My previous post, regarding Justice Sunday 2 in Nashville, discussed how some Christians are being polarized by Washington political finesse. Instead of focusing on overtly Christian issues, they are being told that a few stigmatic issues are what God would have them fight for. As Justin noted and I agreed, some of the social ills that Christians want to remedy would be better left to the church, but some of these have resulted from failures by the church. However, there is a good chance this won’t be the case with Darfur’s genocide.

As the Washington Post noted last week, several faith based groups are at the forefront of stopping the horrors of the genocide in Sudan’s western region. A link to David Rubenstein’s (president of the Save Darfur Coalition) praise of faith based groups can be found here. Another Post editorial can be found here.

While Darfur is not the only issue Christians can and must confront, it is a great step for many congregations. I personally know of several churches and other religious organizations whose faith propels them to step in, raise awareness, and save lives. It will be greatly uplifting and incredibly honorable if it could be said that the reason genocide came to a halt in Darfur was because Christians stepped in and made a difference. It will also be greatly embarrassing and humiliating to therefore also say that the United States, with its nearly unlimited resources of military and money, did very little. Nonetheless, the goal is the end of the brutal killing and not finding someone to praise when that happens.

I continue to urge my fellow Christians and others of peaceable faiths to first educate themselves as to the atrocities occurring half a world away. Tragically, most pulpits and lecterns, like the American evening news, will not be the source of information on Darfur. But, once you know what must be done, good people of faith, your beliefs can do nothing but cause you to act. To not do so would be anathema.