The Question of Belief
| By Unknown user - Mar 21, 2012 2:12:31 AM ET |
| Also listed in: Students for PIH |
Hello all! This is my first post but by no means my last.
I'm writing today to pose a question. A simple question but one that has troubled me for quite some time. It stems from a very important time in my life. A couple of years ago I went to Sri Lanka to work for a charity that provides aid to children orphaned by the tsunami of 2004. It was of course very distressing and eye opening but crucially, inspiring. On the plane heading into Colombo I fretted about the possibility of being resented by the locals, even hated for my very obvious comfort. iPod in ear and Oakley sun glasses on. The first lesson I learned was, from admittedly limited experience but has since been established in my mind as true, is that the poorer and more destitute the community the stronger the communal friendships and the more wonderfully accomdating the people. Nowhere have I been shown such kindness and welcome.
One day I was confronted by a young boy, about 14. I play guitar and happened to have it with me. He asked me to play. I did but it wasn't long before I realized that there was something wrong. His breathing seemed strained, his skin slightly mottled. His actions lethargic. I took him to the doctor who spoke to him in singalease. Their discussion seemed to become a little heated. The boy left and I attempted to follow but the doctor called me back. He told me that the boy needed treatment but part of his family's religious beliefs prohibited the taking of medicines. He would die and i could not find him to try and change his mind. My question is how, when you have been so graciously accepted by an opposing culture, can you change the mindset of someone doomed by dogma without becoming a medical missionary as it were and imposing your ideologies, albeit based in the realm of fact, on their so accomdating beliefs?
I'm writing today to pose a question. A simple question but one that has troubled me for quite some time. It stems from a very important time in my life. A couple of years ago I went to Sri Lanka to work for a charity that provides aid to children orphaned by the tsunami of 2004. It was of course very distressing and eye opening but crucially, inspiring. On the plane heading into Colombo I fretted about the possibility of being resented by the locals, even hated for my very obvious comfort. iPod in ear and Oakley sun glasses on. The first lesson I learned was, from admittedly limited experience but has since been established in my mind as true, is that the poorer and more destitute the community the stronger the communal friendships and the more wonderfully accomdating the people. Nowhere have I been shown such kindness and welcome.
One day I was confronted by a young boy, about 14. I play guitar and happened to have it with me. He asked me to play. I did but it wasn't long before I realized that there was something wrong. His breathing seemed strained, his skin slightly mottled. His actions lethargic. I took him to the doctor who spoke to him in singalease. Their discussion seemed to become a little heated. The boy left and I attempted to follow but the doctor called me back. He told me that the boy needed treatment but part of his family's religious beliefs prohibited the taking of medicines. He would die and i could not find him to try and change his mind. My question is how, when you have been so graciously accepted by an opposing culture, can you change the mindset of someone doomed by dogma without becoming a medical missionary as it were and imposing your ideologies, albeit based in the realm of fact, on their so accomdating beliefs?
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