The Example of How Humans Have Fallen into the Pattern of Elucidation and War - Research Paper Example

? number THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE Outline Rwanda is a landlocked country that covers about 26,338 kilometres squared with regards to size. The country is surrounded by Congo, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda (Netherlands International Law Review, 48) . Despite that the country is mostly flat, it has large mountains and is home to the infamous Rwanda Mountain gorillas. The population of Rwanda is divided into 3 major ethnic groups which are; the Hutu, the Tutsi and the Twa who compose the total population at 85%, 14% and 1% respectively. It is in the year 1994 that Rwanda puts itself into the limelight of the world for the wrong reasons. It is in this year- 1994 that over 800,00 Rwandan citizens were brutally murdered in what is described as one of the worst genocides that the world has ever seen in the 20th century. The Tutsis and Hutu people that supported them were brutally murdered by the Hutu militias. The Hutu militias went around the country encouraging the ordinary citizens to get rid of the Tutsis. Between the months of April and July that when America and Europe were looking into the issue that Rwanda got into a general state of fear and panic. Despite the fact that the two ethnic groups murdered each other, they speak the same language, lived in the same region for many years and shared the same traditions. One of the few things that is noticeable between these two ethnic groups is that they are barely different at all. The two groups were so similar for a long time that, even when the Belgian colonialists arrived, they had not noted any difference after which they started treating them differently. The Belgian colonialists come to believe that the minority Tutsis were more superior and they offered them superior jobs and education compared to the Hutus. It was this action that led to the rise of tensions of ethnicity between the two groups. Introduction The Rwandan genocide exposed some of the most scandalous involvements of the Rwandan churches and the role that they played in it. As a religion and culture students, the latter statement is quite strong especially in the description of an institution that has the trust of the members of the society and is supposed to guide its people. As written by McCullum, a journalist who has written about the Rwandan genocide, we see that, the foundations of the church in the country were shook and none of them was left without blood on its hands. The story of the Rwandan genocide is a good example of the two sides of human beings. The latter statement can be illustrated by the fact that the churches sometimes showed that they were dedicated in their work by still standing by what they believed even in the face of intimidation without looking at the costs that they were going to face. Despite the fact the churches played a greater role in teaching the people of Rwanda how they should live, they also slipped dismally and they seemed to be involved in ways that left people with illusions and fury (Goldhagen, 32). Looking at the complicity of the churches, we see that from several different perspectives from a religion and culture student that, even with careful, honest and sensitive approaches, the role of the church in the genocide is still evident. One of the basis on which the latter can be approached is from a cultural view. Despite the fact that the two major ethnic groups were getting along well before the colonialists and missionaries in terms of the cultures and their ways of life, the influence of priests in the uproar of genocide is evident. An example of the above is that during the times, the priests presented themselves as ethno-biased which was one of the major catalysts for the genocide. In addition, the churches at that time allowed the priests to preach ethno-hatred to the people. Some of the sources also say that the nuns and the nuns and the priests were also involved in the killing of the Tutsis. One of the hardest things to determine with regard to this issue is whether the leaders of the Roman catholic and Anglican church leaders were informed about the issue and whether they got involved or simply decided to ignore the issue. With the views that have been expressed about the role of the church in the genocide, one of the things that we I can establish as a religious student is that they clergy did not follow the what they preach. A conclusion about the role that the church played in the genocide can be easily arrived at that, looking at the way that the course stood by the values that it preached before the genocide and what they preached towards the genocide, there must have been some political influence. The fact that the church betrayed the trust that its followers had for it in the country was wrong as per the Christian teachings since the churches were used as sites of slaughter (Rittner, 74). One of the true motivators behind the genocide has been established as far. Fear that there would be a Tutsi invasion from the countries that neighboured it such as Uganda and Burundi. With this fear instilled even the Hutu government got involved and fearing that they were going to lose the power to rule their own country, decided to call for an extermination of the Tutsis. It is then that the Hutu extremists started viewing the Tutsis as an internal threat and then they took the action of instilling this fear into the general Hutu population. The latter led to the Hutus being made insensitive to violence which ended up slaughtering their neighbouring Tutsis in great numbers. Effects of the Rwanda genocide There are vital gaps that are left with the understanding the economic consequences of the Rwanda genocide. The best way to analyse this loss is through the macroeconomic analysis (Zafirovski, 2013). One of the conclusions that have been arrived at as per the economic consequences is that many years after the genocide, the per capita income is still on the decline. Looking at the areas that suffered intense conflicts and those that suffered low numbers of killings, we see that the difference in returns is significant with regards to land and labour. As a result of the expenses of the war, there was economic crumble of about 15%. Many people were displaced as a result of the war and they could no longer work in their fields of work. The effects of the war were very adverse that we see that despite the fact that since the genocide there has been increased support of foreign countries, the living conditions of those that survived are worsening day by day. Many people lost their lives in the genocide and others were displaced to the neighbouring countries. Susan Neiman’s concept of evil Susan Neiman in her article states that the problem brought by evil is that it is the main guiding force of the modernized thoughts. She defines evil as a wrong doing that has no room for an account. The latter can be related to the case of those that were the masterminds of the Rwanda genocide whereby we see that there can be no great excuse or explanation as to the reason that people murdered even innocent children. Looking at the way that the Hutus and the Tutsis lived at peace with each other before their thoughts were corrupted, we can relate this to what Susan says about human integrity. Susan talks about evil not being subject to control which leaves us as humans as a threat of corruption of the mind of its own (Roberts, 97). Symbol of the Rwanda genocide The symbol that best represents the activities during the Rwanda genocide are best represented by the shadow. This is on the basis that we see that J.C Cooper talks about shadow as a negative ‘double’ of a human being. The latter can be explained by how the pure hearted people of Rwanda were influenced to act against each other without being sensitive about the issue. The shadow is basically represented as the instinctive and primitive side of an individual. Conclusion A conclusion can be arrived at that, history tends to repeat itself and the Rwandan genocide is no exception to the example of how human have fallen into the pattern of elucidation and war. After the war was over, the government of Rwanda leaders visited some of the main areas that the wars took place and they witnessed first hand the pain and torment that had occurred in the country over that 100 day period. It is then that they come to understand how taking part in the support of the war led to. One thing that they come to realize is that they had lost not only the people that had passed away but also the people that were alive due to the traumas that they now had as a result of the war. It's not only become the duty of the Rwanda people but also the world to enlighten as well as educate the people of the world on the results that may present themselves as a result of hostilities towards people that are a bit different to us. Works cited Netherlands International Law Review. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1975. Print. Goldhagen, Daniel J. A Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Print. Rittner, Carol, John K. Roth, and Wendy Whitworth. Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the Churches?Newark, Notts., U.K: Aegis, 2004. Print. Zafirovski, Milan, and Daniel G. Rodeheaver. Modernity and Terrorism: From Anti-Modernity to Modern Global Terror. Leiden [etc.: Brill, 2013. Print. Roberts, Peri, Peter Sutch, and B A. Haddock. Evil in Contemporary Political Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011. Print. Read More