I used to have a yellow ribbon on my car… to show that I supported the troops.  While a noble statement in itself, I realized one day that it did nothing to spur on action on my own part but rather gave me a smug feeling that I was doing something for those that were fighting overseas.  Suffice it to say that when I realized this, I peeled off that yellow ribbon, took a long deep breath and put my words into action.  And enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.

My recent confusion at the mass “I like it….” Facebook statuses led me to discover that this was the 2010 version of last year’s initiative to spread breast cancer awareness by “secretly” referring to bra styles… except this time it was about purses.  Yes, let’s show the world how powerful women are by making sexual innuendos on Facebook.  That’ll show ‘em!  (Also, WHAT do purses have to do with breast cancer?  At least bras have something to do with breasts.)

Not only do I think this is just a silly and downright goofy attempt at spreading “awareness”, it reminded me of people who wear or display pink and yellow ribbons everywhere.  Now if you have a loved one suffering from cancer or have a loved one who’s deployed, this doesn’t apply.  But for the majority of people out there, it seems to be a feel-good way of doing something without really spurring on change or action.  The same goes for people who loudly display their anti-war or COEXIST stickers on their bumpers.

Luckily, since I have an exam coming up in the next few days, my friend writes about this goofy awareness initiative at length and hits the nail on the head, which is to say that awareness initiatives like these merely gloss over the hard, dirty facts and leave the true sufferers still suffering.  It’s like many Christ followers today who desire the easy and ignore the fact that a life like Jesus will exact a real cost from a person.

I am not trying to say I’m better than those who wear ribbons.  I’m saying that we ought to be people of action.  I ditched the yellow ribbons and did something about it.  After seeing our grandmother die of cancer and our father suffer through five years of it, my brother, instead of wearing a pink ribbon or updating his Facebook status with a wink, went on to go to medical school and become a doctor.

Someone should tell whoever is launching these Facebook memes that it’s a completely moronic way for people to feel like they are doing something by “raising awareness” without doing much of anything at all.