressed. Ahead of the 2010 World Cup (of Soccer), to be held in South Africa, the first held anywhere on the African Continent, world leaders in peace and many celebrities have been invited to discuss peace worldwide and the role sport can have in fostering peace.

Originally on the guest are:

Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Klerk, Morgan Freeman, Charlize Theron, Martti Ahtisaari, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and many others

However, the president of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, refused to sign the invitation for the Dalai Lama over concerns regarding relations with China. Currently, the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, is living in exile, and has been since age 16. Tibet has been occupied by China since 1950 and the Dalai Lama in exile since 1959. Rumors abound of the harsh treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese government, but no official documents exist to the actual state of affairs in this Himalayan region of China.

This is South Africa's chance to stand up and put justice over politics. But without an invitiation to the Dalai Lama the peace conference is bound to fail. Already withdrawing from the conference are F.W. de Klerk and Desmond Tutu. How could a peace conference in South Africa be taken seriously without two of their most staunch supporters for peace? Some would say that it is the duty of South Africa to repay the world for the equality that the world helped them achieve. But in the very least, it is the duty of all people to see justice done. As Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in a letter from a Birmingham jail, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"SA to Host First Ever Peace Conference" (The Citizen, February 25, 2009)

"Football for Peace" (FIFA.com, February 25, 2009)

"Dalai Lama Denied Visa for South Africa Peace Conference" (CNN.com, March 23, 2009)

"South Africa Bars Dalai Lama from Peace Conference" (Yahoo!News, March 23, 2009

A Crime so Monstrous

A few months ago I read heard a news story about a new book titled A Crime so Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery. After hearing the interview with the author, report E. Benjamin Skinner, I knew I had to read this book. I went out and bought it the day it hit the book stores. Listen for yourself (from the NPR program "Day to Day"):

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88102060

This book was not disappointing, well worth reading and the $25 I spent on it. This was something had never spent much time thinking about because it is not something I realized happened in such numbers. According to the author, there are more slaves in the world now than at any other time in human history. Even more astounding is that there are more slaves being brought into the United States today than there were in pre-Independence America! Today, when we talk about slavery, the first thing that usually comes to mind is sex slaves - mail order brides from eastern Europe and such. But sex slavery is a small portion of the slavery that takes place. Most slaves are laborers, either domestic or industrial, whose condition is the result of a former debt. Sometimes that debt was as small as 79 cents, and today, two generations later, the family is still working to pay off such a minuscule debt.

Today I watched a very touching movie, Trade. In this film, a boy from Mexico City, struggles to track down his 13 year old sister who was kidnapped by a sex trafficking ring. Kevin Kline, a Texas detective gets involved and and helps the boy try and find his sister. The story is pure tragedy. Will they find the girl? It doesn't matter, there is no happy ending even if they do find her. This is an on going problem in the world and the rescue of one person, as significant as it may be, is still insignificant when compared to the atrocious crimes perpetrated in the slave trade. But we know, slavery is not a new institution. It has been going on for thousands of years. At no time in human history has there been a period without slavery. And what is more, the reasons for slavery remain the same. I very much urge you to watch this movie and read this book. It will put genocide into an entirely new light - one even darker than before.