More on American Christians and Genocide

Following up on Hotel Rwanda v. The Passion: Blame America First, here is more from Brian McLaren. You’ve got to wonder about the good Rev. McLaren when he approvingly quotes Karl Marx on the subject of religion. Still, at least he a bit clearer this time about what he wants to see happen here as a response to genocide in Darfur:

The tragedy of what’s happening over there is compounded when we realize that our government has been strangely, inexcusably silent and inactive on this issue. With all our talk about moral values, we seem to consider genocide a tolerable annoyance - if it’s happening in Africa, anyway.

If our news media were telling the truth - if they were showing stories, film footage, still photographs of grieving mothers, rape-savaged daughters, boys with eyes plucked out, men who have bled to death after having their scrotums slashed - the American people would be outraged and would demand action.

When the journalists wake up, the public will wake up. When the public wakes up, the politicians will wake up and spur our government to action we can be proud of.

First the media … then the public … then the government … then we’ll see action. If you’re a journalist or news director reading this, please - do what you can. And if you’re a blogger realize that you may be the only hope when news professionals fail us. Please use your power, your influence, to wake people up to what’s happening.

It is a sin to stand idly by when human blood is shed.

Three points. First, notice the cheap-shot implication of racism on the part of people who “talk about moral values” but don’t care about genocide if it happens in Africa. He has no basis for saying that, but it’s an easy way to smear anyone who doesn’t demonstrate as much concern about the issue as McLaren does. Where do we sign-up to verify that we are opposed to genocide? Put me on the list. I’m opposed to it in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and anywhere else. I would wager that virtually every other American Christian is too. But, learning of an unspeakable evil occurring on a different continent and going on with one’s life is not the same as standing “idly by” and letting it occur in front of you without taking some action to prevent it.

Second, what “action” does he want the government to take? Does he want us to invade yet another Muslim country and occupy it for decades? I doubt it. Our armed forces can only police so much of the world and still be ready to protect us when necessary. That’s the cold hard, reality. Unlike the left, many people recognize this unpleasant truth. The practical implication of limited resources is that our foreign interventions need to be driven by U.S. interests, not just altruism. The left only seems to approve of foreign intervention when there is no U.S. interest involved. There is plenty of good to do that also helps protect America, like freeing Afghanistan and Iraq, to keep our limited resources engaged for the foreseable future. Ignoring those core missions in a noble (and likely futile) effort to stop genocides all around the world would be a huge mistake. One might argue that it would create good will with the rest of the world, but I doubt it. Take a look at our last purely humanitarian intervention. When is the last time you heard a Muslim thank the United States for intervening to protect them from the Serbs?

Third, if it is “a sin to stand idly by when human blood is shed,” then why is McLaren so hostile to conservative Christians who are more vocal about the abortion genocide taking place in their very own neighborhoods than the genocides that occur half-way around the world. And why is McLaren so silent on that issue himself? Perhaps, because it is easier to rail against immorality and injustice that is thousands of miles away than to confront it when it is right next door.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 10th, 2005 at 5:43 pm and is filed under The Left, Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.