Saving our humanity

Most of the time I want to believe the best about people.  I want to believe there is goodness in each of us.  Looking at a small, innocent baby, its unfathomable to imagine how someone so small and perfect can ultimately cause some of the greatest cruelty imaginable. 

I wonder what was done to these people that they do this to those weaker than they are. 

I saw an article tonight on a dog which was posted for "FREE" on Craigslist. The tragedy of Craigslist is illustrated in this story.  I won't go into the dangers of posting "Free to good home" today - I"ll save that for another day.

But the quick synopsis is someone in Kansas had a liter of puppies.  I'm guessing they didn't want them...they posted them for free - but only 3 of them.  This leads one to wonder what abominable cruelty lead to the others' demise.  As you may be aware of, the weather has been really cold this winter.  These puppies were left out in the winter storms, but thankfully a rescue organization was able to pull them.  

Bridget (shown below) suffers from chemical bleach burns.  She has chemical burns inside her mouth, down her throat and into her stomach. For those of you who know how dogs behave, this doesn't happen naturally. She has undergone surgery and has another surgery in her future.  

Thinking about all of this reminded me of this Bible verse out of Matthew 25:40

"I tell you this: whenever you saw a brother or sister hungry or cold, whatever you did to the least of these, so you did to Me."

"whatever you did to the least of these."   Think about that.  Who is the least in our society? What does it say about us that we allow things like this to go on?  Sadly, this abuse is not unusual. Do we not all have some ownership in how we shape our society and culture? 

We are all responsible for treating everyone and everything with respect.  By doing nothing, we all inadvertently allow cruelty like this to continue.  

There is cruelty of all kinds out there. If fighting against domestic abuse, child abuse, environmental abuse speaks to you more, fight for that.  Fight for something.  It's all to easy to stay on auto-pilot shaking your head in dismay when you hear something bad. We all know it is wrong. We all know it is sad. Very few people actually DO SOMETHING.  

Are you someone who does nothing more than shake your head?

At the very least, contact your state senators and local representatives. Tell them laws must change. It's not as hard or as inconvenient as you imagine it to be.

Spreading the word is part of it - clicking share on Facebook goes a long way (provided you don't over share).  Being active and involved in changing the world is more than just giving money or going on TV. 

When people watched Sammie's story, I was told by several people they didn't even know of that type of abuse.  We just need to keep sharing. Don't let the momentum die. Don't let Sammie die in vain. 

Watch the video of Bridget here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=676803069029535&set=vb.214957495214097&type=2&theater

If you wish to donate, you can find information here.