Before falling asleep last night, I had a short chain reaction of thoughts set off in my mind. Images injected into my mind over the last few weeks drifted through. My husband and I as of late, have been watching historical documentaries that we've checked out from the library. Seeing faces, hearing peoples' stories and learning new details about the events that I had dutifully studied in my high school years. (Sadly, it wasn't until my last year of school that I discovered that I enjoy learning. It was then that a desire grew in me to never stop gaining knowledge and perspective.) Genocide in Rwanda. WWII on the home front. Mendela in South Africa. Auschwitz.
Last night we attempted to watch Schindler's List, but due to a over-heated crying child who wouldn't go to sleep, we turned it off. We definitely didn't want those images filling his heart when he has no discernment about what was going on.
In the dvds that we have watched in these last few weeks, a common trend has been the brutality of one group of humans to another. Sometimes retaliation occurs; sometimes not. At first I felt shock. In the one recording about Rwanda, someone mentioned that while these 800,000 plus individuals were being murdered, a contemporary story was the murder trial of O.J. Simpson. Bryan and I remember seeing that in the news, but neither of us remember hearing anything about Rwanda. I feel shock at our "pick and choose" attitude about what gets attention.
I've also felt a sick feeling when I realize that these types of tragedies are not rare, but rather are quite common throughout history. One group looks at another and thinks, "How COULD they do such a thing?" Yet, there are so many divisions all around us. It appears innocent at first, but human reasoning eventually leads the stronger, or the shrewder, into domination of the "lesser".
Native Americans. African Americans. Jews. Actions are excused because of the mindset that they are less valueable; less human.
Follow me now to the land of political incorrectness now when I tell you what I thought about last night. Every day fetuses are being killed within the wombs of their mothers. Silently. Make an appointment. Drop in clinic. No problem. Extending a hand to help you out of that complex situation that you most certainly are in.
If that fetus were to grow to full size and be born, it would be quite costly. To your lifestyle and to your bank account. Not denying that. They are less than human anyways.
As I am watching documentaries of injustice, I wonder, "Would I be someone who would stand up against that? Would I have risked my life and my reputation?"
Hmmm. DVD finished. Power off. Brush teeth. Go to sleep.
50 years from now, will there be a documentary about this genocide?
