Missing Girls Just a Symptom

The missing girls of Nigeria are a tragedy and hopefully miraculously the world will find them.  It's been more than three weeks so at the very least they have probably been terrorized or worse.  The real crime here really is that this is not unusual.  The outrage on this treatment shouldn't be a reaction to a specific event - it should be any time it happens any where it happens.

We, as part of the world community, get caught up in day to day issues and forget about those with no hope of nothing better.  They live everywhere.  They live in Nigeria, they live in slums, they live in the United States.  We look the other way when occasionally the hidden abused come to the surface.  We rail at slavery, yet it's never gone away.  Illegal immigration causes people to hide and not have the benefit of the laws we have in place to protect our citizens and visitors.  Lately, stories of rings of human traffickers lept to the top of our news outlets - yet this has happened for ages. Our dismay rings hollow as we scream that something must be done.

Any society that allows individuals to be demeaned and objectified should think carefully about its future.  Ostracizing groups of individuals as unimportant has a long lasting, negative impact that takes generations to correct.  Guilt does nothing only change has hope.

Admittedly, most of us don't have much power over world events, but think -- who did you over look today?  Who did you wish would simply fade away . . . Was it family?  Was it someone that doesn't share your views?  What could happen if we just took a moment to understand?  What if we tried to find a solution to problems we could all live with instead of fighting with the attitude of "my way or the highway?" 

I hope and pray the girls are found brought home to their families.  I also hope that we all realize that we have to start doing what we can to make sure this violence is unacceptable everywhere.  In our homes, our communities, our states, our countries -- everywhere.  What a different world we would have if we could just be kind.