DARFUR: Is "taking out" Bashir an acceptable option?

JyMcGinley@cs.com wrote:

Is "taking out" Bashir an acceptable option?

A Conversation between Rosemary and Jay

A prefatory comment by Jay: If we wind up taking Bashir out, as opposed to politically arm-twisting him into acquiescence through sanctions, criminal proceedings and show of military force; it will be a testament to the failure of will on the part of we-the-citiziens. We will have failed to stand up and mandate our governments worldwide to force this coward and bully into accepting what needs to be done.

R: I'm just curious. If the only way to save, truly save, the Darfurian people were to remove Bashir, would you be for or against that?

Gandhi was profoundly and absolutely for what I call antiviolence (think matter-antimatter), Heroic Unconditional Love in massive pure doses at any personal price including the ultimate price. However, he also told us that if an innocent is being brutalized and the only way to stop it is to even to kill the hooligan, that is what should be done. I agree with Gandhi.

R: You do know he would not leave willingly, don't you? That was a stupid question. Of course you do! lol.

Bashir's downside is being forced out of office by factions in his country, being "taken out" by the US, or even assassinated. His downside is losing his political, and even his physical, life and he knows it. Yes, he will not go willingly until he sees that it is a choice between his life and his leaving.

However, one article rightly and shockingly asserted that in the last several weeks he has pulled off a political coup, overthrowing the will of the US and Britain with impunity. He has done so and is feeling enormously cocky.

R: I am just so worried that no one will ever do anything to him so he will keep doing what he is doing.

It will take an absolute miracle to stop him. All indications are that we lack the will in any corner or segment of the world to stand up for these people. We have kilotons of lip service to apply but just a few ounces of life service, commitment and real sacrifice. Jesus’ life was dedicated to working miracles. "Love as I have Loved," He told us. I guess that means we are to try to be used to try and work that miracle.

R: How much slavery must they endure? No, that is not the question. How much slavery are we willing to sit back and allow? Yes, that is the question. I did not accept it as a child, a teenager or as an adult. It is wrong. It is evil. It cannot stand.

Jesus would not have stood for slavery, brutalization, nor Genocide. Why? Because their body is His Body. We are supposed to learn to experience others the same way, and act the same as Jesus would. Or Gandhi, Dr. King, Rachel Corrie, Steven Beko. Personally, I am now convinced that only "dead" people, dead in the soul, can live normal lives in the face of Genocide, with the exception being folks that already are Heroically standing against some other horrible evil. Jesus saw that we were such dead men walking and tried to raise us from the dead. You, sister, would be viewed by Him as a success - alive.

R: Anyway, I was just curious. I will let you know where I stand. If he does not allow the UN peacemakers into his country? I am for removing him by force. See, sometimes we have to realize that if we do not act, people WILL die.

For me, one of the most wonderful, inspiring humans of the last 100 years is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. PBS did a documentary that is miraculously inspiring. Some breathtaking, must read quotes are at: How does an outsider live in the face of... , easily one of my most important posts ever. Bonhoeffer was a fair haired Lutheran Theologian and minister. He died being executed for his attempt to assonate Hitler.

R: Is it not more noble to die fighting for the freedom of your fellow brother's freedom?

Gandhi said - absolutely - and I agree. Jesus said so and did so. To do less is to be dead men, walking.

R: Or is it more noble to allow your brother to die a horrible murder, because it is against what one believes? That is what I do not understand.

The most important insight in my life happened several months ago as I was sitting on this Vigil in front of the White House: DARFUR: THERE IS ONLY ONE SUCCESS POSSIBLE. "Do unto others ALL that you would have them do unto you" is the only possible success in life. The only failure is to fail to do this.

R: Even Martin Luther King Jr. knew that there would be violence from the status quo. But he did what was right. He gave his life so that others may be free. Not so they could separate themselves as the whites did! It is so sad to see this trend.

Jesus' way was not to avoid violence but to avoid doing it to others. Same with Gandhi, King. "Unearned suffering," was King's term. Jesus way was allowing himself to be sacrificed for the cause. This is what a healthy mother or father does. It is what a good soldier does. By God, we are to be soldiers, antiviolent - Christian soldiers, Jewish soldiers, Muslim soldiers. Or we are dead men walking.

R: I pray for everyone, even Bashir. I pray he would soften his heart towards Darfur, and
that he would truly come to know the One and Only True God! Amen!

Rosemary, almost no one can even say what you've just said, let alone practice it as you are. "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Allow ourselves to be abused or others to be abused? No. Shoot a rabid dog? Of course! Hate the dog? Only at the cost of our soul and the cost of our world. You dear sister make me weep with hope.

I am very honored and humbled you believe so. *blush*