Over the past couple of days I have noticed a little more local coverage of the situation in Darfur. We printed t-shirts with www.savedarfur.org on the back. I play basketball with a group of guys who ask who, where, what is Darfur. Glad to see the The Daily Oklahoman carry some AP pieces on the issues going on in the Sudan.
My daughter, Kimberly, sent me a link to MSNBC. It seems the celeb activists are stepping up. Good. Now, someone help me understand the difference in the core action in Iraq and what is being called on in Darfur. Too many decry the absence of WMD’s. Maybe George and the gang should have talked about the atrocities going on among the Kurds and others in Iraq. But, then what did former administrations do about such human atrocities? Talk of the influence of big business and oil obscures the similarities. Hussein killed people in his own ethnic cleansing missions. Now these ne’er do wells jump up saying let’s go in there and stop these horrors.
By all means get something done! Yesterday morning Jason reminded us of Elie Wiesel’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech. Indifference makes us guilty. By the way, indifference about all things humanitarian makes us guilty. Drop the rocks. Quit casting stones. Get the word out – people are valuable. Regardless of ethnicity and religious bent, people are worth more than a tip of the hat.
Get it back in the news. Let the celebs rail. Hold the UN accountable for reducing the aid they will provide refugees. Tell Kofi to get his oil rich self in there and do something with peace-keeping forces. Enlist the world community. Embarrass the Sudanese government. Harangue the rebels. Do something. So, Mr. Clooney, get after it. But, stop picking and choosing which human atrocities you are willing to get behind.
Now, how about hunger …
Christianity Today had an interview with the US Ambassador to the UN that was pretty good. It was about Darfur/Sudan. Haven’t checked to see if it is online, but it is in the print version.
I’m glad our church is speaking more about this. I’ve not been one to jump and save the world kind of guy. Sort of “if it isn’t directly effecting me then it is out of site out of mind.” I feel many feel this way.
While Jason and others have been keeping Darfur and other places in our minds, initially I thought it a “trend” if you will. And please don’t take that as a slam. As a Christian I should be concerned with not only what happens in Darfur, but what happens anywhere. If at no other time for me the statement; What Would Jesus Do comes to mind, seriously, he would have no question. I still find myself being pulled into the political aspects of civil issues. I know many say “why worry about Darfur, or other places, when right here in Oklahoma and the USA we have people suffering”. Maybe we are affraid of becoming compasionate for our fellow human which is a sad statement I know. My mind still works all this out, funny is that I know the answer, why is the easy thing so hard to do?