August 12,    2020

GENOCIDE OR MASS  MURDERS:

ONE OF MY 5 QUESTIONS FOR GOD

The title of my thoughts for this Wednesday in the 19^th Week in Ordinary Time is: “Genocide Or Mass Murders: One of My 5 Questions for God.”

Every once and a while I hear someone say, “This is one of my questions I have for God after I die.”

I have that thought at times.  How about you. I also have  the question: “Does everyone have a list of questions they want to ask God when they die?”

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading – Ezechiel 9: 1 to 7 – then 10: 18-22 - has the story of people being marked with an X. That’s the last letter in the Hebrew alphabeth – called a Tau or Thau.

Here in Ezechiel those who are to be saved are to be marked on the forehead with an X.

The rest are to be slaughtered.  Well, those are the ones I'm thinking and asking about this morning.

GENOCIDE

As soon as I hear about these Biblical wipeouts I find myself  thinking about all the people who have been slaughtered down through the centuries.

My guess is that the numbers slaughtered in the Bible are nothing in comparison to the killings in the last century.

In the two big wars – World War I and II - millions died.

Last night I decided to finally jot down my list of genocides in the 20^th century.   I don’t know how one brings a list to the other side of their own death. And how to make up my list is tricky. I find the numbers numbered rather differently.

What I want to talk to God about is Mao Zedong. From 1949 to 1976, he is responsible for the deaths of 40 to 80 million people.

Stalin has high numbers as well: 20 million plus.

Hitler had 6 million Jews killed – plus a lot more people killed.

I saw the movie – The Killing Fields [1984]. It talked about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge – who killed some 1.5 million people between 1975-1979 in Cambodia.

In 1994 – in Rwanda some 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days. Hutus killed the minority Tutsi people and others.  I read Immaculee Ilibagiza’s book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwanda Holocaust.  It made me wonder about whether the degree to which Christianity and Catholicism had an impact on stopping such murder sprees.

God what about all this? I’m serious about this. I’ve heard people say: “Well, what about all the abortions?”

Yes – down through the ages – millions and millions and millions and millions and millions of babies have been aborted.  And millions and millions and millions of babies have died still born.

I want to ask God about them too. To me they are also part of my belief that there is an afterlife – and that means a lot of healing needs to take place – but in this homily I’m choosing to ask  about the lives of those folks who have been murdered, killed, atrocitified – cut short after living some life? 

I’m 80 and have been blessed with lots of life – and have been in sweet situations.  What about those killed in genocides?

Down in Guatemala 45,000 to 60,000 were killed in the so called silent holocaust – 1980-85.  Then there other numbers – like 166,000 Mayans killed. I read that that tribal people were described as subhumans. Did that make it easier to kill them?

In Kurdistan - between 1986-1989 - some 50,000 to 182,000 Kurds were killed plus Assyians.

That’s some of the history of the world, God. What about all these people?  Will their voices ever be heard – like in eternity?

So once more, people make a big scream about aborted babies in the millions and millions and millions – but I don't hear them asking, "What about the voice and vote of all these wiped out - having lived some of  their existence – and then their story was cut short - because  of race and religion and look - or what have you?"

God what about them?

LAST NIGHT IN LOOKING ALL THIS UP

Last night in looking this up, I read about something I never heard of before.

Mao Zedong in China decided to kill all the sparrows. It’s estimated that 800,000 sparrows were killed.  People would bang pots and pans and tire the birds out and then kill them on the ground. He held that they were eating all the grain and people were starving.  Yes, the birds ate grain – yes people were starving. What Mao Zedong learned was that the sparrows also ate bugs – like locusts. No sparrows, the locusts multiplied and  killed a lot more of the wheat crop. As a result some 16 million people starved to death.

I know Jesus told us to look at the birds of the air.  I know Jesus said in Luke 12: 22: “Think of the ravens.  They do not sow or reap;  they have no storehouses and no barns;  yet God feeds them.  And how much more are you worth than the birds.”

CONCLUSION

So God when I die I want to ask you about all these birds – but most especially I want to ask you about all these people who were killed - too, too soon. You want us to be aware of the birds and the people, why didn’t you do something about them?

I know you had a horrible death on the cross – so too millions and millions and millions and millions of people.

God, one of my 5 questions is about  genocide. Prepare your homework, I'm coming one of these days.  And don't hand me a copy of the book of Job. Read it. I've also read, When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Kushner.  I also know a bit about Free Will and Prayer.  So that's one of my 5 questions. Be prepared.