At first, I found myself internally resisting; seemed like some publicity stunt just to get Angelina Jolie’s face on television again. And I’m sure that some of this is hype for ratings as well as padding to Anderson Cooper’s resume. But I’m pushing myself past the cynicism and making the decision to blog about today as World Refugee Day, the sixth annual attempt by the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, to raise our awareness of the atrocities faced by refugees around the world.
Put simply, our world is not a very good place. It seems essential for those of us who follow Jesus Christ in the United States to not be ostriches with our heads in the sand; we ought to look open-eyed into evil and injustice in our world. It seems to me we’re a little too comfortable with creating our own “safehouses” of existence, and that we ought to be involved in addressing these huge, systemic issues of violence and poverty worldwide.
I won’t be watching Angelina Jolie’s interview tonight (no cable), but the few free clips they’ve put on CNN’s website make me think that regardless of how others may be hyping this for ratings, she at least is sincere in her desire to make a difference in Africa. This article was helpful in allowing me to get a glimpse of the horror of life as a refugee, reminding me of the humanity of each person affected.