Today I am doing a final read through the manuscript (INTERNATIONALS WHO LIVE AMONG US: Ding World Missions at Home) before sending it to Julie who will format it into a book. I came to the chapter on Relocating Refugees and this section struck me as critical, probably not only with our thoughts about refugees, but the whole issue of internationals among us: "A fifth factor—and I believe this is most basic, even possibly encompassing the other four—is the dilemma called compassion fatigue. The countries of the world capable of receiving relocating refugees are simply growing weary of being bombarded with images of gaunt, miserable-looking individuals of strange lands living in tent cities. "Compassion fatigue is a contemporary sickness. The symptoms are an initial rush of concern for a distant and obviously suffering group. Time and the press of other priorities push the thoughts of refugees into the recesses of memory. When the pictures again and again show up as margin advertisements on the computer screen, conscience may be pricked for a moment. However, the repeated images can produce tedium and a feeling of withdrawal that sometimes descends to disdain. Those who suffer from compassion fatigue are compelled to first express and then deny any sympathy. "Thus, today’s cause becomes tomorrow’s bore. (How many “causes” can we read about on the social networks today before we, too, become fatigued?) Refugees and disaster are like fashions. They change rapidly. Images and their accompanying statistics that command our attention this week are cast aside impatiently next week. "But refugees are NOT statistics! ..."
Posted on: Fri, 21 Jun 2013 18:56:37 +0000
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