… with liberty and justice for all.
The last line of our Pledge of Allegiance demonstrates two elements of freedom that Americans value and that this nation’s founding fathers, supporters of the antislavery and suffrage movements and many others have fought and died to obtain.
Others are fighting and dying around the world, some in an attempt to fight oppression, and some in an attempt to just survive under oppressive conditions.
ACU’s chapter of the International Justice Mission this week is raising awareness to bring light to the work the national IJM does and spread understanding of injustices around the world. The organization is sponsoring a Jam for Justice concert Thursday night and a Run for Justice 5k run Saturday morning; all week information booths will be set up in the Hilton Room, and The Campus Store is sponsoring a book sale.
IJM was founded in 1997 to create a group of Christian workers who work as missionaries, lawyers and in many other areas to support and assist the oppressed.
As young adults, college students, especially those who have always lived in the United States, sometimes have a hard time understanding the gravity of other people’s situations throughout the world. But some of our fellow students have seen and lived through these conditions. Students from Burundi in central Africa have seen their neighbors’ houses burned and had friends and family kidnapped by rival tribes. Those from South Asia know of children who work in brothels to pay off debts.
ACU had the first campus chapter of IJM in the nation, and these student members realize the oppressed need help, and they should be commended for wanting to spread knowledge about these atrocities that occur every day elsewhere: children sold into slavery, families forced from their homes or murdered for their religion,and young girls coerced into prostitution.
It has taken Americans years to realize the true meaning of our Pledge of Allegiance, but we still have some room to grow. We should appreciate our freedom and the laws we live under and continue to help those without the same privileges-so that some day we might all live with liberty and justice for all.
