An off-base response to Haiti

I was walking our dog, Nanuk, down our street this morning. This is a regular occurance for which both the dog and myself are grateful. The dog, because she gets to sniff every tree. Me, because it's about the only exercise I get these days.

At one home on our street, a new roof extension is being added. That means construction workers are out front with their vans and pick-up trucks loaded with ladders and all sorts of tools. One man was standing by his vehicle, which had both doors open and the radio on.

Loud.

I couldn't help but overhear it.

It was tuned to some talk show that I don't think I had every heard before. The man on the radio was talking about why we should NOT give any assistance to the people of Haiti.

I don't remember the exact words of the radio host, but he said, in so many words, that the United States should not send aid to Haiti because we don't have our own house in order. We have too many homeless people, too many abortions, the economy stinks, there's violence on every corner -- that kind of stuff. We need, the host said, to spend more money here at home and forget sending troops and money to Haiti.

Now. I could not more strongly disagree with Mr. Radio Idiot. I will defend his right to be stupid on the air, but I totally disagree. As a Christian, as a person of faith, as a human being, how in the @#$% could ANYone suggest that we stand-by and watch other human beings suffer through no fault of their own? I can't think of one reason, other than being clueless.

I was tempted to stop and ask one of the construction workers if he really believed the crap spewing from his radio, but he was bigger than me and I had to finish my/our walk and get to work.

And what work have I been doing all day? Encouraging people to give to Haiti relief efforts. If you are so inclined, I would encourage you to give money to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Why? Because 100 percent of every dollar you give will get to Haiti relief efforts. One. Hundred. Percent. Not one penny will be utilized for administrative costs or stuff like that (The United Methodist Church has a separate offering, regularly scheduled in the calendar year, to cover those costs). You can click here to see UMCOR's donation page. You can also visit www.flumc.org to see what stuff I've been working on the past week.

I'm tempted to find out what radio host this was (it wasn't Rush) and ask him if he supports our war in Iraq. If he says yes, I'd like to know: which costs more -- giving aid to Haiti, or the war?