We Are Our Brothers Keeper

On November 4, 2008, this country was thrust into a new age that was hailed as "Change You Can Believe In." This moment was believed to be a rebirth from the old way of governance in Washington to a bold rediscovery of 'the American dream.' However, nearly a year since the historic election of President Obama, our country is now falling in a frenzied spiral with no end in sight. Surprisingly, the blame does not rest upon the shoulders of this administration; it falls upon the inactivity of its citizens.

Elie Weisel, the famous holocaust survivor and best-selling author once said,"to remain silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all." Writing this letter as a 23-year-old Christian African-American college graduate, I cannot help but be mortified by the collective silence of every grouping that was forementioned. In my opinion, one of the most paramount issues to ever confront this country is at our doorstep and we continue to meet this challenge with unparalleled silence while men and women misled by lies storm through town hall meetings polluting and distorting the true urgency of the contentions we face.

Mahatma Gandhi, as we all know, once admonished us all to, "be the change that we wish to see in the world," and through his campaign, President Obama echoed the similar sentiment that," we are the ones that we've been waiting for." Nonetheless, many of this targeted audience is so consumed with the latest celebrity gossip, sports rumors, or our own meaningless personal obsessions that we are missing the proverbial ship. While we continue to bask in the mistaken comforts of ignorance, nearly 47 million Americans are marginalized as a result of not being able to be insured(Us Census:2006). This unrepresented class of Americans are left up to fate as a result of no opportunity to obtain, let alone afford a premium health care coverage. The mostly conservative, vocal pro-life advocates tend to be very forgetful of the fact that 30,000 infants die every year as a result of the poor health care received by the mother. While people struggle to protect that fertilized pulse during conception, we must also ensure that this pulse will be able to cultivate into a vibrant individual, fully capable of receiving a slice of the American promise.

While change can be enacted through legislation, it usually never starts there. True revolutionary change can only be born out of the awakening of the men and women who are tired of the exploitation of those who have little opportunity to speak for themselves. As Cain asked after murdering his own brother," am I my brothers keeper?" We must reply emphatically, "Yes we are". As a Christian man living in a nation whose dollar bill boldly asserts that we are,"one nation under God," I am disappointed by those "Christians" who have forgotten their calling by Jesus to not only be the 'salt and the light' of the Earth, but to also follow Him by adhering to the two greatest commandments,"to love God, and to love others as ourselves." But oh, who are those others? Those "others" can easily be recognized as those within our social hierarchy who are forgotten by our everyday culture. These outcasts are the people who are the unspoken few who do not speak at the town halls, who are not interviewed by 'Hannity & Colmes,' and are not getting an adequate opportunity for health care benefits. Could you imagine President Obama or Senator Bayh traveling to the inner city of Indianapolis for a town hall? These men and women are the same people who would've been left to die on the side of the road if it weren't for the mercy of the arch rival Samaritan traveler. Where have the sentiments of caring for our brother gone? Why have we let our own selfish desires cloud our judgement of the necessity for the poor, the college graduate looking for work, the currently unemployed, or even the employed without health benefits to have access to health care? Why do we not ask ourselves, "who would Jesus cover?" We find our answer in Matthew 25:25-40;

"When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Only after we ask when did we see Jesus in such compromised circumstances will he answer:

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers on mine, you did for me."

This is not so much a letter to the editor, but it is a challenge to the readers to not sit around any longer and let this moment of utmost significance pass us by. It is a call to ignite the God given fire within each one of us to inspire change. We cannot sit anymore as lanterns gathering the dust of fruitless futility. We cannot anymore let the deception and fictitious hyperbole of the media deter us from helping each other. We cannot anymore let ourselves become the Priest or the Levite who pass along the other side of the road while our brethren lay beaten and downtrodden. God calls us to," stand firm in the faith; be of courage; be strong," and most importantly, to "do everything with love." (1 Cor 16:13-14)

How much more will it take for us to wake up while Rome is burning in front of our eyes? There is no better time than the present to organize into a phalanx of truth and justice and affirm our God given responsiblity to “fight the good fight”(1 Tim 6:12.)We must serve God with a zealous passion, and love our neighbors equally relentlessly. For everything that we fight for, everything we love and desire, "all the Law and the prophets," rests upon these two greatest commandments.(Matthew 22:40) As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King prophetically realized,"the greatest sin of our time is not the few who have destroyed, but the vast majority who sat idly by." America, its time to get up.