This is a reblog from Kathy Haueisen, a friend, an author and a Lutheran minister. Her questions seem to have no answers, yet should.
Cave Rescue Operation
By Kathryn Haueisen on Jul 13, 2018 05:28 am
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. (Isaiah 43:1)
We were traveling with very limited access to news when reports of the plight of the twelve young soccer players and their coach began to surface. We learned former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Kunan sacrificed his life for them. He was part of the team trying to save them from the water-filled cave in which they were trapped. Wednesday (July 10) we learned all of the boys and their coach had been safely rescued.
I can only imagine the horror of the parents waiting to learn if their sons made it out safely; or the nail-biting anxiety of family members following the progress of the rescue divers. The heroic efforts of the skilled, international dive team are epic. They remind me of the extraordinary efforts it took to rescue the thirty-three Chilean minors back in 2010. Remember when 18-month-old Jessica was rescued after she fell into a deep well in Midland, Texas in 1987? Millions of us were riveted to the news as these rescue stories unfolded.
Rescue Stories Make Great Movies
These real-life rescue missions are sometimes turned into movies that keep us on the edge of our seats even though we know how the stories end. We are inspired watching strangers work as a team to apply their combined resources, skills and experiences to get people out of life-threatening situations to safety. We cheer them on and give a collective sigh of relief when the operation is finished.
Yet somehow this good news about this most recent rescue operation discourages me as much as it encourages me. I am discouraged because such a fantastic effort proves we have what it takes to rescue and assist people caught in horrific situations. So why can we not apply that same ingenuity and determination to help children caught in the cross fire of wars, poverty, and crime?
I cannot understand how we can go to such extreme efforts to rescue boys in a cave, men trapped in a mine, and a toddler stuck in a well, but we fail again and again to muster enough compassion to mitigate the suffering of thousands of other innocent children in our global village.
Our Inconsistent Compassion Response
How can we muster such energetic commitment to rescue a few but ignore the plight of the masses? How can we do whatever it takes to rescue boys in a cave but play the blame game when toddlers and terrified young children are taken from parents at our borders, are hauled into court hearings without their parents, or sent hundreds of miles away from anyone they know?
Maybe I’m missing something. If that is so, I wish someone could explain why some children merit pullout-the-stops efforts of the global community while others are denied even the comfort of their families in their stress.
I wish I had answers to explain this great inconsistency. I wish I could understand why we can cheer for the salvation of one group of children but refuse to show even a limited level of concern for other children. The boys in the cave went in even though signs warned it was dangerous and to stay out. Meanwhile, thousands of toddlers and young children suffer merely because of where they were born. What criteria should we use to decide who is worthy of our best efforts and who should be denied their most basic needs?
I cannot understand it. Can you? If so, please help me understand this.
The post Cave Rescue Operation appeared first on How Wise Then.
that little voice 
That inconsistent compassion really disturbs me. What is even more disturbing, is that this country has a president with absolutely no compassion, so far as I can see.
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CaroI, so true. He is so self focused he has no feeling toward anyone or anything else. Remarkable that 40 percent of our population follow him. But I believe it is primarily white men who feel threatened of losing their power and position in society. They have gone unchallenged for hundreds of years, and now women, minorities, gays, etc. or voicing their resistance, and it scares the hell out of them.
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And the Republicans care more about holding the office than anything else.
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Yep, you are right.
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Thank you Margo.
Kathryn Haueisen Freelance Author http://www.HowWiseThen.com https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKHaueisen
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He doesn’t feel anything Carol apart from believing he his always right. He’s over here now, continuing his first line of defence strategy – Attack and insult! There have been demonstrations all over the country today with more planned for over the weekend. He’s still insisting the people of Britain like him, though I imagine, just as there are in your country, there will the odd pockets of them.
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He is not worthy of the title he holds, and is an embarrassment to our country, in addition to being a threat. Keep protesting.
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Sadly, speaking as a Woman born and raised in Britain and who left the country for France 5 years ago, I have to disillusion you. Those that voted to come out of Europe mostly did so because they blamed immigrants for everything they perceive as lacking in their own lives. One of the biggest pockets of support for Brexit was in the North East, an area where there are no immigrants to speak of but there is high unemployment. Meanwhile, across the country in Liverpool on the North West coast where the history is of a multicultural population with a huge number of immigrants, there is also high unemployment but they voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU. Trump trumpets anti-migrancy and he was in support of a ‘hard Brexit’ … the readers of the right wing newspapers who wanted just the same, and those that support Boris Johnson (a self-serving blonde bombast with racist tendencies and desperate for his moments in the spotlight) were delighted when Trump announced he would make a great Prime Minister in his interview in their newspaper of choice, The Sun on Friday. They were thrilled when he came out with all the guff about sailing better on our own. Those people, and they represent a huge tranche of the English and Welsh (not British) population are pro-Trump. They keep their own council and they sit watching television spitting fire at the demonstrators. But they exist. Lots of them. And it scares me to death.
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Osyth, I’m unsure who is the intended recipient of your reply, but seeing as it landed in my inbox I assume it was for me.
I’m unsure why you think I should be disillusioned. About what?
I’m English, I live in the UK and I voted to remain in the EU. Most everyone I know voted to remain.
I’m very aware of the demographics of many of those who voted to leave and their reasons. It’s also no secret that Trump took note of what happened here, learned from it and used this knowledge as the basis of his campaign. He targeted the same people type and that too is no secret.
When I spoke of pockets of Trump supporters I was not referring to small pockets, I meant areas.
Those who voted to leave the EU on the basis of slowing down immigration, voted in the misapprehension they would put a halt to Muslim immigrants. Tired of living next door to them, they rejected a modern multi-cultural existence in the hope they could make the country white again.
