Tonight I went to a meeting where two missionaries told us of their former life in Papua New Guinea. I was particularly interested in how the people there are affected by the mining companies. This lifestyle brings alcohol and cigarettes to a people who have no understanding of the health consequences of these things. Also there is more money, but with another addiction, gambling. The missionaries bring the promise of peace with God through Jesus but there are anthropologists who claim the missionaries are destroying the natural life of the tribes people. But there is much cruelty among the people and the gospel brings light and true happiness. What hope is there for a people where mining is taking over their land? You only have to look at The Congo to see the affects of mining on indigenous people. You will be hard pressed to find any coverage of this in Western news! I think I saw it on RT. This doesn't mean that I believe all that I see on RT, but at least I am getting a more balanced view by alternating RT with the BBC. There is no such thing as unbiased news so it is good to look at something different. Perhaps I should also look at Al Jazeira.
I have written in previous posts about disasters. In the case of Concorde, decisions by people, plus other factors were directly to blame for the event. In the case of the Penlee disaster it may have been avoided if someone had made a better choice in the time beforehand and as a consequence brave men and the ship's crew and the captain and his family died. 9/11 was certainly the result of wicked men committing a terrorist act, but even in this there was heroism notably by another Cornish man, Rick Rescorla who helped many to safety and left it too late to help himself. In situations like this we see what the human spirit is capable of both good and evil. What of disasters that come on people because of the earth restless movement of tectonic plates. Often people live near volcanoes because the land is rich and fertile and they have the chance of a better life there when the volcano is resting. We cannot blame them for that but sometimes people become complacent...
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