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WHY PARIS IS BURNING
And What You Can Do About It
To many of us, the riots that started two weeks ago in
France seemed like a "French problem." We didn't think they would
affect us, and we hoped they'd be over soon. But since beginning in the bleak
high rises that surround Paris and house its poor (mostly Muslims of African
descent), they have spread across the country, and even into Germany and
Belgium. In some quarters there is such fear that people are even speaking
about a "European intifada."
Whether that comparison is a good one or not, we should all
be concerned with what is happening in France. As in New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina, the underlying reason for the violence is the enormous and
growing gap between the world's rich and its poor.
This is not a passing concern: it is a crying injustice that
ought to touch every heart. Humanly seen, there is very little we can do other
than pray like never before for the thousands who are suffering on all sides.
But that is something. And each of us can also help prevent such violence from
breaking out elsewhere: we can love our next-door neighbors as ourselves, not
only in word, but in deed.
Let the news media worry about the riots' effect on the
global economy. Sadly, as with every other disaster and tragedy these days,
that seems to be their foremost concern. But let us not forget that even if
those in power measure everything according to its political and financial
impact, there is another, far more important dimension to all this: the human
aspect.
In the end, the riots are all about the oppression of the
poor and underprivileged--the same sort of oppression that caused the French
Revolution two hundred years ago. Today, as then, those who enjoy economic
security are simply not willing to share with those who are less fortunate.
That is why lawlessness and violence are on the rise, not
only in France, but around the world. We have made an idol of success and look
down on those who do not achieve it. We value people's money and things above
their souls, and in the process, we are making human life cheaper and cheaper.
Unless we are ready to change this in our own lives, it is
hypocritical to wish for an end to the violence in France. One day, the Bible
says, each of us will go from this world to the next, and then the question
will not be, "What impact did you have on the global economy?" but
"What did you do to help alleviate human suffering? Did you feed the
hungry? Did you clothe the naked? Did you visit those in prison? Did you
shelter the stranger?" In the end, these are the most important questions.
[Johann Christoph Arnold (www.christopharnold.com)
is an author of ten books and a pastor with the Bruderhof Communities (www.bruderhof.com).]
Johann Christoph Arnold is the author of ten books and a pastor in the Bruderhof Communities.
Email Johann Christoph Arnold
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