Justice?
As I continue to enjoy the "divine"city of Cape Town I am keeping my eye on what is going on in W. Africa.From 2001-2004 the Anastasis worked in Sierra Leone. Like Liberia, this was a nation that endured a brutal civil war at the hands of rebels who chopped people's hands and legs off just for fun. Now that the war is over much of the focus has been on integrating the soldiers back into society through vocational training and cash for disarming.
I do see the need for re-integrating the soldiers but, as I saw in Liberia, sometimes the victims are ignored or don't seem to be getting anywhere near the same benefits as the ones that mutilated them. The BBC addresses this issue in this article.
"Since the war's end in 2002, the amputees said ex-fighters have received training and cash for disarming.
But the many people mutilated by both sides in 10-year war have to make their living by begging, they said. "
"Sahr Momodu, whose left leg was chopped by rebel forces in 1994, said he felt cheated as those who mutilated him have been compensated for disarming."
I'm not sure what the answer is but I do know it was difficult to talk with people in Liberia who were victims of the war and are barley getting by day to day. And those that victimized them were being paid to get training.
posted by Jenni @ 8:57 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
The easy answer is to meet the spiritual and physical needs of the victims.
Is there a way to actually access what they need to live? Above all how can they become independent and support themselves?
How can the victims and rebels all live together in Peace?
Here clearly there is a role for justice and forgiveness. Unfortunately it is very hard to balance the two. So we are left with the option to decide which one we will favor to live peacefully.
The words of Mahatma Gandhi always rings in my ears,"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
I understand that meeting physical needs is essential.
But my heart breaks for those with emotional wounds which are still gaping. I think of the women from one of our churches there who were tied to a tree and forced to watch as rebels put their children into a hut and burned them alive.
I think about the women and girls who were repeatedly and systematically raped.
Oh God.
So many need to be loved on, need to be prayed over...
Lord... mercy, please.
Mani-Thanks for your comments. I agree with you, that forgiveness is the best way forward and I have seen a lot of that in Sierra Leone. The problem is what is available to the former rebels is not available to the victims. Through vocational training they can all become independent. Like I said in the post, I am not against what is being done for the former rebels, I just don't see the justice in not making it available to the vicitms that are out begging for their next meal.
Erin, You are right, the emotional needs of the victims as well as the ex-soldiers is overwhelming- but God!
To those Christians brothers and sisters who are under intense persecution, I have found the following verses as useful for meditation
Christs Humility and Exaltation
Philipians 2:5-11
5Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7He made himself nothing;[a] he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.[b] 8And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross. 9Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
To give forgiveness one must first also realise the need to ask for forgiveness from Christ
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