A burst of (very delayed) outrage

It finally happened. I finally saw Hotel Rwanda for the first time. It was a long time in coming. It was one of those movies everyone who knew me said, "Tony, you've got to see it." Indeed, I have always wanted to. So, here I am at my parents house after the big Wedding Vow Renewal Ceremony (which went great!). It was my first evening alone in a week, so I got some Chinese take out and came home to find a movie on TV to watch. I found Hotel Rwanda on cable, and decided it was time. I knew it was time for a couple of reasons. First, I was already in a very contemplative mood having been through an emotional day and pondering life and stuff. Also, I knew that I would cry (as anyone who knows me would expect), and for that, I needed to be alone.

Enough background. I'm enraged. I cried at the horror... not so much of the massacre, though the numbers were numbing. But the loss of humanity. I cried in anger... why did those with power sit by helpless. I cried in frustration (the most powerful source of my agony)... because it still happens. Whether it is a subtle discrimination at work, or genocide in a country far away, those with "power" don't use their power to help the neediest. In fact, they create the oppression, the division, the hate. Although I don't know the exact historical accuracy of the claims in the movie (that the Hutu/Tutsi division was almost entirely created by Westerners evaluating physical characteristics), there are plenty of examples of the great "moral" West creating division, hate, and cruelty, and then sitting idly by when those feelings birth violence, death, and destruction. I would like to say that such things were done in the past, but we are better now. Really? How many died in Rwanda before anyone even considered intervening? How many must die in Darfur while Western "powers" talk of peace? Where are the Christian peacemakers? Where are the Christian soldiers of Christ who will stand in the breech and rather die with the oppressed than look away from the murders?

I'm guilty. I feel powerless. I'm helpless to help. Or am I. I don't have to run across the world and stand in front of a tank. I can pray to the Father. I can let his Spirit move me, if I will just listen. I can write those in power, make them aware. Participate in things like the Global Night Commute (which did help raise awareness, and likely helped strike a peace agreement... the end result has been much less kidnappings and therefore less need for night commuting, praise God!). Governments are often a source of the problem and only rarely a part of the solution. I need to find ways to help those that I can. This year, I'm going to try to get more information, and more involved in whatever ways I can to be God's servant, bringing peace and healing to the nations. God help me, and God help us all.