Today, I saw the seventh report out from The Center for Medical Progress regarding the harvesting and sale of body parts from aborted babies. Someone took a scalpel to the face of that child, whose heart was still beating, to remove its brain in order to sell it. How did we get to this place where anyone, anywhere, would find this alright?

I also read a story of the small religious sect of people called the Yazidi who have been taken captive by ISIS, their men killed and women and children taken and sold into an elaborate sex trafficking organization. Another story was told of how ISIS is harvesting organs of the Yazidi and selling them on the black market to fund their cause. Again, how can anyone justify those actions?

You can dress evil up in different clothes, but its dance is always the same.

We can decide these stories are too much for our delicate sensitivities, But don’t you think it’s time to engage and decide that these things must end? Yet I ask, what can we, as individuals, really do?

Some people I know boycott certain brands or stores who support the things they stand against. That’s certainly one option, but where it involves large corporations, unless tens of thousands of people choose to do that, the real impact is slight.

Others choose to write to their government officials, and let them know how they expect those elected to represent them on issues of things like funding/prosecuting Planned Parenthood, immigration, or foreign issues such as terrorism. Our officials will do the will of the government, rather than the will of the people, unless millions of Americans care enough first to vote and then to speak up to their representatives in government.

Some decide to infiltrate industries to make moral and ethical changes to the fabric of society from within. Those who operate this way refuse to leave their convictions at the door, and instead, carry them inside and carefully, with calculated effort, make change from the inside. It’s a slow, arduous process, but unless all who feel convicted act on those convictions within industry, little can be done to turn the tide.

When the genocide that took place in Rwanda came to light, the world said, “Never again.” Only we didn’t mean it, because it has happened a dozen times since then, and it’s happening today. How bad does it really have to get before the good people of America and the world say, “That’s it. This is done. No more.”

As I look around, I’m not sure it can get much worse. We can fight evil and we can win, but we have to choose to make a stand where and when we can. These are our children, our brothers and sisters, our issues. This is our society, our world. We are responsible.

Everyone has heard Edmond Burke’s quote,

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

But fewer might have heard this from him.

“Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.”

It’s true that alone, there is little any one person like you or me can do to effect real change regarding the atrocities we see in our world. But we no longer live in an age where we can claim ignorance to the things going on in the world around us. Information is ours for the viewing with just a couple of clicks of a computer mouse. It’s time to engage the world around us. The truth is that I am not alone. You are not alone.

Jesus said that there are many who have eyes and yet do not see, ears and yet do not hear. Let’s not be those people.

See. Hear. Decide. Act. 

There is much that I cannot do, but if I choose not to do what I could do, what kind of person am I, really?

• We can all do a little research on the companies that produce the brands we use most. What do they support with their money? Is it something we would give to directly? If not, contact them. Ask them to reconsider their position, and remove your support of their business only if you have to.
• It’s just stupid easy to email your representatives these days. Trust me, I do it all the time. I’m sure I’m on a frequent emailer list in DC. I try to be respectful, and I never say anything I wouldn’t want my grandma to read, but how do they know the will of the people if we don’t tell them?
• If you work in any industry, take your convictions with you to the job. You can affect change just by living those convictions. It may seem like a small thing, but character and integrity still mean something. Be a person others will grow to listen to and follow. People are watching you. You have a sphere of influence. Use it.

These are just a few ideas. You probably have better ones. On their own, they may not look like much, but if I add my efforts with yours, and then ours with those of others, together we really can change the world. And if we don’t, those other guys are going to. They’ve already begun.