Tag Archive for: Hatred

Beyond Empty Words

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Armodoxy for Today: And then what?

For the past week I’ve shared with you stories and events of silence-in-the-face-of-atrocities. From the Armenian Genocide – the first of a series against different people, that continues until today –these horrendous and heinous crimes took place, and take place, on the world stage with relative ease, because of that silence.

I’ve shared with you that the word “Genocide” should not be thrown around lightly. Its meaning is beyond war and is fueled by pure hatred and prejudice. It may be manipulated by politics, but the fuel is evil, just as hatred is.

And finally, I’ve shared with you the urgency of this singular moment. We throw around the words such as, “Never Again” but they are merely rhetoric and empty words without our actions behind them.

Today I add a common theme of Armodoxy to these messages, and that is that our Christian faith is not something that comes alive Sunday mornings only. Jesus is very clear that we must be in sync with God all the time. It is not complicated, it’s merely doing His will, which is to love, to care, to forgive, to nurture, to share, to oppose evil.

Jesus instructs with this parable and asks, “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

Of course, the first! The one who promises to do the work and does not, is like those with the empty talk of “Never again.”

The Gospel message is very clear. It was pronounced by the angels on the night of Christ’s Birth: Peace on Earth, goodwill toward one another. The message is that God is love. Hatred cannot eliminate hatred. Ask any mathematician: 1 Hate +1 Hate = 2 Hate, not Ø Hate. The only thing the bombings of innocent people will do is ensure the continuity of hatred for generations to come. The message of Jesus is simple: Light is more powerful than darkness, Love is more powerful than hate, and Life is more powerful than death. Not empty words: He proved this with his life. It’s the message the Apostles preached. It is the apostolic message that we share through our means.

We pray, Lord Jesus Christ, you proclaimed You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. Take me beyond empty words to see You as the Incarnation of Love, and let me understand that the Only Way, the Only Truth and the Only Life is Love. Use me as an instrument of that Love. Amen.

A Genocide Degree of Hatred

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Armodoxy for Today: Genocide Degree of Hatred

Toward the end of my first week in Rwanda, I made a very unusual discovery. I guess being in such a new and different country had consumed my attention to the point that I had not noticed this, or perhaps because it’s something you really don’t think about. But, after several days meeting with genocide survivors, I realized there was no one with grey hair!

The year was 2006 and I had been invited with a group of six educators from USC to visit the country that had experienced genocide 12 years earlier. The people I was meeting on the streets and in gatherings were children during the time of the genocide in 1994. But it just didn’t seem right. There had to be a few older people. There had to be some grey-haired people left. If there were, I wasn’t seeing them.

I asked around and one of our hosts took us for a drive out of town. We arrived at a camp for widows and orphans, and there, there they were: people with grey hair! These were people who, instead of being slaughtered, were allowed to live. There were about 200 ladies assembled in an outdoor auditorium to meet with our group.

After we were cordially introduced to the group, the turn was theirs. Our host introduced this group of genocide survivors to us. These were ladies whose husbands were taken at night and killed. And it goes without saying that taking advantage of the absence of the men, these ladies were brutally raped and abused. As tragic and as painful it was to listen to their stories, the question still remained: why were these women allowed to live? Why were they given a pass on martyrdom so that their hair could age with them? Why were these grey-haired ladies so special?

To continue with the introductions, and to make a point to us about the ravages of genocide, our host asked the ladies, “How many of you have HIV-AIDS?” All of them – yes, all of them – raised their hand!

Let it sink in. These 200 women at this one camp were allowed to live because they would then infect future partners, insuring death to survivors who fled the genocide.

Genocide is no ordinary crime. It’s not war. It’s the deliberate, sanctioned and systematic destruction and annihilation of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy the group as such. Imagine the degree of hatred toward a group of people that measures are taken, in this case infecting them with HIV-AIDS, so that if by chance someone survived they’d be stricken down.

My grandmothers and grandfathers were children when they fled the Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. It wasn’t until they had grey hair that I got to know them. We’re always thankful that countries in the Middle-East, Europe, the Americas opened their doors to them. Fortunately, there were people who cared. It’s something I can’t forget and am bound morally to call out the horrendous crime of genocide. It’s not a political issue, it’s a humanitarian issue.

Today we echo our prayer, Lord Jesus Christ, you who opened the eyes of the blind man, open our eyes which are blinded by hatred. You who gave hearing to the deaf man, open our ears which can no longer hear the cry of babies. You who loosened the tongue of the mute, open our mouths so we may share our voice for justice. You who restored strength in the legs of the paralyzed man, give us the stamina to the walk to bring aid. You who opened the hearts of those who hate, open our hearts to give to those in need. Amen.