Keynote Address for the South Florida Interfaith Rally for the Darfur Crisis (2005)
"THE LESSON OF DARFUR"
Robert P. Watson
I am humbled to be here today in honor of this most important and most tragic crisis.
Before I begin my remarks, let me draw attention to two items: One, it is refreshing and reassuring to see so many young individuals in the audience from so many faiths and so many area schools. My outrage over the events in Darfur is mitigated somewhat by your presence, a presence that should rightly give all of us a glimmer of hope in the face of an otherwise grave and bleak crisis. Two, I extend my congratulations to and appreciation for the organizers of today's rally. We should all find real as well as symbolic meaning in this gathering of preachers, priests, rabbis, and other religious leaders… and laymen and laywomen.
Now, let me get right to the point: The United Nations has recently deemed Darfur one of the worst humanitarian crises in history.
Perhaps because I am an educator or perhaps because I find it impossible to square in my conscience the reality of what has happened in Sudan, but I absolutely must find some lesson in this tragedy. And, my friends, there are many lessons of Darfur… all of them profound. But, by definition of you being here today I suspect you already know a lot about the Darfur crisis, I wish today to draw your attention to ONE lesson in particular.
It is not the lesson, per se, of an African nation whose western region used to be a fertile and peaceful place to live.
The lesson I wish to discuss is not the lesson of the bitter consequences of forced colonialism.
No, it is not the lesson of the consequences when most of the world largely ignores two long, bloody civil wars.
Nor is it the lesson of the age-old problems of misunderstanding and violence in the name of religion, or on account of miniscule ethnic differences.
It is not the lesson – barely covered by the American press – of the detrimental effects on the wildlife and already-fragile ecosystem of the region.
Nor is it the lesson of groups of farmers and herders forced into confrontation by scarce resources, hunger, drought, and governmental mismanagement.
It is not the lesson of corrupt government leaders in the Sudan who have turned a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing in their own country, and who have been documented arming the militias that wreak havoc and terror on the region.
It is not even the lesson of the few million people whose lives have been adversely impacted, displaced, and destroyed by war… or the hundreds of thousands of people – including children – who have died as a result of the violence, some at the hands of murderous vigilantes, most because of disease and starvation – both easily preventable.
It is, however, the lesson of the relative inactivity of the American people and, especially, by the United States government under the "leadership" of President George W. Bush. The lesson of Darfur, my friends, is also about us.
I humbly believe that a people and government can be judged by the compassion they show toward those in need. Now, consider for a moment the Bush record. The utter absence of leadership on the Darfur crisis is not an aberration, it is not an exception; it is merely but a horribly tragic extension of their larger agenda. An agenda that includes, at best, an abandonment of, or, at worst, outright hostility to international human rights, respect for international law, international family planning, nuclear non-proliferation, incontrovertible scientific evidence on global environmental degradation, and the list goes on and on… and on.
The response to Darfur by the Bush Administration has been utterly insufficient, inhumane, and incompetent. I would remind the President and his ilk that, if they are truly interested in promoting their so-called "compassionate conservativism," then no more photo ops, no more ingenuous sound bites about morality, and no more empty promises on Darfur. Rather, let us see some action. Some leadership.
I do not wish to be so blatantly critical, but I believe it is that important. People are dying. Lots of them. Children. Everyday. Thus, because Darfur is, foremost, a moral crisis and because I can scarcely stomach the moral hypocrisy I see in Washington, I must say the following: Just because the President thumps his chest and claims to have values and morals does not make it so. Under any belief system, or by any philosophical or religious perspective, one cannot, for instance, simultaneously: (1) proclaim to be "pro-life" yet be more passionate about the death penalty than about providing affordable, accessible healthcare to our citizens; (2) be more passionate about legalizing the sale of 19 forms of assault weapons than about vaccinating our children during flu season; or be more passionate about capital gains tax cuts for the rich than about providing prenatal care, early childhood nutrition, or the Head Start program!
Under any belief system, or by any philosophical or religious perspective, one cannot proclaim to embrace of "culture of life" while war-mongering in Iraq and turning a deaf ear to genocide in Darfur!
The utter hypocrisy of the Bush Administration's claim of self-righteousness with the reality of their record in Darfur is mind-boggling. It again reminds me that one of the stark lessons of Darfur is, tragically, about ourselves or, at least, our leaders.
I do not remotely proclaim to know the mind of God or to be an authority on the teachings of Christianity or Judaism, but to my mind – and I feel it in my soul – one simply cannot claim to be doing the work of God if one abandons the human suffering in Darfur.
I say the following with all due respect, as I am now speaking in this house of God and am an invited guest in this place of holy worship… but, over the past few days I have seen cars with the bumper sticker "WWJD" – which stands for "What Would Jesus Do?"
Well, this question now strikes me as appropriate. Indeed, what would Jesus do?
I do not know, but I have a sense. And, it seems to me, given the fact that our leaders – as well as some of the leaders behind the terror in Darfur, and against Israel and in Iraq for that matter – perpetrate their actions with the bold claim that they stand with the Almighty, that it might be worth our while to truly consider this bumper sticker's question. And I suspect the answer is prayer, but also action and leadership!
If ever there was a cause in which to rally, it is genocide, and, by any definitional standard, this is it. Let us finally heed the lessons of the Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia, and elsewhere.
After all, we have the means to address the problems in Darfur , both in the short term and in the long term, from international peace-keeping, to medical relief, to development aid, to disease mitigation, to family planning, to involving the International Criminal Court. But, that is not the question. The question is whether we have the will and compassion?
I would also question whether the United States now has the leadership to act, both in terms of base competence and international credibility. Our trigger-happy militarism, ham-fisted treatment of our allies, and unilateral bullying of sovereign states has caught up with us. The U.S. – for the first time in at least a century – is now in the sad position of not being able to have a forward-leaning foreign policy.
Imagine, for a moment, if the hundreds of billions of dollars we have sunk into what was, in my opinion, one of the biggest boondoggles in U.S. history, and what has become, in my opinion, an un-winnable war - I speak of Iraq - had been invested in international development aid, child vaccinations, sustainable energy sources, education, nutrition, or, say, relief in Darfur?
In closing, today, countless people are gathering around the country and around the world in support of Darfur , in what might be one of the largest anti-genocide rallies in world history. In honor of this momentous occasion, I ask three things:
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Man's inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad, it is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good."
Nelson Mandela cautioned, "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."
And, Archbishop and Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu, advised, "Let us be peacemakers… if we want peace, so we have been told, let us work for justice. Let us beat our swords into ploughshares."
As to my opening point about a people and a president being judged by the compassion they show for those in need, and my theme of Darfur's lesson also being about us, I leave you with a final thought: If we fail to act now, what will our children and future generations say about us?
Thank you. Now let us get down to the business of making a difference.
