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As difficult as it may be, we need to face that the cultural genocide, perpetrated by the government on First Nations people through the residential school system, was supported by Canadian churches and Christians. Canadians are not alone in this experience.

Throughout history and all over the world, Christians have actively participated in many different kinds of oppression and genocide, or remained silent as they unfolded.

Yesterday, I read the following quote from Will Ferguson’s book Road Trip Rwanda – A Journey into the New Heart of Africa.

“On the complicity of the churches in Rwanda, Christian philosopher David P. Gushee came to a crushing conclusion:  “Long study of the Holocaust, and now fresh study of the Rwandan genocide, has led me to the heartbroken realization that the presence of Churches in a country guarantees exactly nothing. The self-identification of people with the Christian faith guarantees exactly nothing. All of the clerical garb and regalia, all of the structures of religious accountability… guarantee exactly nothing.” (Ferguson, Will. Road Trip Rwanda – A Journey into the New Heart of Africa. Viking, 2015. p. 104.)

Churches and Christians need to break free from our history of supporting tyranny. When we hear those first murmurings of division sown in our world, we must stand up to power immediately, refuse to be manipulated and claim our shared humanity.