Elon Mollusk
Adventures In Crustaceanity #2
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This is the first official Adventures in Crustaceanity comic—unless you count the one I shared in the introductory post. Before we get to it, here’s a nice little video of crustaceans I shot a couple weekends ago at the beach to put you in the mood:
[tap or click to enlarge]
(NOTE: There were no shrimp in the tide pools and I had left my scuba gear at home.)
Now, without further delay:
Last week, I heard the president of Sojourners, Reverend Adam Taylor, on NPR talking about the USAID cuts. His words made an immediate impression on me and inspired this comic.
I know the Bible pretty well, but I honestly can’t remember reading or hearing Isaiah 5:20 before. It’s interesting that the context of this verse is the prophet describing Israel as a vineyard, and God as the one who planted the vineyard and nurtured it to produce good grapes (symbolizing justice and righteousness).
Instead, Israel at that time (in the opinion of God—and God’s spokesperson, Isaiah) had produced only bad grapes (symbolizing oppression and injustice).
When you understand this metaphor, it’s actually a really good read and quite apropos for our times. (I’ll let you decide if it applies to the U.S. or to modern Israel—or both.)
I actually DON’T think it’s a good idea to take ancient texts and graft them into a modern context to describe unrelated events. Then again… the criticism about calling “evil good and good evil” is certainly a bit of wisdom that should translate across cultures and across human eras with no problem, regardless of the larger context.
What are your thoughts about the recent events surrounding USAID?
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Hi Lucinda! Thanks for your comment. I agree it is super complex and I'm the first to admit I don't understand the process. I DO know a lot of churches and para-church orgs that help out around the world ALOT. I've been part of some of those efforts in the past. I do feel like it's not either/or church or state, but both. Maybe this is what you mean by not black and white?
There's also the political 'capital' however (that I also don't completely understand), but listening to some government officials who have been part of USAID for decades, it appears that USAID not only functions practically (like feeding humans), but also politically, by shoring up our relationships with potentially volatile nations and groups. This is probably hard to quantify, but seems impossible to deny after many years of USAID functioning to our benefit in this way.
But to the original point, would you go so far as to say with Elon that USAID is "evil." Even if you disagree with the program and even if you think there are better ways, is "evil" really a fair assessment? Seems not to me, but I'd love to hear more of the argument on the other side.
Cheers!