Although we love to view the world in absolutes, things are seldom black and white. Heroes have skeletons in their closets and assholes secretly donate money to the ASPCA commercials with Sarah Mclachlan. Okay, maybe not.
But the point is that the world is a complex place, full of moral ambiguity, double standards and mixed feelings.
So we have taken the task upon ourselves to bring back the epic binary of “good” versus “bad,” “right” versus “wrong,” and “virtuous
versus “evil.”
We humbly present to you: Asshole and Hero of the week.
Assholes: Pakistani mob
Via: indiatoday.in
An Ahmadi woman and her two granddaughters (an infant and a seven-year-old) were murdered by a Pakistani mob on Monday after an Ahmadi man allegedly posted “blasphemous material” on Facebook.
Ahmadis are a sect of Muslims who believe in a prophet after Mohammed so, under Pakistani law, are forbidden from using Muslim greetings or prayers.
A crowd of angry Pakistanis stormed the police station demanding the blasphemy be registered. The shit hit the fan when another mob joined in and started burning down Ahmadi homes and looting everything in sight.
Apparently, policemen arrived but didn’t do anything to stifle the conflict. The youth responsible for the Facebook post was unharmed.
Organized religion and the degree to which people carry out what they consider sacred never ceases to baffle me. Often, and in this situation especially, religion is just an excuse to raise hell, steal shit and kill people. Add Facebook to the equation and what we have is full-blown chaos.
Hero: Morgan Wienberg
Via: Reuters
In 2010 Morgan Wienberg flew to Haiti to volunteer following the earthquake’s dreadful aftermath. Since then she’s returned with the goal of helping children being exploited by Haitian orphanages.
Many of these children aren’t actually orphans – their families, often rural, are just too poor to take care of them. So the owners of these orphanages travel and recruit these kids to these orphanages where they are essentially put on display so charities, churches and unknowing tourists will donate money, all of which goes into the pockets of the orphanage owners.
After witnessing the degree to which these children were being abused and exploited, Morgan compiled evidence and went to the police and Haitian social services. Since then, the government and UNICEF have worked together to shut down over 40 of these places.
Morgan has formed a charity of her own, Little Footprints, Big Steps, a sanctuary for children to stay while their parents are traced. Currently she has rescued 86 children and is paying to educate 156.
Read more about Morgan, her story and the kids she’s helped.
Featured photo courtesy of: yukon-news.com
