Tribal warfare
July 5, 2014
For our summer study my women’s group decided to read and discuss the book Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza.
It is a story of the author’s survival of the Rwandan holocaust in 1994. Ms. Ilibagiza presented her experience and her journey of healing at a local forum a few months ago, but I did not attend.
I told myself that I couldn’t go because I was too busy. The truth is, I wasn’t sure I could handle it.
I know horrible things happen in the world, but when I think about it too much, I can’t sleep at night.
I’m not sure why I so eagerly voted to read Ms. Ilibagiza’s book for our summer study. Maybe I felt guilty for not attending her talk. Maybe deep down I knew her story is a cautionary tale we should all heed.
I learned so much from Ms. Ilibagiza, about Africa, about humanity, about myself.
I learned that Africa is not just the poverty-stricken, starvation and war infested mess it is portrayed in the Media.
The first sentence of Ms. Ilibagiza’s book is “I was born in paradise.” I’ll be honest. I was skeptical at first.
But then she described gardens and peaceful walks to school and friendly neighbors.
She included pictures of her happy family that could have been any middle-class American family in the 80s and 90s, and the view from her back yard – a sweeping valley with a crystal blue lake, not so different from something you might see on a mountain hike in Montana.
And because I knew what was coming my heart started to break while I was still reading about her childhood paradise.
Her life was not so dissimilar from my own. She had three brothers. I have three brothers. Her family prayed over their meals every day, just like mine did.
There were cultural differences, obviously.
But I left small town life to live in an American city for a time. Believe me, it is possible to suffer culture shock in your very own country if you are willing to leave your comfort zone.
And yes, there was poverty. But we have plenty of poverty of our own here in America. We are just better at pretending it doesn’t exist.
What struck me the most about the Rwandan holocaust was the sudden shift from peace to horrific violence, even among those who were upstanding members of the community the day before.
We think we are immune to such atrocities in America. We tell ourselves we would never succumb to such tribalistic warfare.
But I wonder, how different are America’s two political parties from the Tutsis and the Hutus of Rwanda?
The Rwandan holocaust was fueled in large part by extremists on the radio spouting hate and ignorance.
Much of the hate and lies spread on Rwandan radio during the holocaust can also be found on talk radio and the Internet today in America.
And so this year, as you celebrate the independence of our great nation, turn off the talk radio, shut down the Internet, and don’t take a single moment of your day for granted.
For just one day, love your neighbors as you love yourself, even if they don’t share your voting record. They aren’t perfect, but neither are you.
And remember that we enjoy peace because men and women of both political parties risk their lives to protect it.
This article first appeared in the Lewistown News-Argus and the Sidney (Mont.) Herald on July 5, 2014.