Issues of social injustice abound. They include children and
women who labour for little pay to produce clothing and other goods for
consumers in the west; those who smuggle people seeking safety over the sea to
foreign lands, packed like sardines in unsuitable containers; child soldiers
fighting in civil wars; miners
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| Tantalum |
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| Tantalum surface mount capacitors |
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| Tantalum capacitor. |
extracting diamonds, tantalum ore and other minerals in unsafe conditions for a little pay so that others can get rich and enjoy the benefits of the goods produced; families living without basic sanitation in major international cities; the abuse of the environment by not using scarce resources such as water, carbon fuels; some would cite the manufacture of drones used to remotely attack people, guided missiles that bring mass destruction at the press of a button.
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| Electronic circuit board with tantalum capacitors. |
The tragedy is that often injustice stems from those in less
affluent societies who are anxious to earn enough to live making goods that
will be bought by people in the west who want more for less; people like us. At
other times as with the earth’s resources the impact is not immediately
apparent.
The ore from which tantalum is extracted is Coltan, a
mixture columbite and tantalite. It is a conflict resource linked to the
warfare in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire). Tantalum is an ore
that is used to build capacitors
use in desktop computers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones that at are smart, or
not, televisions and other modern electronics as well as the cases of
smartphones. It is easy to overlook the harm done to others by our desire for
progress, the latest fashions in electronics and clothing.
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| Tablet and mobile phones use tantalum capacitors and some have tantalum cases. |
In Parables as Subversive Speech, William R Herzog II
describes how the Jesus spoke out against social injustice in his day. One
notable example is the Vulnerability of the Whistle Blower when he interprets
the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30, and Luke 19: 11-27). Herzog
describes how the advanced agrarian society of the day, in which the wealthy
land owner would often travel to deal with business interests and the political
interests of the local city or state leaving a trusted servant in charge of his
household. This sounds reasonable. The
steward left in charge would seek to keep a low profile collecting the taxes
due to his master, and a little more for his own purpose. The sums given to the
stewards are large. 1 talent is a very large sum of money and the money was no
doubt given to test the stewards who it is expected will try to benefit
themselves. Having cash with which to negotiate was a great asset. It was
expected that at least 100% interest would be returned. To make this profit the
stewards must do the masters dirty work for him. This would mean making loans
to peasant farmers, knowing that they would not be able to repay the loan and
would forfeit their land and home. When they lost their home they would be
destitute and would soon be dead. The third servant does not make a pact with
the poor by writing off their debt but buries his masters money. He seeks to
break the vicious cycle of repression. This has terrible consequences for him.
He looses his job and will, as a result will soon be dead.
When we look closely at many of the parables they can speak
directly to situations that prevail in the world today. The parables are often
not comfortable but when looked at with care offer a great challenge. It is
easy to protect members of our immediate family and those who are not far away
but the challenge to spread this love through our lives is considerable. Are we
prepared to pay more that labourers in distant countries can have a fair wage,
so that children in distant countries do not have to wok but can have a
childhood and education.
