Is concern of genocide the business of church as well as governmental and political process in bringing to bear influences and actions to protect the lives of helpless people wherever they are? I fear that too many people may excuse genocide as a political issue, whereby the urgency is negated because to take a stand one might fear being relegated to political expediency. If that’s not the case, otherwise possibly, we have become too indifferent, apathetic, and bored to be moved in action, to take a stand or speak a single word against genocide.In a “Pro Life” move, William (Bill) H. Frist, the Republican majority leader of the U. S. Senate (2003-2007) on March 21st, a Sunday in 2005, helped lead congress in an unusual, if not unprecedented, legislation, which referred the Terri Schiavo case to the federal court. The act is known as the Palm Sunday Compromise. At that time I wrote in my blog, Life and Death and “A Morsel of Goat Meat”: “What if the same extraordinary mass of energy generated by the citizenry, media, politico, and judiciary put into the Terri Schiavo case could be focused on the plight of humanity in third-world countries?”
But now Bill Frist, a good man according to a friend of mine who knows Frist, comes to an earnest, truly Pro-Life Stance to save human lives from the perils of genocide and starvation. In his recent letter (full text below) to SaveDarfur supporters and in TV interviews, he pointed to his annual trips to Africa as a medical missionary. In his travel this February to Darfur, Sudan he says: “Due to a series of increasingly violent attacks on foreign aid workers in Darfur over the past six months, international efforts to protect civilians and provide them with food, clean water, shelter, and medical care are in a state of crisis.” Frist is appealing to ordinary citizens such as you and me in joining him to call President Bush to save lives in Darfur.
Yes, the business of stopping genocide is not “one or the other,” it is both church and state. As Dr. M. L King, Jr. wrote, condensed and paraphrased: “Inactions of good people perpetrate man’s inhumanity to man as well as the actions of those who are bad.” It is the action of good people, not the inaction, those in our church as well as state that will mitigate the plight of those who suffer. It was somewhat encouraging to hear my pastor mention, if only in a fleeting passage, “Darfur, Sudan” as one of the world’s problems we do not understand. Seldom do we hear a word in prayer or sermon with reference to people of the world in the peril of conflict! While there are political “movers and shakers” for stopping genocide to save the dying, it is not a political issue. It is a humanitarian issue. As Christians it’s a matter if not addressed with the sincerity it demands gives in to transgression of omission. President George W. Bush wrote in the margin of the “Rwanda genocide brief” he read at the beginning of his presidency: “NOT ON MY WATCH!” We do well to adopt his phrase as our own which has become the byword for saving Darfur; thus, we buy into ownership of responsibility.
There are many ways you can help: In addition to writing one of the powers that be, you may make a humanitarian aid contribution through your church or other humanitarian organization. I hope you will support the effort, if you have not already or even again, to, in the least, give our moral support to governmental leadership by letting them know your concern. Attached herewith is the “Darfur Help Links” I provided at the Genocide Awareness program. It shows numerous ways, addresses, phone, fax, and email to make contact and assist. Just click on the hyperlinks to easily access the website of your choice. Thank you.
Letter from Senator Bill Frist (March 13,2007):
Dear Cornell,
Join Me in Calling the White House
Dial 1-800-290-2662 to urge President Bush to save lives in Darfur by launching "Plan B" immediately.
Once you've hung up, click here to report your call back to the Save Darfur Coalition.
Each year I travel to Africa as a medical missionary. I've just returned from my latest trip, a deeply troubling visit to the Sudan.
Due to a series of increasingly violent attacks on foreign aid workers in Darfur over the past six months, international efforts to protect civilians and provide them with food, clean water, shelter, and medical care are in a state of crisis.
Countless men, women, and children are in real danger of falling prey to violence, starvation, or disease as a result of these attacks.
The U.S. must take the lead in working with the international community to end the violence. The lives of millions hang in the balance.
Please join me in calling the White House comment line today to urge President Bush to launch "Plan B," his tough, three-tiered plan to push Sudan to end the genocide, before more lives are lost in Darfur.
It will only take two minutes of your time and could make a world of difference for millions of people in need. Just follow the steps below:
Dial 1-800-290-2662 (toll-free)
Once you've been transferred to the comment line leave your comment using the talking points below:
I'm calling to urge President Bush to implement "Plan B" to help bring an end to the genocide in Darfur. Specifically, I am asking him to:
Enforce tough sanctions against Sudan;
Work with the UN to authorize and enforce a no-fly zone over Darfur to protect civilians from Sudanese bombers; and
Press the UN for faster deployment of UN peacekeepers to protect civilians in Darfur.
Click here to report your call back to the Save Darfur Coalition (this step is crucial - please don't skip it.)
The U.S. and the international community are all that stand between millions of civilians in Darfur and the Sudanese regime's policy of genocide. Hundreds of thousands have already been killed, and time is running out for millions more.
Without tough "Plan B" measures to accompany diplomatic efforts, the international community's efforts to end the violence in Darfur are doomed to fail.
Please follow the steps above to join me in calling the White House comment line to ask President Bush to launch "Plan B" without further delay, then click here to report your call back to the Save Darfur Coalition.
I hope you will help me spread this message of urgent action by forwarding my email to your friends, family and co-workers and asking them to join you in taking two minutes to call the White House.
Thank you for your ongoing advocacy on behalf of the people of Darfur.
Sincerely,
Senator Bill Frist, M.D.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------P.S. Check out our new t-shirts and sweatshirts! Click here to visit the Save Darfur Coalition's online store to browse our merchandise, including a new selection of t-shirts and sweatshirts featuring our new logo. The logo is an acacia tree, which often serves as the only shelter for Darfuri refugees whose villages have been destroyed, and is therefore a powerful symbol of hope that our work together will result in lasting protection for the people of Darfur.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Donate to Help Save DarfurHelp build the political pressure needed to end the crisis in Darfur by supporting the Save Darfur Coalition's crucial awareness and advocacy programs. Click here now to make a secure, tax-deductible online donation.
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 175 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?key=300601048&url_num=6&url=http://www.savedarfur.org/
