The genocide (in Rwanda) was a collective act. What made it possible, what made that final political crime possible, was the absence, the erasure, of seeing the other. Of knowing, of feeling, of being with the other. And when that's removed, then politics_x000D_ can become genocidal.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the dangers of dehumanization and the consequences of failing to recognize and empathize with others.
James Orbinski's quote reflects on the Rwanda genocide, highlighting how collective atrocities can occur when individuals fail to acknowledge and empathize with one another. The absence of understanding and compassion allows for the escalation of political violence into acts of genocide, underscoring the critical importance of seeing and being aware of the humanity in others to prevent such horrors.
In practice
In a speech about human rights, this quote can illustrate the importance of empathy in preventing atrocities.
The statesman who should attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals would not only load himself with most unnecessary attention but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of man who have folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.
For, after all, if it is from Christ that we are to learn how God relates himself to sin, suffering, evil, and death, it would seem that he provides us little evidence of anything other than a regal, relentless, and miraculous enmity; sin he forgives, suffering he heals, evil he casts out, and death he conquers. And absolutely nowhere does Christ act as if any of these things are part of the eternal work or purposes of God.
As the gospels present it to us, the mission of Jesus of Nazareth is about the way in which the community of God's people - historically, the Jewish people who had first received the law and the covenant - is being re-created in relation to Jesus himself.
So long as you are ready to die for humanity, the life of your country is immortal.
In lazy apathy let stoics boast, their virtue fixed, 'tis fixed as in a frost.
This is a country that was founded on racism. It was built on racism. It still continues to thrive through wealth disparity, and housing disparity is all built on the backs of racism.
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