What do the people do when the educated or well off are put to death, when the political leaders, the doctors, the lawyers, the teachers, businesspeople, monks, anyone who resists, and basically anyone who is suspect, is killed?
During the time of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, even soldiers in Pol Pot’s own regime were killed, and these killings were justified like so many others, on suspect of treason and connections with the enemy.
There is a short history of conflict in Southeast Asia at the bottom of this blog. This brief history tells of the events leading up to the Khmer Rouge revolution. I cannot accurately tell the story of the suffering of the Cambodian people during the Khmer Rouge regime and its aftermath. It is an immense and weighty thing. Suffice it to say that many men, women, and children were put through starvation and suffering and were murdered, human rights were forsaken, and many families were torn apart.
We have such an incredible capacity to cause suffering to ourselves and to each other. Human history is filled with much war, oppression, and death. We can and choose to inflict pain on one another an awful lot. Whether it is the smallest slight, said with just a hint of bitterness or malice, or it is an act of outright violence. Either one causes hurt, and both are painful. We have such a great capacity for causing pain, but our capacity for healing, forgiveness, and mercy is dreadfully lacking in comparison. We tend to hold grudges, not forgive till someone else does, never admit we are wrong, and feel we’d rather die before we give in, which some do.
What else can be said about all of this? There must be another way to live, a way to bring life and healing and reconciliation instead of death, destruction, and division. Can’t we change? Can’t we do something to improve our own situation? The truth is we cannot. Greed and pride are so ingrained in us, that we cannot simply will ourselves to be good. We are too often driven by greed and an ill conceived idea that we are better than others (ex: Khmer Rouge, Nazi Germany, North American slave trade, Darfur, and the list goes on…) to see the real solution.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus Christ was God, became a man, lived a life of love and true innocence, was killed, and was raised from the dead by God. We cannot have relationship with God because we are sinful and it is ingrained in our being. God cannot be with sin, but Jesus’ death and resurrection have cleansed us from our sin and has allowed us to be with God and live a changed life, where we are able to love, to forgive each other and accept forgiveness, and to be reconciled to one another because we have been reconciled to God.
I’m not saying that Christians are perfect and always make the right choices, that is obviously not the case, just look at my life if you need an example! What I’m saying is that Jesus offers us a chance to lay ourselves down, and accept his love that is bigger than all our mistakes, all our most dire situations and circumstances, and speaks to our hearts. I think that this love can change us, make us want to desire different things that will change the way we treat ourselves, and one another.
I fear this will be too long and I’ll lose people’s attention, so I’ll try to wrap up what I’m thinking now. I see a lot of corruption, greed, and pride in our world. I see it manifesting itself different ways, the most horrifying being mass killings and genocide. I believe that Jesus offers us a different way of living, where, as we admit that we are not enough without his love and forgiveness and are broken, he will lift us up and change our hearts, replacing our sinful desires bit by bit, if we let him, with his desires, a love for him, and a love for others.
http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/uniq_rev.htm – A site with a history of the Khmer Rouge revolution.
A brief chronology of conflict in Southeast Asia, taken from Jon Swain’s book River of Time:
“1954
Defeat at Dien Bien Phu marks the end of France’s Indo-China empire. Vietnam is divided by the Geneva Accords into communist North Vietnam, under Ho Chi Minh, and western-backed South Vietnam.
1965
United States pours in ground troops to defend South Vietnam, crumbling under a communist insurgency supported by North Vietnam.
1968
Communists launch Tet offensive in which they attack more than 100 towns and cities across South Vietnam. By now, there are more than 530,000 American troops in South Vietnam, American planes are bombing North Vietnam, and the Americans are engaged in a secret war in Laos against the communist Pathet Lao and the North Vietnamese army. Only Cambodia, under Prince Norodom Sihanouk, has avoided the bitter wars that have torn through Vietnam and Laos. For the US, Tet is the political turning point of the Vietnam war when the Americans realize they will never win and begin the process of withdrawal.
1970
In Cambodia, Sihanouk is deposed by his right-wing Defense Minister, General Lon Nol. Following the coup, the Vietnam war spills over into Cambodia. The US arms Lon Nol, while the Cambodian communists, the Khmer Rouge, are backed by communist North Vietnam and China, growing into a cruel, disciplined force.
1973
Paris Peace Accords are signed giving the US the diplomatic means of withdrawing the last American forces from South Vietnam and having its prisoners returned. The war goes on.
1975
Khmer Rouge tightens siege of Phnom Penh and on 12 April US marine helicopters evacuate US embassy and other foreigners from the beleaguered capital. Five days later Khmer Rouge forces capture Phnom Penh.
Deprived since the 1973 Peace Accords of US bombing and logistical support South Vietnamese forces also shed ground, and on 30 April they are defeated and communist troops finally capture Saigon.
1975-1979
Cambodia is convulsed by the Khmer Rouge revolution. Massive exodus of Boat People from the two halves of Vietnam, united under communist rule. Laos, too, becomes a communist state.”
