I read Shake Hands With The Devil in tiny little pieces. It was so terrifying, I could not bear to chunk large bites out of it.
I have to admit, wife-unit grew tired of me crying before sleep.
It is the recounting of the ill-fated UN mission to Rwanda by its commander, Lt. General Roméo Dallaire. He writes, “I know there is a God, because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists and therefore I know there is a God.”
A relatively tame section, so as not to put you off your breakfast:
the Hutu extremists, the young men of the Interahamwe, even ordinary mothers with babies on their backs, had become so drunk with the sight and smell of blood and the hysteria that they could murder their neighbours. What did they think as they were fleeing the RPF [the revolutionary force who would eventually stop the génocidaires and take control of the country] and stepping through blood-soaked killing fields and corpses rotting into heaps of rags and bones?
I remembered, viscerally, while reading this book, how crucial it was for my conversion to Christ to realise that the story of history is not one of the triumph of our humanity or the power of our one voice calling for justice and peace. When Augustine or whatever church father you care to mention outlines what the belief in the Fall means, it comes down to this. Given a choice between an easy bad and a difficult good, in the majority of cases the majority of us will take the path of least resistance.
That is what happened in Rwanda. And then later in the Congo. And then later in Sudan. And in the future it will be the way in Burma or who knows where else. We will take the easy path of ignoring the evil and go on living our lives concerned with a tax hike here and a Big Brother eviction there while 800,000 die at the hands of machete in 100 days.
Human beings are not inherently good. We are not naturally good. And no humanism can exist that can spin history to make it so. The 20th Century declares it resoundingly. The 21st has not started in any way differently. That is not to suggest that we are incapable of good. But any unwillingness to look Dallaire in the eye and thank him for his service but acknowledge his living hell, (and at that, not even a true participant in the hell of the genocide) is the definition of a moral failure.
And that proves my point. We are morally and ethically and humanly bankrupt.
And the question that rises as a chorus sung with tragic beauty by the 800,000 dead of Rwanda is “Where is the hope for a world as filled with horror as this?”
And it is my contention this morning that here the Gospel makes its introduction.
Your Correspondent, Tens of thousands of human bodies being gnawed on by dogs did not wake him out of his apathy.
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Does humanism assert an inherent goodness in humanity? i don’t know much about it. i guess there are some humanists who do just like there are some Christians who assert, well, all sorts of nonsense. when i think humanism i just think of non-supernaturalism with a hint of ‘value and worth of human life’ stuff sprinkled in. maybe i should look into it more. as for Rwanda – fear & tribalism are scary and shockingly powerful forces. I often think that N Ireland could have just as easily gone that way in 1969 which doesn’t bare thought.
You think “value and worth of human life” but not “inherent goodness”?
Why exactly do you think that “fear & tribalism” explains Rwanda and why could NI have “gone that way”?
afraid i don’t really know anything about humanism. i certainly don’t contend that there is some inevitable goodness or progression towards good in humanity. Although i suppose it depends what you ‘value’ as good and positive.
tribalism leads to a lack of empathy and it leads to fear and a ‘ get them before they get us ‘mentality. Whilst i can barley imagine the shock and mental scars sufferred by someone who witnessed Rwandan genocide or my granda who as an ambulance driver had to pick up bomb destroyed body parts from a belfast street. i remember my own lack of empathy for the Catholics, im embarrassed to say. i certainly have mates who laughed and sang ‘kill all fenians. Is it too easy to say that cooler moderating prevailed in NI and didn’t in Rwanda?
Talk of devils is naive, but understandable as an explanation for such horrors.
So let’s get this straight. You think that Senator Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire is naive?
Which moderating voices specifically are you speaking of with regards to Norn Iron Mr. Monkey?
Haven’t read Dallaire’s book – but recall a similar reading experience while reading Philip Gourevitch’s We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda.