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Barbed wires

It seems every sign of encouragement here in Burundi has a 'but' attached.

One of the things I have noticed during this trip, which has taken me to some parts of the society that I hadn't experienced before, is that there is at least a part of the society which is making enough money to begin to build some rather nice homes.

These would be nice homes even by Western standards, thanks to low constructions costs and the wonderful climate, which means you can easily have a beautiful tropical garden with your home. Multiple story homes, with huge tropical plants and trees. Luscious lawns and beautiful landscapes are commonplace in a few parts of the city.

But even in these havens, there are cold, harsh reminders of the buts. 

"The barbed wire and other sharp objects we put on the tops of the walls around our homes haven't always been there," a Burundian man explained to me. (picutred here is a new home being built with stick scaffolding and already surrounded by a wall and topped with barbed wire)

"That came with the war." 

He was speaking of the armed conflict that tore the country apart between 1993 and 2005, a continuation of years of conflict based largely on ethnic tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi, but manipulated by political leaders seeking power.

The conflict sent neighbors into rival factions, attacking one another and fleeing from one part of town to another as they began to distrust their neighbors. Neighborhoods that once had been mixed became havens for one ethic group or the other.

And a way of life changed, perhaps forever, Emmanuel told me.

Walls were not a part of Burundi culture traditionally, he said. It used to be you shared your yard with your neighbors. There was perhaps a hedge or something to mark your land. But it was open. You could see each other and talk to one another."

"But with the war, not only did we get the walls, but the walls are now the first thing you build. That is what you build even before you start building the home."

A feature of the war was a sort of ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods and villages. So, one always feared that their neighbors or groups from the opposing ethnic group might come and chase them from their homes at best, or slaughter them at worst.

Thousands of people lost their homes and the courts are still sorting through property disputes from before the conflict. In a country where a man's home is his status, this is huge. 

So, the construction reflex is now defense first.

"I don't think people are even thinking anymore when they build the walls," Emmanuel said. "It's not that they are afraid about another war or that they are thinking about it. It's just what you do now.

"I don't think that will change for a long, long time," he said. 

He conceded that not too far down in everyone's psyche, however, is the knowledge that the peace they have known for three years now, the peace that is allowing them to build and enjoy life again, that that peace is a fragile one.

Those barbed wires are certainly prickly reminders of that reality.

Burundi's pure anti-socialist health-care plan

Speaking of health care, the subject came up as Olivier took me around the city yesterday.

Burundi's health care plan is perhaps one that pure capitalists would dream of. No government run program here. Everyone pulls his or her own weight.

"There is no insurance here," Olivier explained. "There's no public insurance, and no private insurance.

"When you get sick, you pay what it costs. If you can't pay for medicine, then you don't get the medicine.

"If you go to the hospital, they will treat you, but if you can't pay when they have finished, you can't leave. You have people who are still in the hospital months after they are healthy," he explained, noting that the hospital for these debtors becomes like a prison until they can pay.

Don't worry, you soft liberals, there is mercy in the culture if not in the system.

"When people truly are unable to pay, someone eventually intervenes," Olivier said. "Either family or church will come up with the money eventually.

"Sometimes the president de la Republique will personally intervene on someone's behalf."

Oh no! They just ruined a perfectly good health-care plan with government meddling! If we get rid of that part perhaps we will have the perfect counter proposal to Obamacare!

Obviously, I am being sarcastic, we have already talked about some of my thoughts on the health-care issue, but I would think that America as a nation with considerably more resources than Burundi can come up with something -- if reasonable people decide to really look for solutions -- between death panels and debtors prisons.

Hank Williams and Dolly Parton?

I noticed it yesterday, and seem to recall thinking a bit about it last time I was here. But today some new Burundian friends confirmed it for me.

The background music that plays in most coffee shops and meeting places here is not traditional Burundian music, nor is it modern African music or R&B from the States, as is the case in other African nations I know of.

Here, you are more likely to hear the smooth sounds of Kenny Rogers or Hank Williams Jr. or Dolly Parton playing.

