Confessions of an ALS #icebucketchallenge Hater-Unbeliever

There is a great deal of very credible evidence that I am grumpy, a fun-sucker and a poop.  Just ask my family. However, I've never felt like a "hater" before and certainly don't "hate" the ALS ice bucket challenge.  When it comes to being an "unbeliever" of this challenge, I'm really not even sure what that means.  It seems though, in our all-or-nothing culture, that my only options are to unquestioningly and enthusiastically participate or be a "hater" or "unbeliever" and since I'm not unquestioning, enthusiastic or participating you know where that leaves me...  

While I don't feel like a "hater" or an "unbeliever" I do feel conflicted.  On the one hand I appreciate the more than 70 million charitable dollars (at the time of this writing) donated and that some people became aware of the horrific disease of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis for the first time.  On the other hand though, I can't help think of what will happen next year, after the viral, social media trendiness of this runs it's course and there are still years of research that need to be funded and thousands of people in need of incredibly intensive care who are still suffering.  I can't help thinking about the other equally horrific diseases that plague the world and kill our family members, friends and neighbors that aren't fortunate enough to be currently trending on Facebook or that plague people outside of our immediate view.

What this latest, trending campaign has done for me is to put an exclamation point on something I've known for a long time.  We mistakenly substitute charity for justice!  Charity is giving money or time or goods to meet an immediate need.  Charity is good and absolutely necessary.  For example, when a child is hungry they need food.  They don't need questions, debate or research.  They need food…NOW!  But if we stop there we have not only failed the child but failed our society because that child will, in all likelihood, be hungry again tomorrow needing more charity for ever and ever, amen.  What they need, after their immediate need is met, is justice.  Justice asks the much harder question, "Why is this child hungry?"  Justice honestly researches the societal systems that, for whatever reason, have created a situation where this child is perpetually worried about where their next meal will come from.  Justice requires us to debate and think about ways to change the systems so that child no longer worries about whether or not they will have lunch today. Justice is different than the one-time patch of charity (which again is critically necessary but completely different).  Justice is in it for the long haul, working at the root of the problem, until oppressive systems/diseases etc. are dismantled and supportive systems are put in place by our society as a whole.  

Again, for the ALS ice bucket challenge, I love the generous charitable giving that has happened.  But, for me, a real challenge to our society is not a one time donation and a bucket of ice water on your head.  The real challenge, the harder challenge, is to do justice.  Imagine if everyone who has dumped water on their head and given a contribution (a.k.a. done charity… which again is awesome and needed) would now call their member of Congress, both their Senators and the White House and demand to pay more taxes next year, and every year thereafter, to fully fund every expert of every horrible disease that kills our family, friends and neighbors no matter where they live in this world until all disease was no more!  THAT would be doing justice.  I'll admit, I'm often grumpy, a fun-sucker and a poop too, but I'm no "hater" nor an "unbeliever"… I'm simply not content with charity and popularity for some, when I've been called to advocate for liberty and justice for all!