For those of you who watched the NFL Superbowl last night, I'd imagine there's a mix of emotions ranging from excitement/jubilation to an intense feeling of intestinal distress.
The Broncos might say something like, "It was a hard-fought game, lots of ups and downs. It was a real battle, but hey, any given team can win any given game on any given Sunday. It just wasn't our day." That's putting it lightly...
The Seahawks would then respond, "They played games and lost. We played football and we won. End of story."
Yet, amid the trash talk that follows, there's a hidden side to the Superbowl that you may not have heard about. Its a darker side, called human trafficking. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking: "Now its time for the blogger to make us feel guilty for living our lives and watching football. What'd I ever do to you?!"
You have to understand, the world is filled with far more evil than you could ever imagine. In middle-class society, we are conveniently sheltered from a good deal of suffering, so we either assume that it's too negative to talk of such things or we pride ourselves that our friends and family are nice and safe and sheltered like we are. Perhaps instead we could all do our part to make a difference?
I know for me, the issue isn't really, well, at-hand. I don't see it. I don't know what to do to combat it, and after I post this, I will go about my day as-usual. But perhaps someone reading this will be in a different position, perhaps a business leader or someone with connections, able to help. Perhaps if our society was overrun with vigilant people who know human trafficking is real and aren't afraid to blow whistles, then those who do such things wouldn't get away with it? I dunno. There's always the tried-and-true, "Keep your eyes open and call 911 if you see anything."
It's overwhelming and I hate that there are people suffering in this way under our noses.
We can pray and ask God to show us our part in it. It's a group effort or nothing.
I'll leave the rest of this post to a friend of mine...:
"Right now, there are thousands upon thousands of men, women, and
children in the world who are victims of human trafficking. They are
slaves who are kidnapped and sold into labour or prostitution. In 2010,
there were an estimated 10,000 women who were victims of human
trafficking at the Super Bowl. Yes, here, in America. And the numbers
continue to rise. Slavery is a worldwide epidemic, but here, in our own
backyard, girls from ages 12 and up are being sold into prostitution on
the streets of our cities. More facts and stories related to this can
be found here:
http://www.policymic.com/articles/79235/you-ll-never-see-this-side-of-the-super-bowl-on-tv
http://elitedaily.com/news/world/the-ugly-truth-behind-the-super-bowl-and-sex-trafficking/
This
really bothers me. The Bible says in the book of Genesis chapter One
that God created humanity in His image. What does that mean? It means
that an artist's creativity comes from God, a soldier's courage comes
from God, a father's discipline comes from God, and a mother's affection
comes from God. It means that to be human is to reflect the Creator of
the Universe (Note I said reflect, not be or be equal to). God has
placed immense value on human life.
If
you are reading this and you're a Christian, the Bible calls us into
action against this cheapening of human life. If you are not a
Christian, I don't doubt that this bothers you too. Stand up, be heard,
be seen. If you are curious about ways to help fight human trafficking,
then check out the End It Movement. Their sole purpose is to raise
awareness and support efforts to end human trafficking. You can also
check out the International Justice Mission, as they combat Human
Trafficking and other Justice related issues. Check out the links below.
http://www.ijm.org
http://enditmovement.com "
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