I couldn't help but point this out to Olivier, who was showing me all around the city and introducing me to people he knows through his business ventures. He and his wife Francine had taken me to a nice beachfront area of Lake Tangianika to have a bite to eat.

And again I heard the familiar sounds of  country classics.

'You know it is funny hearing this music here because practically only white people listen to it in the States," I said. Olivier said he likes the music because it is calm and soothing.

I explained that it is not so much that Blacks in the States don't like the music, but that it is probably associated with unpleasant memories for black people collectively.

Later, Delphine, his 31-year-old neighbor who lived in France for three years before moving back to Burundi with her French husband, continued the discussion with me.

"My father had all those albums when I was growing up," she said. "It's like the old classic standards to us. We all know them." Olivier and Francine nodded their heads with smiles that suggested they had checked out to memory lane.

"We don't have the same history that you guys have with this music," she said. "For us, the memories are good ones. Perhaps for you guys you can't appreciate the music because of your history."

I had never thought of it before, but perhaps she is on to something. I know that many southern and rural blacks do like country music. At least the old stuff. But still, it was the last thing I expected to find here.

'

What does health care have to do with repentance and Burundi?

By the way, the American health-care reform debate may not seem like a subject for this blog on reconciliation. And it may seem strange for me to talk about it during my trip to Burundi.

But remember, reconciliation happens when forgiveness meets repentance. And, very little is understood about repentance, I have discovered. Not here in Burundi, not in France and not in my home country of the United States.

One aspect we hope to talk more about is the desire, when one truly repents and begins to be restored, to make things right. Even more is a desire to reject core thoughts that we hold or that have been held by our group or even our predecessors once we realize that these thoughts go against truth and justice.

Well, even in something like health-care reform we can see some of the signs of thinking that disciples may want to reconsider.

If you are in Christian circles in America you may not get a chance to hear differing thoughts on this and other debates, which can give the impression that there is only one, true Christian way to think about this.

Here are some others that you can add to your sources of reflection.

Brian McClaren writes many things I have been wanting to say in his Open Letter to US Conservative Christians. You should also check out what Jim Wallis has to say on the subject. McClaren also lists several faith-based fact-checking sites.

By the way, if you’d like to do some fact-checking about the health care debate, here are some faith-based sources that I believe can be trusted to avoid uncritical and inaccurate reporting about health care. I understand they will be offering correctives to rumors and misinformation in the months ahead.

http://blog.faithinpubliclife.org/
http://www.sojo.net
http://www.catholicsinalliance.org/

I, for one, would like to challenge all Christians to not forward ANY e-mail they receive that speaks of politics without first checking to see if the source is credible. People of faith (any faith) are easy marks for those who are looking to exploit the word-of-mouth machine.

We tend to believe what we hear automatically when it comes from someone we think is like us. Politicians, interest groups and corporations have long figured this out and some lobbying groups have come to specialize in preparing factless campaigns focused on conservative Christians. So all they need to do is get a Christian to forward their "facts" and it becomes automatically credible to the other Christians who will receive it.

Disciples need to be wise and not allow themselves, no matter what their political beliefs, to be used like this. The results can be more important than we think.

Here in Burundi, like in neighboring Rwanda, an overwhelming percentage of the population was Christian. But their faith did not lead them to repent of cultural ideas that had been handed to them through colonial rule and their own ancestors.

And when pushed to the edge, it was their beliefs in their own group superiority and need for vengeance and self-protection against the enemy that led to genocide in Rwanda and 11 years of ethnic violence in Burundi. All of this happened with churches participation at worst and silence at best.

And the result has been a young population that, while it has not turned away from the church in droves, is increasingly questioning the foundations of this faith that was not able to keep people from acting out of their worst nature.

When I watch the town-hall anger and read some of the hateful comments that I have come across on facebook and blogs (my wife was privy to some message strings on Obama and health care from some of her high school friends on Facebook recently that would make you think twice -- no, thrice -- about how far we have come on race relations in the US), I sometimes wonder what is possible in America. 

