Order And Aid In Haiti

There is a side to helping out the poor and needy that doesn't get talked about much, and that is the practicalities. It's one thing to want to help, one thing to send aid, one thing to volunteer. It's quite another to get it done.

My heart goes out to those devastated by the earthquake in Haiti. Many groups have mobilized to rush to their aid, whether with money, supplies, or manpower. The effort is hamstrung because the roads and the infrastructure are in shambles; supplies can't get off the dock or runway.

As in any desperate situation, lawlessness abounds. People who are normally mild may claw and scratch to get what they need to survive. Others may take more than what they need with the strong taking advantage of the weak. Bands of roving people wielding machetes.

Even those who come with material aid may be putting their own life and limb in danger, much like a drowning man may sink his rescuer with his wild flailing. On the news, I watched a truck in Haiti drive slowly down the street distributing water bottles. Crowds of people ran alongside, jumping on it, snatching anything inside the truck bed. Angry, violent, desperate. The truck did not dare stop for fear of being overwhelmed.

I was reminded of a time as a child in Turkey, when our Church gathered food and clothing for the poor and distributed it at Easter to families living at the community dump. Once word got out, our vehicles were swarmed with people trying to get at it. Our priest was knocking on doors and handing out tickets for the bags of food, two per household.

"No ticket, no food! Go back to your house and bring your ticket. Everyone will get some.", the people swarming the cars were told.

Some angry young men threatened us: "Give us the bags or we will kill you!". We stood our ground and things ended peacefully -- especially after the police came. There were a few tense moments when we thought we would be arrested for creating a disturbance, but it ended peaceably.

Another time in Washington, D.C., I had food snatched from my hands as I tried to distribute it from one of the regular runs that Martha's Table makes downtown. Trying to ration it so that everybody got some was challenging as some people threatened there as well.

I realize that I'm no St. Francis, but it seems to me that one of the ways that Haitians will be helped best and quickest is if someone can stem the anarchy by establishing some kind of order. After that the food and medical aid can begin to heal the people. Right now, they have our love, our money, and our prayers.

Haiti Reels Under Massive Quake

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti as they recover from a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the worst that nation has ever seen.

Time	Magnitude	Location
Yesterday	7.0	Haiti region	Map
2 days ago	4.3	Southern California	Map
4 days ago	6.5	Offshore Northern California	Map

The United States has started ramping up its disaster relief programs for Haiti. No matter how much certain countries may hate us, the US is still the most generous nation in the world. To whom more is given, more is expected.

Photo: AP

A woman stands in the rubble of her home the day after an earthquake hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 13 Jan. 2010 [source]

Many unscrupulous people will try to take advantage of this calamity to cheat well meaning people out of money or personal information by masquerading as aid to Haiti. Be forewarned.

Catholics In DC Act Like Catholics

People are shocked, shocked, to find out that Catholics are behaving like Christians.

The very idea that a religion would have deeply held beliefs and tenets, and that its members and affiliated groups would actually act on those beliefs is, well, shocking.

The histrionics that permanently characterize Washington D.C. politics are on display again as the D.C. Council imposed its Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 on its residents without submitting it to a popular vote. This effort was championed (surprise) by David Catania, one of the two openly gay members of the legislature. Proponents of this measure are all in a huff that Catholic archdiocese leaders found that there are not enough exemptions to this social engineering law for them to practice their religion.

As usual, the aggressors blame the victim and the progressive media has predictably piled on. (We would remind our readers that progressive refers to an attitude in time, rather than a transcendent truth.)

However, there are voices of reason. Jonetta Rose Barras writes a column in the Washington Examiner where she says that the church should keep the faith by choosing God over Government.

[Washington Examiner] Threat. Demand. Blackmail. Childish. Ultimatum. Those were a few of the words used last week in the media and elsewhere to describe the Archdiocese of Washington's stated intention of ending its contractual relationship with the city, if the D.C. Council doesn't amend its homosexual marriage legislation to provide additional protections to religious organizations.

Currently, the archdiocese, through its social services arm, Catholic Charities, cares for about 68,000 people in the District. Its counseling, homeless shelter and adoption programs are funded with a combination of about $20 million in government contracts and about $10 million of its own money. Those services are now in jeopardy.

Church leaders took heat last week as they made it clear they would not abandon fundamental tenets of their religious doctrine, which among other things asserts that homosexual relations is a sin. They have said they cannot provide certain services, including employee benefits, to gay couples. Those declarations came after a legislative committee approved the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009.

