Even Rebels Deserve Justice

For the most part, our mass media ignores much of what's valuable in this world. It ignores most of the injustice in this world. I've seen more about Paris Hilton on the CNN crawl than Darfur. More about Anna Nicole Smith's death than the death of 400,000 innocent people. Even the Virginia Tech massacre--a tragedy and an injustice in all regards--that included 30+ deaths has dominated airwaves while the world has ignored the ongoing murder of the black African people of Darfur. Why is this?

Is it because Virginia Tech is over? We don't have to worry about Sueng-Hui Cho murdering any more people, because he has already taken his own life. All we have to do is remember--we don't have to act. I know it's easier to think about Paris Hilton wrecking a car than to think about the Janjaweed burning an entire village. Why do we care so much about where Anna Nicole's body is going to be buried? Let the dead take care of the dead. There are millions living in refugee camps that aren't dead yet...but they will be if we don't act.

I once heard someone give a reason for why we should not help. This person said that we would be aiding the side of rebels. Yet, is a government justified for murder just because it's the government? Since when are rebels always the "bad guys"?

There was once a nation full of rebels fighting for freedom from a foreign king. America was born because of rebels. What if the French had never come to our aid against the British? We were fighting for equal representation, for fair taxation. The people of Darfur are fighting for their home, for their very life. What if we never come to their aid?

I won't pretend that I've done much in this effort. I've put the sticker on my car. I'm wearing the bracelet. I've donated some money. I marched. I've written e-mails to legislators. I've prayed. Yet, they keep dying. I won't pretend that I'm a champion for the people of Darfur. Sometimes, I lose hope all together.

Will our country ever pull through? We've tried to justify Iraq with the notion of freedom from oppression. What greater oppressor is their than death itself? Death is marching on Darfur right now, yet we don't even look their way. Death has burned down entire villages and killed family after family after family, but not one oil well has been damaged. Do we not act because Darfur has nothing to offer us? Is their no commodity that the businesses of America find worth saving? Human life may mean nothing to them, but is there no commodity they can save?

Sometimes I wonder why God hasn't acted. Nothing 'causes me to question more than evil and injustice. Why does a good god let innocent people suffer? It's tough to think about, but I trust that God is good. I rest in this fact: God created a world without evil, but he gave man a choice between good and evil. My friend put it this way: "A long time ago there were two people in a garden. God offered them the best life, but they choose to sin. Now we're all f**ked." Maybe it's not the most eloquent way to say it, but it's true.

God does not want the people of Darfur to suffer, but he allows it. He allows it not out of evil, but he allows mankind the ability to do what's right. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers. May we make peace all the days of our lives.

I will never be able to personally to end the genocide in Darfur. I will continually pray, pray without ceasing, that God intervenes. I will continue to write Pryor, Lincoln, Beebe, Boozman, and the like. I will continue to wear a green wristband--hoping someone might ask what is going on in Darfur. I can't do much, but I can do what I can. So can you. Every representative and senator has an e-mail section on his/her site. Sign the petition on SaveDarur.org. For God's sake, for Darfur's sake, do what you can, and I'll do the best I can.