Are we so far removed from the people who took out machetes and whacked their neighbors when they felt threatened? Are we really that different? I would argue that we are not different at all. The only thing that protects us is what core beliefs we allow to govern us.

And right now, I am not sure that those core beliefs are in order.  

Back in Bujumbura

Amahoro!

After a long journey that included a canceled flight and a two-hour 'night' in a hotel in Nairobi, I have finally made it back to Bujumbura, Burundi.

Can't say much now because I am using someone's computer quickly and we have to move on, but wanted to let you know I was here and to encourage you to check in for updates during my two-week stay.

Unlike previous visits I don't have conferences or seminars planned. The goal is to meet with people to talk about the process of reconciliation in this nation traumatized by ethnic conflict and still staggering under the weight of crushing poverty.

I was encouraged to find an open person next to me on my morning flight from Nairobi today, a flight that wouldn't have taken place had an airport strike Sunday not caused my flight to be canceled.

I had a great and very candid talk with this young woman who seemed to have an excellent grasp of the principles of forgiveness. I asked her if she was a student. She smiled and told me who she was.

She is a senior advisor to the president of Burundi, in charge of protocol. I'm always amazed at the youth of the people in positions of authority and influence in this country. Anyway, who knows what will come of this latest contact.

Just one of those little winks that convinces me i'm not alone.

Since then, I was able to hook up with Claude Nikondeha, whom I have known from a distance for years since being introduced by Brian McClaren. Claude, an advocate for the poor, is behind Amahoro, an organization that seeks to develop church leaders who can break out of convention and effectively live oiut faith in ways that engage today's world.

We really click and think in many of the same ways about faith and life.

Claude introduced me to several friends, including one whose organization Help Channel is exactly the kind of homegrown effort that we are looking to learn from and walk with. I will be meeting up some more with Cassien later this week.

CHANGES

It's nice to be back here again. It is hard not to like the people here and the simple way of life. But one can feel the changes and the development that are happening here as the country slowly emerges and begins to taste the fruit of the peace it has maintained now for several years after 11 years of bloody conflict.

Not all of the changes are positive, though. One can sense the desire for the Western lifestyle that is so attractive and yet so destructive ultimately to the long-term development of countries like this.

When people are not used to hoping in their future, seeking rewards now becomes the sole driving force. Though many fiscal conservatives think that greed motivation is a good thing, it actually leads people to actions that will ultimately ruin true, healthy development in this society.

More on that later, but people like Claude are seeing the results of this short-term motivation and how it threatens the solid development efforts that people here have put in place for themselves.

More soon

Todd  

Testing

When I was in Burundi last time this worked for posting to the blog. Does it still?

Abortion: When accusers repent

I recently had the privilege of speaking to a group of international students about the beliefs and convictions of Martin Luther King Jr. 

It was mostly a young group, familiar with the grand ideas of Dr. King, but largely ignorant of the context that produced him, or the historical importance of his message.

After the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller and the stirring of emotions it produced, I thought the same message might be useful for those who feel passionately about abortion.

LESSON FROM HISTORY

After showing the international students photos of lynchings and sharing examples of injustices that Black people faced in the  United States systematically over decades leading up to the Civil Rights movement, I helped them understand that many in America were on the verge of taking up arms.

Many believed that it was justifiable and necessary to begin "defending their rights" by physically fighting back. That's why the non-violent message of Dr. King was so crucial to the progress we have seen in America today. One need only look at Israel and Palestine today to imagine what could have happened in the States had enough Blacks started killing Whites in the name of justice.

King had understood and was successful in teaching his followers a key Biblical idea that I think is crucial for those who feel passionately about protecting the unborn.

THE MONSTER IN THE MIRROR

King stressed tirelessly the need to love those who oppressed you, even as you called them out for their injustices. He understood the teaching of Christ reminding people that they would be judged in the same way they judged others.

He believed and taught that it was crucial that they bless those who cursed them and pray for those who were mistreating them.

He understood what Jesus understood: that victims (or those who take up their cause) become so focused on the evil committed by their enemies that they forget that their own hearts are ultimately capable of the same wrong. 

