IF I shouted “DUCK” in a crowd in some public place,
it is unlikely anyone would think I was telling them
about a bird at the lake in a park.
In fact, I imagine it would create panic
in our current society with its tendency to
use violence to “settle” disagreements
or perceived grievances.

It is SO important for us to understand the words
we are using IF OUR GOAL IS to
continue building our world instead of destroying it!

Instead of exchanging insults and hate,
we need to share thoughts and opinions and
always define the words we are using
so we can communicate the message
we intend to communicate.
We ALL can benefit by growing
our knowledge of each other.

Genocide is a word that is NOT clearly defined
or understood because
we are further away from
the horrendous world war that caused it
to be created –
sadly, even to the point that some deny
it ever happened and some call it a hoax
to further their own agenda.

However, there are many written accounts by
survivors of that genocide and pictures taken
at the time by those who ended the conflict and
discovered the emaciated survivors and
confirmed the death camps directed at
certain groups of people existed – it happened!

SO what do I mean by “genocide”?

Genocide is the intentional and systematic destruction,
in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious
group. The term was coined in 1944 by Polish-Jewish lawyer
Raphael Lemkin, and established as an international crime
by the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

DEFINING Acts of Genocide
Under international law, genocide is characterized by
specific actions committed with the intent to destroy the
targeted group. These include:

• Killing: Murdering members of the group.

• Causing Harm: Inflicting serious bodily or
mental harm to members of the group.

• Inflicting Conditions: Deliberately imposing conditions
of life (e.g., starvation, forced displacement) designed
to bring about the group’s physical destruction.

• Preventing Births: Imposing measures intended to
prevent births within the group.

• Transferring Children: Forcibly transferring children
of the group to another group.

NOTE:
Lemkin lobbied for genocide to be outlawed by international
treaty, but the Genocide Convention restricted his initially
broad definition to five specific acts “committed with intent
to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial,
or religious group, as such.” Its definition remains contested
by scholars and institutions across international law, history,
sociology, and related fields.

It is unfortunate that major countries have consistently
refused to support or enforce the international crime
rulings because they fear they will be held accountable
for the times of genocide in their countries – that includes
the United States of America.
———-

It breaks my heart on a daily basis to see TODAY the
targeted groups of people being abused – one does not
have to look far to see GENOCIDE being “justified” by
those standing to gain wealth and power by getting rid
of those they claim are “bad” as we watch young children
and women and old people beaten or forced from their
homes to be sent to a place where they will be under
constant threat of death or worse . . .
AND,
just like in the time of Bonhoeffer and the Confessing
Church,
clergy who stand against the genocide and try to protect
the marginalized and voiceless are beaten, pepper sprayed, and arrested!

May our eyes be opened and our hearts be
softened to the cries of all who suffer
as we resist the message that
we must destroy any not like us to
protect our _________ (*fill in the blank)
* each “agenda” has a difterent word used
to stir up fear

Sages of every age have disputed the message
of hate, selfishness, and arrogance being “sold” today
and
we must reject its alluring temptation to
gain power by belonging to the “right” group,
if our world is to survive!

Words matter –
they can
build or tear down,
bring healing or destruction,
shine light or deepen darkness,
expand understanding or close hearts/minds –

Genocide is NOT Just a Word
to those victims of its lies –
we need to know what it means!
to every man, woman, and child
in a world pursuing power and wealth.

HOPE lies in the re-lighting of the
spark of Truth within,
in the hearts/minds of all humanity,
to speak the Wisdom of the ages . . .

TREAT OTHERS THE WAY I WANT TO BE TREATED
simple, not easy!