The sacrifices of Justice

I have been following the work of Julie Clawson ever since I heard her speak at a Women's Conference this past fall.  She is a brilliant writer and someone who isn't afraid to say what she thinks in order to further the causes of social justice.  She's written a book that I can't wait to get my hands on entitled Everyday Justice: The Global Impact of our Daily Choices.  (Click on the title to go to her website and see a summary).


She also writes for two blogs that I know of: her own entitled One Hand Clapping, (a very self-reflective title given that she was born missing one of her arms from the elbow down), and God's Politics Blog (a blog by Soujourners, a Christian organization that looks at Biblical responses to faith, politics and culture).


During her session at the conference I attended she was discussing her book and the practical ways we can begin to make more Just choices with our purchasing.  Being in social work and being lucky enough to learn from my awesome colleagues I had heard a lot about the injustices behind coffee and chocolate production and had made the choice with Steven to start buying Fair Trade coffee.  I knew that so many of our clothes are produced by child labor overseas...but to be honest I hadn't (and still haven't) done anything about my purchasing in that area.  But then she discussed another form of injustice in our consumerist culture that I was unaware of...our technology.


Many of the minerals used to make our cell phones, computers etc. work come from the mines in the Congo, where terrorist groups run rampant in order to take control of these mines and in turn control of the money countries like America and others "technologically driven" give them in return.  These groups are a true terror: mass killings, raping men women and children (one as young as 1 month was found), and many more horrific things all throughout the region of the Congo.  Unfortunately the technological companies aren't being held accountable for where they are buying these minerals, and when asked about the terrorist groups they are purchasing from many say that buying from this region reduces the cost of technology for Americans (and other "stable" countries).  But as Julie says in a post on the subject, "Putting out a product as cheaply as possible should never be an excuse for supporting terrorist groups that maintain control through mass gang rape."


As of now there are no "conflict free" cell phones (meaning cell phones, or other technology, that does not use minerals from this part of the world), but in her post Julie writes a thought provoking reflection on the subject.  If you are interested you can find the post here.


My purpose of writing this post was not to guilt you into action.  In fact the main reason I'm writing this is so that I won't forget about how many of the things I enjoy (chocolate, coffee, clothing, and my cell phone) can create such terror for my neighbors.  I'm using the word neighbor very purposefully here.  As Christians we are called to care for our neighbors, and thanks to Globalization even the people in the Congo are our neighbors.  How can we allow these things to happen to them?  How can we support buying products that bring them such terror?  To put it more bluntly, how can I buy a product that I know was used with minerals a terrorist group profited off of by raping a one month old?  How will we care for them?  


I don't know all the answers to these questions, and I'm certainly not a model for what we can do.  I enjoy the comforts of my own home even though I know so many of them come at a cost to my neighbors.  One thing I am certain of though is that taking a stance on these issues will not be popular.  Nobody wants to give up their luxuries, and certainly nobody wants to hear that they are supporting terrorist groups, I mean hello, we are America, we fight the terrorists


(...apparently only when the terrorists are going against our own self interests...)


Certainly we will have to go against our American culture in order to take a stance on these issues and care for our neighbors...but then again, isn't that what we are called as Christians to do?