I’m also aware that many who voted to leave now regret that decision.
We should never have been asked to vote, the issues at stake were far too important to leave to the masses.
Going back to Trump and his interview with the Tabloid The Sun, everyone is aware why he chose that newspaper. However, he underestimated the people, we are a loyal lot, we can criticise our own but many do not take kindly to an outsider coming here and telling our government what to do.
You don’t live here anymore Osyth and in some ways I’m afraid you are out of touch.
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I am sorry if I offended you. However, you assume, wrongly that I am out of touch. I have four adult daughters, a mother and a large wider family not to mention many, many friends all of whom remain in the UK. I left because I married again not out of disloyalty and I still have a vote, of course. I voted to remain in 2016 as did nearly all of the aforementioned and all of my family. The most important thing vis a vis Trump is to ensure he is not in the Whitehouse beyond January 2021. From where I’m sitting (in the USA, by the way where I live with my husband, a US Citizen) the only way to ensure that is to rally the opposition party and pull it together. He may not like the protests but he also feeds on opposition in some perverse way. Rather like the baby that he is portrayed as he wants attention and any attention is better than none. Enough said. I hope you will accept my apology for any upset and annoyance that I have caused you.
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Thank you Osyth. I apologise for saying you were out of touch.
You may be interested in this.
A fellow blogger, someone I follow, was complaining about the way people treated him when they found out he voted for Trump. He asked why we can’t agree to differ and just get on with one another.
I was interested to know why a middle class, educated, religious family man voted the way he did and so I asked a couple of questions.
What persuaded you to vote for Trump? Was it because you liked the man, you agreed with his policies, or was it because you are and always have been a Republican? Do you now believe you made a mistake or do you remain happy with your choice?
Later I discussed this with a friend who then chose to include the reply in an article on his own site. So, rather than pasting the blogger’s long reply to my questions I’m directing you to my friend’s site instead.
https://themainaisle.com/2018/07/02/donald-trump-political-catalyst/
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Oh heavens, apology not needed but graciously accepted. Can we be friends now please? Because I do believe that we are batting from the same wicket which, of course is pleasing but also is essential if ever we are to restore some order into this very bewildered and battered world of ours. This link was fascinating. And I hear this man loud and clear. And that is what needs to happen if the cavernous rifts in this country are to be even remotely healed. There has to be lots of listening and less condemning. On both sides. And using language like ‘basket of deplorables’ to describe opposition supporters is never clever in debate. I do not believe that Trump is the answer. He is more selfish and self-serving than even the average politician (possibly because he is not, in fact, a politician but rather a businessman and opportunist). I do not believe the Republican Party hold any of the keys except to line the coffers of the rich whilst leaving the poor to decay. But I also don’t believe that sitting spitting rocks and bile and condemning those that voted for him or support him is the answer. The answer is for the Democrat party to put its energy into unifying and finding a strong and compelling leader that the disenchanted will listen to. And that begins with understanding what they are disenchanted with in the first place. I see no evidence that the Liberals are working towards that goal and it saddens and afears me. In Britain, the same is true in many ways. I see no real leadership on either side. For sure JC appeared at Glastonbury and caused a sensation but he is not coming out from under his stone and trying to unify his own party and the other side are in turmoil. The evidence is clear to see from France. Both Left and Right were in disarray as the elections loomed and out of the shadows stepped Macron (leaving Hollande feeling a little like Caesar under Brutus’ knife) and he was erudite, efficient, educated and most of all charismatic. He gets things wrong, he will continue to get things right and wrong but without him France would now have a Fascist leader in Marine le Penn, I have no doubt. Thank you so much for sharing this with me. And thank you for being a person who tries to find out why even if she is entirely bewildered by the choices a person makes. That marks you out as a truly intelligent woman. Because communication, surely is as much in the hearing as in the saying 😊
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Thank you very much Osyth. Yes of course we can be friends and long may it continue 😊
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😊
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Wow, this subject created some in-depth conversation. Thank you both. This was a fascinating exchange for me. I have not totally understood the leaving/staying in Europe issues, but it has seemed to me (from afar) it is similar to the issue here in the U.S.: there is a dedicated group in both countries who do not like immigration.
I’m of the belief this resistance is led by white men who are frightened and threatened that they will lose power they have had for centuries. At least the way they are going after the rights of women, gays, minorities, immigrants (especially if they are not white), speaks to their need to control and dominate.
In fact, this exchange is illustrative of how women and men deal with conflict or differences of opinion. I would guess men would come to fisticuffs over this, while women had a lively discussion, were able to disagree, express themselves, and become better acquainted because of it. I think that is marvelous.
I do appreciate your sharing. Thank you both!
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Humanunkindness is spiraling and we seemingly have little idea of how to quel it. You are right to say keep protesting. In the end the voice must be loud enough that it cannot be ignored. And Churches need to speak out. Because it seems that church and politics are entwined in this country and I would postulate that those that do God’s work are duty bound to ensure that human does not commit cruel act to human. Particularly when those humans are the most helpless of all.
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Wow, this subject created some in-depth conversation. Thank you both. This was a fascinating exchange for me. I have not totally understood the leaving/staying in Europe issues, but it has seemed to me (from afar) it is similar to the issue here in the U.S.: there is a dedicated group in both countries who do not like immigration.
I’m of the belief this resistance is led by white men who are frightened and threatened that they will lose power they have had for centuries. At least the way they are going after the rights of women, gays, minorities, immigrants (especially if they are not white), speaks to their need to control and dominate.
In fact, this exchange is illustrative of how women and men deal with conflict or differences of opinion. I would guess men would come to fisticuffs over this, while women had a lively discussion, were able to disagree, express themselves, and become better acquainted because of it. I think that is marvelous.
I do appreciate your sharing. Thank you both!
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