Darfur @ MindSay

The Crusades: A vicious war for the right of diverse religions[Muslim Jewish and Christian] to live together in peace.

 

The Holocaust:A terrible and horrific prejudice for Jews and non Christians in Europe.

 

Darfur: Dictatorship and homocide in the 21st century

 

If the Crusades happened why did the Holocaust happen? If the Holocaust happened why is Darfur happening?

 

This is not a "What has the world come to?" but "What has the people of this world come to?"

 

What has the people of this world come to?

 

 

 

This afternoon I had the opportunity to hear Mark Hanis speak.  If you EVER get the opportunity to do so, you MUST hear him speak and truly listen to what he says. 

In 2004, while a student at Swarthmore, he first learned about the genocide in Darfur.  Mark, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, was stunned that the world was standing to the side and watching.  He and some of his fellow students decided that action must be taken.  They formed the Genocide Intervention Network. 

They are working to empower others to speak out and encourage lawmakers to take a stand.  They set up an anti-genocide hot line: 1-800-GENOCIDE that provides Americans and Canadians with talking points and information about what actions their lawmakers can do, and provides the caller with direct access to their elected officials and the White House.  As a result of their work, policies and legislation have been passed and people around the country are voicing their opinion and taking a stand against genocide.

It is extraordinary and inspiring to me that a young man took such action and now is a leading voice in the fight against genocide. 

We've all been hearing about what is going on in Darfur.  It's one thing for us to sit and listen, but to cause action and stop this horrible injustice, you must speak out and be heard. 

Questioning God's presence, "Are you there? This seems so bleak now, I can't feel you - are you there, God?" isn't wrong. It's human.

This just kind of hit me - when we look at a bad situation and conclude that God must not be around, that reflects something of what we know of God. Inherently, we know God is good, and God is powerful - otherwise, we wouldn't have this reaction. If God weren't good, he would have no motivation to change it. If he weren't powerful, he wouldn't be able to change it.

The analogy that crossed my mind was two of the percussionists in our pep band. They're both talented musicians, but part of every gig is supposed to be transporting and setting up the set. Andy's terrible about this - he shows up a minute before the gig starts, and plays fantastically, and disappears as soon as it's done. Dave's known for being responsible and helpful, and not only taking care of the set, but arriving early enough to do other setup, and sticks around afterwards for additional takedown.

There was an occasion where Dave was called out of town suddenly, and didn't have a chance to let anyone know. When other people started arriving, and the set was still sitting in the band room, no one said, "Hey, where's Andy?" Nobody expects anything of Andy, we all know he can't be counted on. But everyone wanted to know where Dave was, what was going on, was he okay, etc. - in short, what possible reason was there for him not doing what we all knew he always did.

We get upset not because God isn't there, but because he always has been. We're not mad at God for being a sadist, we're confused because he's always been good to us, often to the point where we just expected it. We wouldn't accuse God if we didn't think he was capable - we throw this in his face because we know he can do it. I'm not saying God is absent in this situation - I still don't have all the answers.

One of my friends is dying, and she declares that God doesn't exist, because if he did, she wouldn't be going through this.

Edit: Someone just pointed me to one of the more recent Boundless articles. I shall borrow a paragraph.

"What kind of God could allow anyone to go through the horrors of Iraq — the corruption, treachery, hatred, violence and death? A Christian response recognizes humanity's ultimate culpability (God doesn't force mankind's violent hand), but also points to a God who submitted Himself to all that suffering and more. Jesus Christ the Son of God endured despising and shame, betrayal and unjust execution so that we might have life. He bore the sins of the world, took our penalty, and died. He rose to conquer decay, and He lives to set the world to rights and to set all fears to rest forever. We hope in this God, in Jesus Christ, the God who reveals Himself as present and active in our fallen world."

I hate the same old music. I hate being bombarded by "BUY BUY BUY." I hate that we can't say Merry Christmas in case we offend anyone and that most Christmas cards I have gotten are full of snow and Christmas trees (inanimate objects oddly enough). My favorite one is the Madonna and Child that my grandmother sent to me.

Anddddd I hate genocide and war. Blah, this is going to sound cheesy, but so much money is wasted on giving things to people that don't want or need them. There are essential gifts to give and then consider the ppl in Darfur: www.unicefusa.org

I read an article on Mia Farrow's support for this country (about 2 wks. ago) and clicked the link and was very frustrated, because there was the option to donate in pounds and I couldn't find the correct US site and my normal charity didn't have a Darfur fund.

Anyway, give what you can if you can. I think the USA is overindulgent and there are lots of greedy people here splurging on things when people are dying. I felt guilty last night depositing a check at my bank, having a car, locking it because of my ipod and DVDs inside.

Okay, just sharing. Consider spending a portion of your holiday budget to those in need.

T-take.
A-action.
A-against.
G-genocide.

guess what i did for lunch today?

i joined this club. my sister was in it but i hadn't heard anything about it till last night texting audrey. because she was all like 'oh yeah i have a taag meeting tomorrow but we can go to lunch afterwards.' and i was like oh yeah that genocide thing i didn't know still existed. i'll go with you.' and she's like 'wow amazing get more people to join.' and i tried elaine because i think she's the only one that would be mildly interested but noooo she has fucking lunch detention. and for what?

fucking tardies. that's stupid, by the way. if anyone wants my opinion on tardies. but moving on.

so i joined today. and it was fun. only it was just me, audrey, some girl named kim, and mrs. nielson the supervisor and mrs. moon who just came to whatever.

but we decided to start making posters to get more people and stuff. and apparently people don't know the meaning of genocide? holy crap. are you stupid? okay don't know what Darfur is but genocide? holy freaking crap. Holocaust? jeez.

but i'm sure there's like two people here on mindsay that don't know what that is, so here's the definition:

genocide-the systematic, planned annihilation of a racial, political, or cultural group.

oh and the Holocaust is one. and it's going on right now in Darfur. which is in Africa. it's like part of Sudan.


so yeah. i guess that's my story. so if anyone's more interested go here: www.savedarfur.org