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Enough With the Bats and Cats and Our FirstWorld Cluelessness
Because we are richer than 80% of the world
I saw one more today, a post about how horrible the people of China are for eating bats and other animals that we in the western world find unacceptable. I’ve seen several. I’ve also seen people express outrage as they showed photos of outdoor food markets that were not as pristine as a Publix grocery store.
And while I cannot imagine eating a bat, and I don’t think I’d enjoy buying my food from an open-air market with no real health code standards, these images and posts made me angry. And they embarrassed me. Because they showed me just how clueless we are here in our bubble of privilege.
I can’t think of a more eloquent way to express this than to share my own story. It didn’t happen in Asia, but it grieved and humbled and jarred me into the reality that is the life of the vast majority of our world.
In 1987, I spent the summer traveling with a singing group. It was my second summer with this group, and we performed every night in a different venue from the end of May until the end of August. It was an inspirational group, and we spent the nights in host homes. That means we stayed with the regular people whose churches or event venues hosted the concert.
