[Previous entry: "Send in the clown"] [Next entry: "Sauce for the goose..."]
04/19/2004: "Let's get real"
Suggesting the World Council of Churches get real about anything is probably a forlorn hope, but this is an instance when they need to stop beating themselves up over nothing. This is from a WCC press release in which the International Affairs director wrings his hands over the 1994 genocide in Rwanda:
"A lot of efforts were made after the tragedy, but we did not do enough in time," said Peter Weiderud about the role of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the ecumenical movement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Weiderud, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International affairs (CCIA), was addressing a 16-18 April 2004 ecumenical workshop on "Lasting peace in Africa" that gathered participants from all over Africa in the Rwandan capital Kigali.
Attempting a realistic assessment of the WCC's role as well as that of the local churches, he said that "although it is clear that the WCC could have done more before and during the Rwandan genocide, that does not mean that such actions could have prevented the genocide."
Peter, stop the self-flaggellation. There was nothing the WCC could have done to stop or even mitigate the Rwandan genocide. I know you have this almost superstitious belief in the power of words, but all the harsh language in the world was not going to get the Hutus to stop, at least not without a credible threat of force to back it up. Last time I checked, the WCC didn't have any divisions. Bill Clinton, John Major, Francois Mitterand–people like that could have stopped the mass murder. Heck, even UN Sec-Gen Boutros Boutros-Ghali might have been able to stop it if he'd cared. But Geneva, no. Time to get over your extraordinarily exaggerated view of your influence in the world, Pete. Face it–no one really cares what the WCC thinks about much of anything.
