Do you know and do you care?

What is distressing about the ongoing NATO bombing of Yugoslavia is not only that it has created the refugee crisis it tried to prevent, not only that it has killed some of the people it sought to save, and not only that it has mistakenly levelled hospitals, marketplaces and foreign embassies. What is also distressing is the apathy on the part of many Americans about the entire situation.

This deep-seated indifference extends beyond Kosovo to several other hot spots around the world. According to Catholic News Service, experts estimate that in the 1990s alone, more than 1.5 million people have been killed in such countries as Afghanistan, Sudan, Rwanda and Algeria. Right now, armed conflicts simmer in at least 35 nations.

Did you know that? Do you care?

A delegation from Iraq met two weeks ago with Pope John Paul II to try to re-ignite public interest in their situation. They noted that the U.S. bombing of Iraqi targets -- which reportedly resulted in 12 civilian deaths in one recent raid -- has continued regularly, in the face of apparent international disinterest. "It's turned into a forgotten war, forgotten by the international community and the media," said a Shiite Muslim leader.

The apostolic nuncio to Ethiopia and Eritrea, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, reports that fighting between those nations in the past year has resulted in an estimated 40,000 dead, 80,000 wounded and 300,000 displaced persons.

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The pope called attention recently to other conflicts which are "soaking Africa in blood" -- in Angola, Congo, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Sudan. Meanwhile, L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, has reported on the discovery of a mass grave in Sri Lanka, where a soldier has confessed to taking part in killing more than 400 civilians of the Tamil ethnic group.

Did you know that? Do you care?

There is more:

* 15 secessionist leaders and eight soldiers died in a battle in northern India, while hundreds of Indian civilians fled after alleged Pakistani bombardments into the Indian state of Kashmir.

* In East Timor, pro-Indonesian paramilitary groups have killed more than 100 independence supporters in recent weeks.

* In Africa, between six million and seven million people have been displaced, far outnumbering the refugee stream from Kosovo.

We have our suspicions about what lies behind this apathy. For one thing, many Americans, like people everywhere, care more for themselves than for people in strange countries with strange names. Chances are that you don't know anyone in East Timor, and the blood shed there won't wash up on your front porch.

For some people, an element of racism is involved: Dead black and brown people don't interest a predominantly white society. When bombs go off in Northern Ireland, Americans sit up and take notice. When they explode in Guinea Bissau, Americans reach for the channel changer.

Furthermore, for many Americans, compassion fatigue has set in after a year of hurricanes, tornados, bombings, school murders and other disasters. It's difficult to keep caring at the same intense level over such a lengthy period.

There's also this, voiced by one woman who said she spoke for many of her friends: "It's not that I don't care, but I can't change what happens. The politicians won't listen to me. I could write letters and make phone calls, but is that going to stop NATO from bombing?"

The cynicism, apathy and surrender that we see in America need antidotes, including people who care enough to speak out even when they feel their voices won't be heard...people who direct their concern into sacrificial donations to aid those caught up in these forgotten wars...people who pray for deliverance from their own cynicism and for guidance on what to do to make things better. Those are some of the things we can do.

Did you know that? Do you care?

(05-27-99)

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