Genocide

A few weeks ago I finished reading Love Thy Neighbor, by Peter Maass, a journalist for the Washington Post who covered the war in Bosnia in the early 90’s. It is a compelling interweaving of experience, his own thoughts/opinions, interviews with Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats alike, and thoughts on the nature of the soul of humanity. It is a book on love, hate, good, evil, genocide, and life. It will leave you thinking about your values and priorities as a Westerner, and our role in the international community.

That same night we watched Hotel Rwanda – a movie about the civil war in Rwanda in the mid-90’s between the two people groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. It is the story of Paul Rusesabagina, the Hutu manager of an upscale hotel that uses his position to save over 1200 Tutsi refugees [including his wife and family]. It is a story of a tragically broken country that strongly mirrors the one Peter Maass covered in Bosnia only a couple years earlier.

I was struck at the similarity between these two stories – two stories that took place in two very different cultures on different continents, only a few years apart. Yet, it wasn’t as if this was something new. People have been doing this for thousands of years, and I have to ask why. Maybe it’s hard for me to comprehend because I live in affluent America – a white, middle class girl brought up with no oppression and no fear of danger as I walked down the street. But just because I haven’t experienced it, doesn’t make it right and me wrong.

As the credits rolled on the TV screen, I found myself deeply broken and unsure what to feel. Should I feel anger at the people who were committed to cleansing a people group from the country they called home? Should I feel sadness for the depth of evil that can hold a soul captive, and drive him to commit acts that he believes are for good? It brought up questions on our role, as a powerful, Western country, in the international community: when do we step in? When should we sit back, take the criticism and let a country fight its own battles? Does being a member of the UN require us to step in?

With the risk of getting political, what do you think?