Let’s call it tsunami politics, and some of it has been the most egregious in years

As the death toll from the Dec. 26 earthquake and giant waves continues to rise and the relief effort turns into the largest ever undertaken by mankind, some pitiful souls are using this disaster as a means of getting closer to some political or ideological end. No matter what your politics, religion or philosophy, there’s nothing that tastes quite so vile.

Even before the tsunami, these were fertile times for those who use stereotypes as fodder for their prejudices. But an email I received a few days after this tragedy struck me as particularly dangerous. The death toll was approaching 100,000, and many of the initial news stories were reporting that most of the dead were Muslim Indonesians.

The inference in the message I received was this — since those who died were of the same religion as those fighting our soldiers in the Middle East and the same religion of those who committed the Sept. 11 carnage, then so be it. Or perhaps the meaning was that, since they are Muslims, they deserved this horrible fate.

That message came to me before the new year. Each time I read of the terror of the tsunami and its aftermath, of the heroism of thousands who tried to save loved ones and strangers, this evil little message kept popping into my head alongside the truth. It’s hard to believe that anyone could harbor such thoughts, but our imperfect race has always shown a capacity for ignorance and evil that far surpasses anyone’s imagination.

Who knows of what political ilk the originator of that message was, and it doesn’t matter. But during this era of bitter partisanship in American society, it’s not surprising that this disaster and the country’s response would provide an arena ripe for sniping. Let’s just lay it on the table once again: some situations demand that individuals forget relatively unimportant allegiances while we call upon what is decent in humanity to accomplish an overwhelming task. Politics, as inspiring as it sometimes is, too often leads us down some insidious paths.

President Bush was bashed by many immediately following the disaster for not responding quickly enough, for not giving enough and for not canceling all inauguration festivities. Any reasonable person can argue either side of each of these accusations, but for God’s sake the only one really worth getting heated about is the second. If a citizen believes the U.S. should give more, then complain to your congressman, your senators and the president. Take out your own checkbook. If enough of us do just that, we’ll make a difference. There’s a lot this president and all of his predecessors have done that we should criticize, but let’s see how we tackle this problem over time before we pass judgement.

Many are also debating whether the U.S. response to this tsunami will win good will in the Muslim world. Indonesia, the country hardest hit by the disaster, is the most populous Muslim country on the planet. This archipelago country in Southeast Asia includes 17,000 islands with a population of about 238 million, of which about 88 percent are Muslim. More than a quarter of the population lives in poverty. If radical Islamist groups begin mass recruitment of young men from these islands, they would have a large supply of terrorists to do their bidding. Trying to prevent this has been a much-discussed foreign policy issue in the U.S. since long before this disaster.

In a striking photo I saw of locals rescuing an injured survivor, one of the men carrying the stretcher was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with Osama bin Laden’s profile against a black background. How’s that for a sobering dose of reality.

We shouldn’t be naïve. Perhaps we will win friends. Perhaps the vision many of us carry of the U.S. as a caring, moral leader of all that’s good will assert itself as this relief effort matures and stretches out. But let’s not even discuss religion. Whether the victims are Hindus, Muslims, atheists or Satanists should have nothing to do with our level of aid and our commitment to help. Too often the politics associated with America’s foreign aid and humanitarian efforts are what spoil the purity of the effort. When we do good deeds in hopes of winning favor — rather than just for the good of it — we are toppled from our moral high ground.

Go to the blogs of various political groups and you’ll find more of these debates: Democrats blaming Republicans for not doing enough, Republicans blaming Democrats for politicizing the tsunami, some saying the cause was global warming, others saying it was the hand of God at work. Everyone all in a tizzy trying to use this disaster to gain some advantage.

Those of us in Western North Carolina, still recovering from devastating floods that measure as minuscule in scale compared to this disaster, have learned much in recent months about people opening their hearts. Whether from a church group that came up from Eastern North Carolina or a perfect stranger, we’ve been on the receiving end of a lot of heartfelt charity. People gave generously and of their own free will.

In the end, who knows how the U.S. response to this disaster will be measured. Food, clothes, medicine, water, machinery, tools and money for rebuilding — it will all add up to something. But when we are at our best this country’s best export is freedom and an ideal that we stand for good things. Let’s not sully our efforts and those of the rest of the world by politicizing this aid project.

(Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)