Faced with a choice between God and government, not surprisingly the archdiocese and Catholic Charities chose God.

Far from being demanding or threatening, the Archdiocese of Washington is simply reacting to the actions of the DC Council. The Church leaders are saying that if you force them to act against their consciences, they simply won't provide those services for the City.

Although some might applaud the Church's exit from the social services scene, the real losers are the 68,000 Washingtonians who benefit from Catholic Charities' counseling, adoption, and homeless programs to which it contributes its own $10 million.

The Church will continue to care for the poor and disadvantaged in DC as far as allowed by law, but it doesn't have to do it for the city.

Mother Teresa's Contact Info

My sister told this story at brunch this week.

She's an ad executive who was meeting in New York with the CEO/owner of a successful business; let's call him John. Along with her were the owners of her ad agency who are not Catholic; let's call them Ida and Rick. During the meeting John reveals that his goal is to make a lot of money so that he can donate the profits to the orphanages started by Mother Teresa.

Sis: "Oh, you've met Mother Teresa?"
John: "No, I lived and worked with her for several years in India."
Sis: (Wink) "You'll have to give me her contact info."

He goes on to describe how he gives his employees a certain number of days off every month to perform charity work of their choice.

Ida and Rick: "But you're doing this work here because you really love this field, right?"
John: "No. I mean, it's good, but it's just a means to an end. I intend to make millions of dollars but die penniless."

Ida and Rick: "What do you mean, "penniless"?"
John: "I intend to give it all away to the Missionaries of Charity. "

Ida and Rick: (blank looks of incomprehension) "I don't get it."

Later that day they meet with a different client owner, Sal.

Sis: "... and so you see if you make a small change to your program you can save a whole lot of money for the company -- and then pass the savings on to your customers."

Sal: "No, we intend on sticking the profits in our own pockets!"

Ida and Rick: "Finally, something we understand."

And that's a true story. So keep on doing things the world just doesn't understand, because Christ does.

Chesterton: Human Vs. Christian Charity

I read The Chief Mourner of Marne, by G.K. Chesterton. I was struck by this quote at the end of the story.

"There is a limit to human charity," said Lady Outram, trembling all over.

"There is," said Father Brown dryly; "and that is the real difference between human charity and Christian charity.

You must forgive me if I was not altogether crushed by your contempt for my uncharitableness today; or by the lectures you read me about pardon for every sinner.

For it seems to me that you only pardon the sins that you don't really think sinful. You only forgive criminals when they commit what you don't regard as crimes, but rather as conventions.

So you tolerate a conventional duel, just as you tolerate a conventional divorce. You forgive because there isn't anything to be forgiven."

Real People, Real Care

The whole health care debate is so raucous that it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. No matter what side you come down on, we can all agree that there is much to dislike. Which is all the more reason to slow down and look at things afresh.

The role of government in this case should not be to take over our responsibilities to take care of ourselves, our families, and one another, but rather to enable the atmosphere, the laws, and incentives that can make that happen. Too many times, people just want the government to "take care of things" for them. This does not engender proper respect for persons, personal accountability, and love for neighbor. What is does promote is a culture of dependency, entitlement, and hostility over higher taxes when the inevitable waste and corruption set in.


Every third Thursday or so, Martha's Table comes to designated spots in Washington DC downtown and feeds the hungry. The Martha's Table mission statement reads:

Martha’s Table’s mission is to help at-risk children, youth, families and individuals in our community improve their lives by providing educational programs, food, clothing, and enrichment opportunities.

Martha's table has a dozen permanent staff and a whole host of people volunteering to feed, clothe, and teach those in need. These are people who are putting their faith in action; these are the kind of programs and ministries that transform people's lives. I can't even think of a government program that was actually transformative on a personal level.

The best part is there are thousands of groups and organizations like Martha's Table that take care of people in their own communities. There is no one-size-fits-all. That is the beauty of it -- it meets the actual needs of actual people and there are real people doing it.

There is no government mandated program for which you get to fill out bureaucratic forms, no rammed down your throat entitlement. The role of good government is to incentivize the private sector into providing more options, make it easier to give and make a difference, through laws and tax credits, not to dictate what the options are. That way we become better citizens and better people by helping one another instead of waiting for "the government" to do it.

Unfortunately, the government is good at taking great ideas and ruining them. That's why they shouldn't be allowed to run anything much beyond the national defense.