Caring for those we don’t know
From the movie Collateral, after a taxi driver (Max) sees a man killed:
Vincent: Max, six billion people on the planet, you’re getting bent out of shape cause of one fat guy. Max: Well, who was he? Vincent: What do you care? Have you ever heard of Rwanda? Max: Yes, I know Rwanda. Vincent: Well, tens of thousands killed before sundown. Nobody’s killed people that fast since Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Did you bat an eye, Max? Max: What? Vincent: Did you join Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Whales, Greenpeace, or something? No. I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit. Max: Man, I don’t know any Rwandans. Vincent: You don’t know the guy in the trunk, either.
This really struck me, especially as I learn more about the genocide. Yet it’s so easy not to care. Update: Rev. Mike says caring is not enough.