DIFFICULT DECISIONS

As I mentioned in a previous post, I had the opportunity to go the movie Hotel Rwanda. Basically, all I said about the movie in that post was that the it was compelling. I am still processing what I saw and experienced, and trying to come to some kind of understanding of what actually took place in Rwanda and why it took place. I also have been searching for other answers such as, will this kind of tragedy be repeated in the same way in the future - another place - another time? Will the world continue to ignore events such as these, and stand by and watch? Difficult questions to answer, because they're really seem unanswerable, at least from my vantage point.

First of all, regarding my thoughts on the movie, I am still not certain what was fact and what was fiction or embellished fact. I call it the Michael Moore factor. Manipulate the facts and call it truth. When I view a movie like this, I am careful not to accept it outright as truth, but commit to checking reliable historical reports later.

Second, I tried to probe my memory bank from those days in the early 90's in order to determine what was going on politically in the world at that time. I do recall that in '93 our US Military was sent in to Somalia to restore some order there, and we were adversely impacted by the sight of the bodies of brave US soldiers being dragged around the streets of Mogudishu. That Mogudishu experience in itself, must have had an affect on any decisions on whether or not to engage our troops in the events immediately following that tragedy.

Are we influencing others, positively or negatively by our response or lack of response in these situations? What's the UN's role? Isn't this one of the reasons this organization was formed? As a Christian, what's my responsibility? I can continue to raise questions, because I have few answers. I felt sick and angry watching the events in Rwanda unfold on the big screen. I left the theater with a feeling of being "rung out." I left with more questions than answers.

Can the USA move in and stop every conflict and serve as the "world cop?" I think not. However, at the same time I believe we have some level of responsibility as part of the world community to exert our influence and use our resources in a way that honors life and human rights no matter where injustice is occurring. How do we pick and choose?

What say you?
DOM