Remembering Rwanda as We Consider Our Future
by Jim Kenaston
As Rwanda pauses to mourn the genocide that began 30 years ago this week, we might consider whether the identity politics of our day is paving the way for a similar time of tragedy among ourselves. There has been talk of another hot Civil War here in the U.S. (here, here, and here), and in anticipation of a strong reaction to whatever our election results bring later this year.
There are deep divisions within our population, much of which has been fueled by identity politics. This was the case leading into the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Like the identity politics of their time, radicals of our day seek to exacerbate ethnic divisions, pursuing retribution for perceived past wrongs, and in hopes of securing political power and control.
Our modern day revolutionaries hold to a materialistic worldview where no transcendent God stands above the State as a righteous judge. Whoever is in power is right, and the end (of securing power and control) justifies any means. This worldview, notably embraced by Marxists, led to the slaughter of untold millions throughout the 20th century. It's an ideology whose "justice" is based upon envy and revenge.
These motivations and the pursuit of power were at the root of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Germany's Third Reich of the 1930s and 1940s, the Chinese Revolution of 1949, and countless revolutionary efforts through the second half of the 20th century. By 1994, we in the West imagined ourselves enlightened and beyond such moral setbacks. With the United Nations serving as the world's conscience and arm of peace enforcement, we thought such times of atrocity were behind us. Rwanda proved us wrong.
So here we are, anticipating further turmoil within our own country. A Marxist ideology has infiltrated our institutions and continues to foment envy-based divisions among us, often along ethnic lines. What can we learn from the experience of Rwanda?
In Rwanda today, it is illegal to discuss ethnicity. As we consider that reality, perhaps we'll want to avoid replicating the circumstances that led to such an environment. Yet here in the United States, identity in our claim to victimhood is all we seem able to focus on.
If we're to avoid continuing down the road Rwandans once took to its logical conclusion, the Bible offers a viable alternative, that of finding our identity in Christ as forgiven sinners. In doing so, rather than animate our envy with unappeasable anger, we can choose to live lives of gratitude for what God has done for us in Christ, seeking reconciliation with those who have hurt us, extending forgiveness as we have been forgiven. In Christ, we can live redeemed lives while investing toward a more fully redeemed future.
For an example of this, we can look to the people of Rwanda, where in the spirit of the Apostle Paul, there is neither Hutu nor Tutsi. Likewise for us, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28) If we are to avoid the tragic consequences that have followed the Marxist-inspired revolutions of the past, we would be wise to adopt this same perspective.
Hopefully many within our culture will repent of our envy-driven ideologies in favor of this Christ-centered perspective. If not, we can expect a similar outcome to what we've seen in the past.
But if worse comes to worst, as was the case in Rwanda, God always retains unto Himself a remnant of faithfulness upon which He rebuilds society. One of many such accounts was provided by Immaculee Ilibagiza through her 2007 book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.
Such accounts can follow our current tensions as they play themselves out, or they can point us toward collectively repenting of the Godless path we've been on. Should we repent, we can begin to find our identity in Christ rather than in our grievances. This is our only redemptive and healing path forward.
[Here is a version of this article as it appeared in The Stream.]
