2012 - The Movie

I finally saw the movie "2012" tonight; a movie about the end of the world based on a prediction from the ending of the Mayan Calendar.  I was first repulsed by the typical "escape near death experiences a million times in a minute scenes," until the heart and message of the movie began to appear. 

Basically, the world is ending in a matter of years and national governments begin to plan for it by building these ships to save a handful of people in order to continue  the human race.  The 7 ships will hold a total of 400,000 people which is a handful compared to the 6 billion people on the planet. 

The big question that begins to emerge in the movie is "How is it decided who gets a ticket?" onto one of these ships.  By the way, the tickets are called "green cards."  Coincidence, I think not.  It becomes clear to the goodhearted people in the movie that green cards are being sold to the wealthy of different countries at 2 billion Euros a seat.  As they board the ships and close the doors, thousands of people are screaming on the other side of the gate because they know they are about to die.  Even the Asian workers who built the ships are not allowed in.  "Adrian" walks into his room on the ship, and is indignant that he is given a private room when 10 more people could be crammed in.  That for the sake of his luxury, people will die needlessly.  Even in the face of death, the powers that be are considering their luxury. 

What a commentary on the world we live in?!  Hundreds of thousands of people are starving and dying all around us everyday while we enjoy our luxuries.  The fact that I am not indignant that I got to go out for a $5 cup of ice cream while someone died of hunger today sheds light on my own character.  The fact that we close our borders to people who need our help because they do not have a "green card" sheds light on the character of the nation we live in. 

It was the personal stories of the movie that got me.  Families dying together, children saying goodbye to parents, fathers calling their sons to wish them well, and so on...these stories broke my heart.  When will the priviledged few (I am in this group) look beyond themselves, or even their nation, to the world around them as one people in need of salvation?  We have ALL THE MEANS to make it happen!

If you are an American you are in the top 2% of the richest people in the world, regardless if you make minimum wage.  Please, let us help!

"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.  It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed."   - Mother Theresa