Afghanistan

 

Shelter From the Storm

I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn
Come in, she said
I'll give ya shelter from the storm

The greatest gift we can offer is to give shelter from the storm.

The images from Afghanistan are tragic, but they are hardly surprising.  Is it any different than a domestic violence situation?  We can provide shelters and support for victims of domestic violence. But those victims need to leave the sovereignty of their home, which they may share with their abuser, and enter spaces over which the rest of society has sovereignty, standing.  If the victim refuses to leave their abusers, welcomes their abuser into their home, there is little that we can do that is proactive.  We can punish domestic violence after it has occurred, but we can only be reactive. Unfortunately we can’t know the future.  We can react to events that have happened, but we can’t react to events that have not yet happened, even if we have an abiding fear that they will happen.

Afghanistan is very similar to a domestic violence situation.  Are women, children and innocents being abused?  Can we stop this abuse? 20 years have told us that in their country, over which we have no sovereignty, we can hope that violence will not occur, we can provide an example, we can provide institutions to try and prevent the worst, but we can only lead that horse to water, we can not make him drink.

What we can do is provide relief from disasters, whether it is physical, natural, economic, etc.  Should we have negotiated with the abusers without the victims and given those abusers status and recognition? If we lie down with dogs won’t we get fleas?  What should our response to those fleeing disasters be?  Should it be, “Stay away, no more room here” or should it be “Come in, I’ll give you shelter from the storm”.