You see that’s the thing about James is he doesn’t say what’s on his mind! Hmm, I don’t think we could ever accuse James of not saying things like they are, could we? So just because James is being blunt, does that means he isn’t telling the truth? Well I can tell you something I have never exploited and cheated any workers, so phew at least I am safe. Or am I? I like a bargain like anyone and when I buy a shirt from the local supermarket for under a fiver, do I know that I am not exploiting and cheating workers. Tearfund are a charity that ask us to think about whose hands have touched the clothes we wear. When I buy a shirt someone has ploughed the land, planted the cotton, picked the cotton, turned the cotton into cloth, sewn the cloth into a shirt, packed the shirt and then shipped it around the world. It seems a little strange that I could then pick that shirt up for under a fiver, without anyone being exploited. And that ties in with what James is saying, I may not be a powerful landowner who can exploit workers in the fields, but I am a well off guy who can buy shirts for less then a fiver where the people who make it, get exploited. Is that right? Is that what God would have me do? And it seems that paying lots of cash for that shirt may not exclude me from this problem, you see it’s all about where the money goes. It’s down to me to find out more about the food I eat, the gadgets I buy and the clothes I wear. It’s down to me to lift the label and find out where they come from and who gets the money. Thanks to Tearfund I can go to www.tearfund.org and click on the lift the label link to help me find out the truth.
