Stop the Kony madness - it's not all about him

     So this KONY 2012 video, and STOP KONY campaign has gone viral over social media. Everyone's posting, sharing, linking, blogging and talking about it.

http://youtu.be/Y4MnpzG5Sqc

And here's the thing,  amidst both the supporters and critics of the STOP KONY 2012  campaign there are many who are right.  There are also many who are wrong.

I confess, I joined the madness. I watched the video, I cried, and I shared. I posted it on my Facebook newsfeed and encouraged others to do the same, but not without thinking about it first.

Let me start by saying that there are some fundamental issues that I do think were oversimplified or ignored by the Invisible Children's Charity who created the video. And yes, there are some questionable aspects with regard to the details and finances of this particular charity's operation.

I didn't share the video because I thought people should donate money to this charity or join forces with their campaigns.  In fact, I don't agree with their recommended course of action in the video to plaster cities with posters, slogans and paper to "Make Kony famous". (But I'll expand on that later).

And, as I watched the fancy, artsy propaganda flash across my screen I was already wondering... where did the money for all these fancy "action kits" and posters come from ? And couldn't this money have been used for the ones who we should ALSO be focusing on?  Namely - the child soldiers and all those affected by them!

I don't think Kony is all of the problem. He's a small part of it. A small part of a seemingly in-surmountable mountain of problems that stem from larger universal struggles like poverty, lack of education and work opportunies,  government corruption and abuse among others.

Men, women and children are not just forced into joining armed conflict. Some are recruited, some are forced and some volunteer because they don't have any other choice.
For many, it is a means of survival. And this isn't just Uganda or even Africa. It's worldwide epidemic.

 Kony is just the tip of a very large iceberg.

I did share the video because it moved me . It portrayed the struggle and hopelessness of so many children who (either voluntarily or by force) become the victims of armed conflict.  I cried when Jacob (a former child solider of the Lord's Resistance Army in the KONY 2012 video) cried about the loss of his brother, and over his hopelessness.  He didn't want to live, because in his own words, he had no future. He felt loss and devastation, without hope or a future.
And Jacob is one representative of thousands who live in the same darkness.

The KONY 2012 video made me sit up and take notice. It made me aware of an issue that I was only vaguely aware of before,  and it made my heart break for Jacob, and for all of the children who have gone through what he has.

Do I think the main issue is stopping Joseph Kony? No. Absolutely not.  He is but one man. If he is captured, there are still many who could rise up to take his place.

But is that a reason to turn away? Should we then just do nothing? Is it okay to say, this problem is too big so let's just give up?

Some of the other criticisms of the KONY 2012 video, were that the numbers of children recruited by Kony and the LRA were exaggerated, and that Kony has not been a threat to Uganda since some time in 2006.
 Does that make his crimes less heinous? Does that make him less culpable? Should we allow anyone accused of these kinds of crimes off the hook?

Another issue that the video raised that I thought worthy of further consideration, was that the U.S. government didn't want to do anything about issues or problems that didn't directly threaten the national safety or financial security of the nation.
  Isn't that the way we as North American's are so often? If it doesn't directly affect our safety, security or our money then why should we care? Why should we bother spending any time or effort on it?

Likewise, if stopping Kony is not the answer, then why do anything at all.

Well, in defence of  the STOP KONY campaign and the KONY 2012 video, I have to point out that at least the Invisible Children's Charity are trying to do something.
  Can we say to ourselves that we are making efforts to better the lives of people other than ourselves?

The KONY 2012 video, if it did nothing else, raised awareness. This problem is not a new one. But it's got a new face.
We're all talking about it now aren't we? A whole lot more people are aware, than were before.

Truthfully, awareness is only the first step. And too often stories like this have their  15 minutes of fame and then we all go back to our cushy North American lives.

But I don't believe it has to be that way. .It's not that these children are invisible. They are not invisible!!!! It's that we are BLIND. We choose not to see them. We have heard the stories of these atrocities in distant regions but we have chosen not to take note. It didn't directly affect our homes or our wallets so it was by-passed and forgotten.

But we can do better. We can do more.

And here's where my own personal bias and belief system will come into play.

I believe that the first thing we must do is pray.
I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that none of those children are invisible to God. Those children don't just need the absence of conflict, they need hope.
Hope can come in many forms, but the only one that cannot be destroyed or taken away from them is Jesus.
God is moving in Africa, and we can pray fervently for lives to be changed and hope to be discovered in knowing the love of Jesus. The hope and love found in Jesus can and DOES change people.

And then we need to act. We- who are now aware -and have been moved by the plight of child soldiers and by the atrocities committed by Joseph Kony and many others like him, can do more than hit the share button on our facebook page or the retweet button. We can partner with any number of established and reputable charities and local organizations who have been tackling many of the social, political and economic issues that allow child solider recruitment to be so prevalent in the first place. There are established people and organizations who have been working DDR (demobilization, disarmament and re-integration) programs to help child soldiers and other victims of war , not only to prevent but to recover from armed conflicts. And because they have local partnerships and agencies they are better able to address the needs and concerns of each specific area.

 Many of these organizations such as warchild.ca have core programming that addresses issues like access to education, improving access to justice and reducing poverty while also fostering self-reliance.
   Another great website with information on  how to get involved is Child Soldier International www.child-soldiers.org/get_involved/get_involved.

We can pressure our governments to take notice, and to provide funding, partnership and assistance in helping local governments erradicate the practice of child solider recruitment.

Either way, let's make this more than a fad or trend.  There are so many awful things that you can name that result from social media and the un-warranted exposure of information, but this is one way we can use it for good.  None of those children are invisible to God. And neither are you. Forgive me for waxing poetic, but with God's grace and some work, we can made a difference!