Standing by instead of standing with...
Tonight I watched Hotel Rwanda with a friend. A really powerful film, pretty heavy-going and traumatic, but a film I think everyone in the West should watch. How could we stand by and let this happen? How could we watch this on the news on our TV screens and then go back to our dinner? In 1994 when the Rwandan genocide happened I was sitting my A-levels (yeah, I’m that old I admit) and to be honest I can’t remember much about it. I remember that it happened but I don’t remember being overly aware of it as it was happening. That’s pretty shocking really. But then there are so many atrocities and injustices happening all over the world and on our doorsteps all the time. My lack of compassion and my selfishness frustrate and disgust me. Too often I just shake my head, maybe utter a prayer, then go back to my own worries/problems and carry on with my own life…"Evil is not perpetuated by bad people doing bad things, but rather by good people doing nothing." – Dan Haseltine