05.31.07
Sudan
A Step Forward in Sudan
Christian Efforts Bear Fruit
At last, the U.S. government has taken strong and decisive steps toward ending the massacre of Muslims in the Darfur region of Sudan. Economic sanctions announced Tuesday by President Bush will cut off the flow of cash to Sudanese government officials and rebel leaders who are persecuting the Sudanese people and hampering humanitarian efforts to aid the victims. Along with these sanctions, the President promised to work for a U.N. resolution that would bring more nations into the effort, and for tougher enforcement mechanisms to make sure the sanctions work.
Enlarge this Image Many Christian groups are celebrating this move from the administration. “We’re very, very appreciative [of] the President,” Faith McDonnell of the Institute for Religion and Democracy told us. “He’s the only world leader actually doing anything strong and committed [in this situation].”
I can second that. This President has delivered on every single human rights initiative we’ve taken to him in his six years in office.
It ought to be noted that the U.S. gave the Sudanese government every chance. In a conference call Tuesday, administration officials told us that the U.S. and the U.N. have delayed sanctions again and again to give the Sudanese government time to act, to halt the military operations and reign in the murderous Janjaweed militias. Time ran out. The U. S. will not stand by while they perpetrate genocide.
Ironically, these sanctions against Sudan, inspired by Christian activism, are coming at a time when Christians are facing a renewed wave of criticism and scorn. Christopher Hitchens, the latest of many atheists to publish a book railing against religious beliefs, complains bitterly that “religion poisons everything” and “religion kills.”
These diatribes by Hitchens and