Slavery Stiched into the Fabric of My Clothes

Someone told me over the weekend they were concerned about finding and understanding religion because they want to know if they should do good for fellow humanity or just go on with their own self interests. They called this a crisis of faith.

My answer is this:

My religion is an unyielding love for humanity. Even if there is not some divine connection between us, such as Adam and Eve, or a prerequisite of good deeds to enter heaven or to end reincarnation, we are all still connected. We share this planet together, we are all dependent on each other in some aspect, our actions' ripple effects can be felt infinitely beyond what we will ever know. So hinging one's humanitarianism on its need to get into heaven is silly.

On the other side of the world, a woman works tirelessly in a sweatshop, where she earns barely enough money to eat so we can wear the season's best fashions. She eats, sleeps, and breathes work, so we can have cheap clothes. We send our factories to foreign counties exploiting their labor, resources, and health. We do this because their labor, natural resources, and well-being is worth less than our own. We build machines and train soldiers to kill another human being who believes they are right, just as we do. This soldier probably has a spouse and child who they are trying to project from the "evils" of the world.

I thought about my shoes the other day--
I have 30 pairs of shoes: a young boy trekking through trash in Africa has none.
I eat everyday, 3 times a day: a family of four, just down the street is lucky if they eat once a day.
I wish I could have a new sweater: some people don't have enough clothes to shield them from the elements.
I wish I could repaint my room: some people don't have their own room, some don't have heat, or a lock on their down, or electric, or clean water...or shelter.
I complain about waking up early for classes: a little girl in a developing country isn't allowed to go to school.


Thing about it, we could not live without our fellow human beings,--what we eat, what we wear, what we think, what we drive, what entertainment we seek, has been touched by others in humanity. My comfortableness is at the expense of some people's lives. If I just give a little more, share a little more, felt a little less entitled--things could be different for that shoeless boy, or the illiterate little girl.

Why does this connection matter? Because our salvation (our life) rests in others' hands. We all share this dilemma-the dependence on the other.

To some degree, the homeless, the sick, the poor, the disenfranchised, the abused are our responsibility. By looking at humanity not through religion's eyes but in regards to this other connectedness, it makes this responsibility all the more greater.