MY BROTHER'S KEEPER

BARN OWL

Below is the post for week 51

MY BROTHER’S KEEPER

Happy Holidays to you all. We organized, for the 12th time, a celebration and gift weekend for our kids and their kids and succeeded again in giving the cousins a place to congregate. Now, well before the holidays, we are done! We are lucky to have this chance and to be able to afford it.

In the center of these huge changes in our country and in the world, we still need to stop and be thankful for what we have. We need to seek out those moments of peace and recognize that this is not an option for everyone. Then we need to get back to work.

Writing a column in rural papers and finding the money to pay for it to publish as an ad is not a huge or heroic thing. It immediately became easier when the response and support came back to me quickly. It is actually a small thing in the expanse of what needs to be done. The hard part I have found is to get others to believe that they can do the same. The sentiment is there, but the positive motion is what will make the difference. Don’t wait for the committee to decide. It can be done quickly. You don’t even have to write. I will do that for you, if you wish.

Beginning January 1, BARN OWL will offer the option to pay for your subscription. The articles will always be available to readers who opt not to contribute. Money from all donations goes directly to the cost of ads in Jackson, Buffalo, Clark and other counties in Wisconsin and other states and, hopefully, will allay the cost for groups who could not afford to do this otherwise.

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MY BROTHER’S KEEPER

Humans are one of a few species that will care for children that are not their own. Even apes and gorillas, our closest relatives in evolution, will not offer that care.

Most of us at one time have seen something unfair happen in front of us. Maybe a kid is pushed down on the playground or picked on during the bus ride to school. We know a person who was shunned or tormented in class because they were different. And we decided to stay quiet and not try to stop it.

California scientist and activist, Tracy Mayne, writes about psychology and politics. He tells of a time he saw a terrible event on the playground. Later his favorite teacher pulled him aside. She looked into his eyes and said “After Cain killed Abel, God asked Cain where Abel was. Cain responded - am I my brother’s keeper? The answer was yes – yes you are.” She expected more of her favorite student.

Cain’s reply to God is understood to mean, “why should I care about the welfare of anyone but myself?” Cain decided he could murder his brother because he didn’t think he had an obligation to protect him. God banished Cain for it. The message was clear -- you are responsible for helping and protecting others.

To be your brother’s keeper - is the heart of our social contract as a caring society. When someone comes upon hard times, we are obligated to help them. When bad things happen to good people - or to bad people - we help them. You like them or not, you help them. Whether they look like you or they look different, you help. It doesn’t matter if they think like you or not, you help. You don’t get to pick your brothers and sisters.

Sadly, while the U.S. government has never been all that good at holding to the social contract, it is worse now. The US Agency for International Development, which provided care and hope to the world, has been closed. Cuts to Medicaid and to SNAP hurt people you may never meet. Emergency relief for disasters has been cut. Money has been taken from what the President calls “Democrat programs” although the programs actually serve everyone.

Those in power have decided their first loyalty is to their leader and to their own families. They forget we are here to look out for each other.

They have moved a rung back down the evolutionary ladder.

By Ben Boardman and Friends. Paid by gifts from supporters

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