Recently, while scanning The New York Times editorial section on my way to the sports page, a particular article caught my eye. The editorial, titled "Help for Cuba and Haiti," discusses the role of the United States in helping these small countries after hurricanes Gustav, Hanna, and Ike ripped through them, destroying "hundreds of thousands" of homes. This is a big deal for me on a personal level because this summer I traveled to Havana, Cuba, on a mission trip with my church. I saw how most of the buildings there were old and in disrepair, and I can't imagine many of these homes being able to stand up to a massive hurricane. But as Cuba begins to rebuild from these catastrophic storms, one fact is clear: the country will need help if it wants to get back on its feet. According to the editorial, Cuba does not have the resources or food supplies necessary to function in the immediate weeks after the hurricanes. Although the United States is the most logical country to provide aid to Cuba, being only 100 miles away, the Cuban and U.S. governments are locked in a stalemate based on "outdated cold war politics." The U.S. decided to send resources only if Cuba allowed an "America team to assess the damage." Cuba stupidly refused this offer, and now the United States is not allowing Cuba to buy American construction materials or food because of a trade embargo established when Fidel Castro took over and Cuba became a Communist country almost 50 years ago. I see this situation between the two stubborn governments relating to the Puritans of the 17th century. While the United States and Cuba are both making illogical decisions based on old feuds and embargoes, the Puritans made irrational decisions in their lives based on their utter devotion to their religion and God. For example, when Mr. Hooper makes the decision to throw away a happy life to wear a black veil that drives him into isolation, it seems like an illogical thing to do. However, Hooper finds this irrational action neccesary because his belief and faith in his religion is very strong. Although the same principal of ideals over the basic needs of people applies to the United States and Cuban governments, it is not fair for us to sit around stroking our ego while the Cubans, if not their government, are crying out for our help.
2 comments:
The notion of following one's ideals will come up when we get to our unit on Transcendentalism (more on that later), but consider this question: how can following one's ideals be very powerful, and in a sense, promote significant change? Isn't this part of the reason why the two governments won't budge? Principles?
But your post also bring up a good question -- when can following principles (or ideals) get in the way of doing some good?
Sometimes we get so ideological we forget what ideology is for... to help us determine the "right" thing to do! Nice connection you make between the stubborn theology of the Puritans and the stubborn ideology of Cold War politics with regard to Cuba. Politics shouldn't get in the way of human compassion.
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