Genocide in Darfur

This is excerpted from my church newsletter column this week. Please come to the April 6th Evensong if you're able:

One would think that in 2006 genocide would be an atrocity no longer committed. Our world has been through this too many times before, including in recent history – Rwanda, Bosnia, and, of course, the Holocaust (which actually gave rise to the term "genocide," though the reality of genocide seems to have always been with us). We don’t seem to learn from even our most tragic mistakes.

The current situation in Darfur has been referred to as "a humanitarian and human rights tragedy of the first order," and a "calculated campaign of slaughter, rape, starvation, and displacement" (as reported here). These atrocities are happening to Sudanese civilians at the hands of their own government and the Janjaweed militias it sponsors. In the last three years, 400,000 people have died. 3.5 million currently live in hunger and 2.5 million people have been displaced from their homes and communities. Every day, over 500 innocent civilians die from violence, malnutrition, and disease. This is a horror of incomprehensible proportions.

Most of us would like to think we could prevent another Holocaust were it to be threatened. The fact is, a holocaust is taking place right now, and the world community hasn’t yet stopped it. It is true that the African Union, the United Nations, and our own government are all giving increasing attention to this crisis; just last week, the House International Relations Committee passed the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, which, if passed by the House and the Senate and signed by the President, will authorize additional U.S. aid to the African Union (AU) and will call for a special U.S. envoy to help speed up the Darfur peace process. Already Congress is poised to provide increased funding to the 7,000 AU peacekeepers already in Darfur (currently the only line of defense between millions of civilians and the militia forces who seek to brutalize them).

Why am I writing about this in a church newsletter? I don’t usually talk politics in such a forum; I don’t believe I’m actually talking politics now. I am talking about human life, brutality of unfathomable proportions, and the possibility of even more atrocities if something doesn’t happen to change the reality of the situation. Albert Einstein once said, "The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." As Christians, we are called both to look on and to do something. We may feel helpless, confused, horror-stricken, or even apathetic, but our faith calls us beyond that. We must love, we must do justice, we must pursue peace, we must pray, and we must keep hope alive.

The Million Voices for Darfur Campaign is an unprecedented effort to end this genocide (their website asks: "What if instead of mourning a genocide, we could stop one?"). As a part of that effort, the group has declared April 2nd through 9th to be a Week of Prayer and Action for Darfur, and our congregation will be participating. On Thursday, April 6th, as a part of our Lenten Perspectives series on justice and peace, our Evensong Prayer Service will focus on the crisis in Darfur. Together we will reflect on the tragedy there, and on our Christian calling to respond. We will consider concrete actions we can take, and we will take at least one together – because prayer is something concrete. It is something we can do for the people of Darfur. It is something we must do for them. But it is not the only thing. At our Evensong service, we will have opportunity to write postcards to our government asking for action on behalf of the oppressed in Darfur. We will also consider other ways to make a difference together.

As Paul reminded us in his sermon on Sunday, when tragedy happens, God’s heart is the first to break. I believe God is mourning the loss of so many innocent lives, including so many babies and children, in Darfur. As people of faith, we must mourn too. And then we must get up and do something. Please join me in prayer, reflection, action, and hope on Thursday, April 6th.