Erin Moore - Senior
What Can We Do?
I am finding it to be more and more difficult, as we go through the facts of these genocides, to have any faith at all in the US government, and in most first-world nations, and their abilities or desires to interfere with such issues as ethnic cleansing or genocide. I think that President Clinton emphasizes the hopelessness best when he states that the US will only interfere in such atrocities when it is of concern to the US economy and well-being(Ghosts of Rwanda film). Any faith or respect that I had in the US as a humanitarian, well-meaning country has, to put it harshly, entirely flown out the window at this point.
The Rwanda situation clearly emphasizes the disrespect that the US, Belgium, and other large strong countries have for the Rwandan people. Their evacuations from the area, and their inaction while hundreds of thousands of Tutsi’s were obviously destroyed in the genocide, show what inconsiderate and harsh nations these states really are. But, to at least look at the issue from a different angle, I can see that there is a difficulty in looking negatively on these states when it comes to the question of whether or not soldiers who are prepared for peacekeeping, and not death, should be asked to risk their lives. It may not be appropriate for peacekeeping troops to eagerly give up their lives, but I would think that the term “peacekeeping” might imply that they will have to step in and stop a rift in the case that a conflict did arise. The fact that the UN Commander, General Dallaire, was given strict orders to stay away from any physical fighting or to keep the peace without any form of physical violence, seems insane to me.
The biggest problem, highlighted by this situation in Rwanda, is that those who make the decisions are not in the midst of the situation. They do not see the horrors taking place, and their lives and work are not devoted to that one sole situation; they can easily find distractions and forget the issue, whereas those who are near the situation are saturated in its presence. These are people who are blatantly saying to the dying child, “No, we will not come help you today, but maybe tomorrow when I have more time to think about it”, or “No, I cannot stop that man from hacking your skull in two because helping you is not a priority of my government”. Also, there are so many people who are involved in the decision making process that any decision takes a ridiculous amount of time to be made, and there is rarely any progress despite the fact that there is continual debate and discussion of the possible genocide.
Who is responsible for the inaction? I clearly am blaming the government, and I do feel that the majority of the blame should be placed upon the government. But I also do not want to disengage myself from the responsibility. When Jesus says in the story in the Bible that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”, I feel as though I have disappointed God ( Matthew 25:34 – 46). What have I done for my suffering brothers and sisters? While I try to deal with the fact that I am inactive in my role as a citizen in helping these victims or fighting these genocides, I am also upset with the knowledge that even if I devoted my whole life to raising awareness or trying to get Congress to act, they can and probably will very easily ignore the situation. So we, the citizens, either face guilt for inaction, or disappointment in our government. When we spend a month learning about genocide, it is hard to find hope when these are the choices that we are faced with.
But are these our only options? I often forget that there are other options. After hearing a lecture by an employee of the International Justice Mission, I find more hope (the lecture took place at Calvary Church on January 13, 2008, at the morning service). There are international groups out there—IJM, the Red Cross, etc.—that are in these dangerous places and are fighting for those suffering victims. And there is prayer too. In the busy consumerist life that I live, a simple yet powerful thing like prayer slips my mind, and it shouldn’t. There is hope. I do not think that prayer is the only action that needs to be taken, though. The speaker kept making the comment that God’s answer to the problems in the world is us—His children. We are the solution. We need to use our gifts, our skills, and our abilities to solve the problems that infiltrate our world. With this, and with prayer, we can make a dent in the evil that tries to crumble our world.
