UPDATE: I’ve inserted the trailer for Shooting Dogs in the post, so that you can have at least an idea of what I’m talking about.

It barely happens that I cannot hold my tears back. It’s even more rare that I can’t hold my tears back during a movie. Yet, I used to believe in crying (up till about 4 years ago). I believed it was the purest thing a man or a woman, a boy or a girl can do. Actually, I also used to believe that by being weak one would always meet his or her true self.

Somehow, though, I stiffened up while moving on with life… I stopped crying and trained to be tough. Thankfully, God has a way of breaking tough walls and bringing tears back, as sick as this might sound in today’s world of insurances, safety, abundance and comfort. I’m thankfull, really.

In 1996 The Monkees came out with a song called I’m a Believer. You’ve surely heard the “recent” cover by Smash Mouth… That particular line from the chorus “then I saw her face, now I’m a believer” would pretty much describe my experience before the telly tonight, but in a slightly modified version – Then I saw them die, now I’m a believer… Different melody though.

“We’re fortunate  – all this time we’re given. We must use it well.”

Shooting Dogs (in the USA known as Beyond the Gates) is a 2005 movie by BBC which is a must-watch. Of course, it’s got its bits and pieces that are highly disputed, but the intended message is cut and clear. It addresses the Rwanda genocide from 1994 and the inactivity with which the world responded to it. Just a note though – this movie isn’t to be watched with popcorn and Coke. And be ready to cry, no matter who you are and where you come from.

I did post another brief note on the same topic back in December in regards to CNN’s Scream Bloody Murder reportage. Having seen both and having read more about the history of the problem – I cannot but write. Even though it’s 2:30am already and tomorrow is Monday.

So, genocide… Apparently it’s a term much disliked by international politics and the UN in particular. It’s a word that brings horror to many, and seems to ignite a certain apathy in others. It’s also one of these things that we seem to care little about, as long as it’s not at our doorstep. Yet it’s a relatively fresh one – it only came around when the world came face to face with the Holocaust.

It’s far beyond baffling to me how mankind can put up with its very own forced extinction. It’s devastating to see councils with world-wide power and authority neglecting the very presence of genocide as if it were yet another leaf falling down in the Autumn. When it actually is yet another life.

As of recently I started making my blog a little more catchy by adding images to the articles. This one, however, proved hard. I first thought of putting a pure black image, but figured it’s easily dismissed. We’re afraid of complete darkness, we want to avoid it… not even think about it. As for complete white – it’s a little more bothering in a “makes-you-think” sort of a way. It shows something is missing.

One might rush to say that God is the one missing from the picture. But if you’ve seen the movie, remember the scene towards the end where father Christopher tells the young teacher (the other British guy): God is right here, in the midst of all this suffering… Suffering with us. Enough blaming God for our blindness in seeing his presence. It’s about time we realize it’s human action that’s not in the frame.

Why is it important, you might ask?! – In 1994 an estimate of 1,000,000 people have been killed within 100 days during the genocide in Rwanda. Yet the majority of the Western world did nothing and didn’t even dare call it genocide. In July 1995 over 8,000 men were killed in the Srebrenica genocide – right here in Europe. Can it happen again? It doesn’t have to – it’s already happening. Since the beginning of 2003 over 400,000 people have lost their lives in Darfur and yet – the so called world powers have done nothing to stop the killings.

Will the white blank become black… or red… We’re fortunate – all this time we’re given. We must use it well.

Preview the trailer of the movie:

Tags: apathy, inactivity, international politics, killing, problem, rwanda genocide, scream bloody murder