That even as they call their oppressors monsters or dogs, they become guilty of the very same basic sin as the one they have come to hate.

They have violated the second greatest commandment of loving their neighbors as themselves. They have allowed themselves to believe that they are more worthy of love than is their oppressor. 

From that point one is able to decide that he or she is more worthy of life than the oppressor. And some can then decide to act on that logic.

Only when victims repent of their own arrogant belief in their superiority over their oppressors can they truly love that oppressor as Jesus exhorted his followers to do. And only when one chooses to love (or at least not to hate) can the cycle of revenge and destruction that we see so often be avoided. 

King was greatly transformed when he saw the power behind this teaching, and a nation was spared what might have become civil war at worst or a long battle with domestic terrorists at best.

SLIPPERY SLOPE

I read a quote from one woman reacting to Tiller's death by saying she would feel the same way had a rat been killed. If you pay attention, you'll notice people on all sides of any issue often portraying the enemy in less than human terms.

That's what Jesus seems to be warning his followers against when he says not only that killing our enemies is wrong, but insulting them is basically the same thing. But that if we didn't get a grip on what was happening in our hearts, it was only a matter of time before we became just like the monster we decry.

Even from a practical standpoint, if the goal is really to save the lives of unborn children, I would think that goal would  be served better by a rhetoric bathed in understanding and compassion (see Jesus with the woman accused in adultery) than with vitriolic condemnation (see Pharisees in same story).

When the accused feels that he or she is understood and that his or her point has been heard, that person is much more likely to hear what YOU have to say.

And, at the same time, you are much more likely to imagine what YOU would need if YOU were in that person's shoes. 

It all begins with the understanding, of course, that you really are in that person's shoes. With just a simple change in circumstances, the person you accuse could be you, or your son or your daughter.

No matter which injustice stirs us to indignation -- injustice against babies, against women, against people groups, against homosexuals, against animals -- we need to constantly remind ourselves that the value and dignity of each human does not end (especially if one claims to believe the Bible) when that person does something wrong.

I, for one, am glad of that.

Time to confess and repent?

The topics are moving far more quickly than my ability to get back to writing. But the killing of abortion doctor George Tiller brings to light again the need for Christians to consider the foundations of their faith. 

How are they representing their God? Are they really communicating Good News to the world? Check out what Frank Schaeffer, the son of famed Christian writer Francis Schaeffer, has to say about all of this. He is leading Christians to repent for much of their words and actions. Listen closely to what he has to say.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Supreme test

Obama's Supreme Court pick is going to put my blogging resolve to the test. 

Apparently, Affirmative Action is going to be a key factor in the coming confirmation battle over Sonia Sotomayor. If I can't get fired up to discuss this subject, then I am in real trouble.

Reverse discrimination, which I am happy to see MSNBC using instead of the euphemistic Affirmative Action, is often mentioned by outraged majority culture people who seem to have just figured out what AA is.

Once we decide to call it what it is we can get around to talking about why we should or shouldn't do it. One of the reasons we have such outrage about the idea, I will contend, is that we are still not repentant as a nation. 

We'll take a look again at reconciliation principles and see how it applies. 

Talk to you soon.

Another boost

Last night I got back on the lecture circuit with a short presentation on how Martin Luther King's faith influenced the Civil Rights movement, and, conversely, how the movement influenced his faith.

I was invited to speak on the subject by a campus group and spoke before a small group of international students on the subject. This particular talk was a first for me, so it was fun to launch some new material.

To me it's vital to understand that the principles of reconciliation can be applied and experienced by people, regardless of their faith status, and that the subject provides a perfect opportunity for people to discover faith in action rather than just in words.

King was a man of doubts and publicly disclosed personal shortcomings, but he held tight onto one core belief, that all of God's people were created equal and were deserving of life and love and respect. This was true of his black brethren. This was true of his enemies and oppressors. This was true of poor people from every race and background. This was even true of Vietnamese halfway across the world.

He put into action the one thing he was sure about, and along the way, according to biographers, he discovered a deep faith that allowed him to face down and even accept death.