TRIUMPH OF EVIL, 1994 Rwandan genocide
One of the myths of Western civilization is that it is sufficient to be rational, generally benevolent and sincere. The dark side of human nature does not exist among civilized and cultured peoples. Yet in my work as a psychotherapist and psychologist and marital counselor over 40 years , I know not a few who by means of their own blindness to themselves end up being actually cruel to others. I have known suicides of despair that a spouse could not care or understand. If we want to understand who we are as a people, as humans, we must address the why and wherefore of human evil. How it can happen, and what are the conditions that encourage or support it?
"SOMETIMES IN APRIL" is a gripping new HBO movie, showing March 19, Saturday, 8-10:30 p.m. ET. , currently reviewed in WSJ, p. W6, Friday, March 18. In the Spring of 1994, Rwanda was ripe for disaster. Members of the French backed Hutu government were chafing at the terms of the UN supervised agreement to share power with a minority Tutsi rebel group. Resentment toward the Tutsis who had been once favored by Gelgian colonial rulers was growing. Under Hutu rule a whole system of delineation had been enforced including national identity papers.
Over 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered, while UN, Belgium and France--all of whom had a military presence there--failed to act, and the Clinton administration was reluctant to take any action. Hitler's or Stalin's butchers are not the last we shall see. We have had other holocausts since the Nazi Shoah against the Jews (which was also against anyone labeled or designated as not of Aryanian purity: gypsies, handicapped children, mentally ill, etc.
Question. What are the seeds of evil if not the dissing of another race or another faith, to somehow make them less than human? How can a people of faith, or a civilized humane society prevent such mass murder? The process of discounting and shunning another starts out slow and gradual, but can slowly take over the minds and hearts of others, as it did for 60 million German Catholics and Lutherans in the 1930s.
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This is one subject that, though I am by no means a scholar on the subject, I have come to recognize that religion has been used as an excuse to eliminate other human beings. It is because they are simply different and somehow we few that difference as a threat or is it merely because by demonstrating power over someone else it gives us an euphoric sensation and religion is just the mechanism of justification? I think that throughout time people have talked about equality and treating everyone as brothers but I truly feel that this only happens in the public eye and that deep down our differences continue to drive wedges between color, culture, ethic groups, and religion. Why does anyone have to be deemed the "best" or the "right one"? I think the true path is through exceptance. We do not have to think alike or be alike in any way as long as we respect each other and accept one another for who we are. Differences can enhance relationships and build lasting bonds if we realize this fact and learn to utilize it's power.
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