Monday, March 5, 2012

but it doesn't say fairtrade in the bible

For you Catholics out there, this shouldn't be a very large road block. We love tradition, and not saying a word in the bible doesn't mean a thing (purgatory anybody?). So yes, the term Fairtrade, like Purgatory, is fairly new, so we're clear; Jesus didn't tell us to buy fairtrade.

But wait....I think he did t.ell us something else
Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me. ~ Matthew 25:40 
Thus says the LORD: Do what is right and just. Rescue the victim from the hand of his oppressor. Do not wrong or oppress the resident alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. ~ Jeremiah 22:3

Open your mouth in behalf of the dumb, and for the rights of the destitute; Open your mouth, decree what is just, defend the needy and the poor! ~ Proverbs 31:8-9
I could list so many more. Jesus said to help the needy and to defend the rights of those who can't defend themselves. Jesus, who became man to show us the way to Heaven, says we must do these things. His words aren't a pick and choose kind of thing; they are law. Love your neighbor as yourself; do unto others as you you have them do unto you. These are beaten into us at an early age.

And we do, in many cases, follow this highest rule. We give to the homeless, give money to church, volunteer in the classroom, and hold a door open. But, then there are so many times we do not. When Jesus said neighbor, he did not only mean the person living in the house beside you. He meant everybody. He meant the child making shoes on the other side of the world and the mom to four sewing designer jeans for 12 hours a day as well as the person living next door to you.

By buying products that are made by the modern day slaves, we are doing the opposite of what Jesus has commanded us to do. We are taking their rights away.

Maybe just one person buying one product is not going to change the whole system but then again, the shepherd went back for the one lost sheep. Every purchase is only a drop in the ocean, but without every drop there would be no ocean.

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