Haters gon’ hate…could you at least step aside, and complain on the sidewalk? We have a world to save…Thanks
In response to a few of the same ‘ol stale critiques that I keep hearing about IC and KONY 2012, even JRad himself - here is an example of how I’ve been responding to some of these posts I keep seeing:
“1.) I’ve worked closely with the men who run IC and I can tell you that they are Christian. However, they don’t run this as a Christian organization because their point is that this is not a religious issue, nor is it a political issue - this is a HUMAN issue, and it something we can all agree on: Kony needs to be apprehended and the child soldiers released from the LRA and rehabilitated. To make it a religious issue will cause a divide and keep people from hearing the message - that these atrocities are not acceptable and will not be tolerated ANYwhere in our world. But, as someone who knows them personally, I can tell you that they do, openly share their faith in their conversations; it’s just that this isn’t religious propaganda.
2.) You are mistaken in your interpretation of the financials. That 80% you refer to, is not spent on marketing. It is split between a 3-pronged approach: the cost of making the documentaries, as this is an awareness and advocacy group; the movement of spreading the word and educating the masses on the issue, as well as informing the common citizens of the world how to take action and get into contact with their governments; and finally on the programs on the ground in Central Africa where they have started many programs to help the people themselves (the Mend Program, the 11 Secondary Schools that have been rebuilt, the Legacy Scholarship Program, the Village Savings and Loan Program, and the Rehabilitation Center for the Child Soldiers in Congo. If you would like to see these financials for yourself, they are available here: http://www.invisiblechildren.com/financials.html and are as transparent as can be.
3) You keep mentioning these “ties” to Soros, and the apparent abundance of evidence, but fail to actually provide any. Care to share, and something not from a blog?
4) Where do you get “supporting the killing of Kony”? That is not, nor never has been the stand of IC. We very specifically want him apprehended, NOT killed. If he is killed, he will be forgotten very quickly, and people will not learn from this. We want him apprehended, and then tried at the Hague by the International Criminal Court for ALL the world to see. The precedent needs to be set that we will not tolerate this kind of treatment in our world anymore.
5) There is no need to question the video based on Kony no longer being in Uganda - it never states that he is. It states very clearly that he started there, and is now in South Sudan, Congo, and Central African Republic. There has never been anything to contrary stated, except by those who have emerged recently opposed to IC and KONY 2012; THEY have made that the focus. If you would like to see how IC has partnered with Resolve and The Enough Project to ensure that we are VERY aware of where the LRA is currently, please visit www.lracrisistracker.com where you can see it in near-real time, thanks to the Radio Tower Network we partnered to build with last year’s Frontline Campaign.
6) You need to redefine your definition of war propaganda. This is the youth of the WORLD advocating for a war to be STOPPED. We have tried peace; we have had numerous peace talks, and every time Kony has failed to sign, only to do more harm. The governments of Uganda, Sudan, Congo, and CAR are working together to try to stop him, to apprehend him, and save the women and children who have been abducted, but they cannot do it alone. How do we know that? Because they have been trying to, unsuccessfully for years. They’ve asked for help because they need the technology that our advanced armies have, and they have asked for us to join them in an advisory role to assist in the tracking down of Kony and his apprehension.
*sidenote - I think it is interesting that you have taken a movie The Whistleblower as evidence, yet you take issue with IC’s documentaries.
7) When understanding the Ugandan reactions, it is important to keep a few things in mind: not everyone will agree. Not all Americans will agree, nor will all Ugandans. Now, specifically with Uganda, many of the interviews that have been hastily done by our media in the aftermath of the video, have been unfortunately done by media persons who have not done their research on the culture and history of the different tribes in Uganda. For example, many of these interviews have not been of the Acholi people (those first and most affected by the LRA), but of the Bugandans. Without going into a whole history lesson, I can tell you that the two tribes have a seriously complex history and have fought for years over land. Imagine interviewing Israeli’s about something that is a Palestinian issue. If you would like to see a video of Ugandans who do support the LRA and Kony 2012, please go here: http://vimeo.com/38949571 andhttp://vimeo.com/38406755 and http://vimeo.com/38609557.
8) In regards to Jason (and this is where I’m REALLY going to try to stay calm). PLEASE, especially as a Christian, do not throw stones. And educate yourself on what happened. Contrary to the initial “reports” which were all conjecture, Jason was not arrested, nor was he masturbating in public. He did, however, end up naked in public, and was acting extremely out of character, and when the police did get there, they recognized that something was wrong, and they had him hospitalized. He is suffering from something called brief acute psychosis.
I would like you to imagine something for a moment: the widespread attention this video received is something on the scale the world has never seen; 100+ million views in less than a week! With all of the views came both positive and negative reactions, and with that came attacks on Jason himself, and his family. He went over 9 days without sleep trying to keep up with responses to the attacks, both of himself, the organziation, and most importantly the cause - bringing Kony to justice. And the more he fought to be heard and to set the record straight, the more he was condemned and attacked. This has been his passion for over 10 years, and he felt the weight of the attacks. Imagine Googling your name and having it pop up with 120+ million results, all either negative, or with negative responses. NOW - replace his name with yours. How would you handle it? Do you even know? Had Jason had a heart attack as a result of his stress, no one would have attacked his character for it - they would have recognized that his heart giving out would be out of his control; but because we don’t have an understanding of the mind, or an appreciation for psychological breaks, people have been cruel and quick to judge. I know this man. He is humble and passionate, and this has broken him. But he will get better, and he will fight through it, because this is too important to him. It is to all of us, and we will not stop. We will Stop.At.Nothing.”
