Monroe-Woodbury clergy offer witness to the tragedy in Darfur

Teach-in set for March 18 at Monroe United Methodist Church, community service at Temple Beth-El on March 26, By Tony Houston Monroe - The Monroe-Woodbury Clergy Association have declared March a “Month of Witness” to inform the public of the havoc and ruin in Darfur - a situation that the U.S. government has called genocide. “This is an important issue here because religious communities should live by our ethics and help those in need,” said Rabbi Adam Kligfeld of Congregation Eitz Chaim in Monroe. “Religious organizations can be in the forefront with our efforts and our money.” The rabbi spoke the words “never again,” referring to the Holocaust of the 1940’s when much of the Jewish population of Nazi Germany and other territories under German control was killed by the government. It has happened again, including in Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990’s, and twice now in Sudan. The Sudanese government in Khartoum, controlled by Sunni-Muslim Arabs, established Islamic Law in the 1980’s and attempted to enforce it upon the non-Muslims (and non-Arabs), almost all of whom live in the southern tier of the country. Those in southern Sudan, already upset by a lack of political and economic power, began a civil war. That war, which cost nearly one million lives in the south, did not end until last year. Now the region of Darfur is the primary scene of Sudan’s violence. The story of Darfur was told with great empathy and precision to the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church in Monroe when Pastor Bob Dent introduced Mary Beth Neely, who teaches global studies at Monroe-Woodbury High School and has lived in Africa. This struggle, over land and water resources, pits the same Sunni-Muslim Arabs in control of the government against the Sunni-Muslim Black Africans in Darfur, a region in the west-central part of Sudan, she said. One group native to Darfur, however, is made up of Sunni-Muslim Arabs — the “right stuff” when it comes to the Republic of the Sudan, she added. This group, the Baggara, took the government’s side in the conflict, which “came to a head in February of 2003,” according to Neely. The Sudanese government trains, arms and directs the militia formed from the Baggara — a militia called the Janjaweed. For the past three years, the Sudanese armed forces and the Janjaweed have conducted a calculated campaign of slaughter, rape and starvation, Neely said. Nearly one-half million people have been killed and more than two million have been displaced. Many of the displaced are in camps, both in Sudan and in neighboring Chad. Now the camps are being attacked. The Rev. Canon Sylvia Vasquez of St. David Episcopal Church in Highland Mills showed how the Month of Witness is incorporated into her congregation’s Lenten services. Churches within the Ministerial Alliance combine their congregations and meet for Wednesday noon prayer service at the several churches of the Alliance — a different church each Wednesday. After the noon prayer service, wherever held, her congregation meets at St. David to continue considering the subjects of the noon meeting and to pray for those suffering in Darfur. Pastor Kirkland Watkins of the Highland Mills United Methodist Church is concerned that, in the age of 24-hour cable news, so many people are unaware of the situation. “The Darfur crisis is incorporated into the Sunday sermons this March and discussed in confirmation classes,” Watkins said. He hopes this will help his church “decide what we are supposed to do,” and would like to be a “good Samaritan” in some way. At Sacred Heart Church in Monroe, Father Jeff Maurer said that “Lenten activities and services take up much of my parishioners’ time in March, but the theme of Lent can help us focus in on Darfur — can raise awareness. Lent, which is the six weeks immediately prior to Easter, is a time to reflect on what one did wrong and on what one has failed to do, and, said Maurer, “many of us have failed to take notice of the calamity in Darfur.” Pastor Bruce Younkin of the Monroe United Methodist Church said, “regardless of ethnicity, religion’ economics or politics, clearly a situation is going on in Darfur where a group of people are being driven from their homes, raped and killed — this is the reality. “It is all the more devastating in that it has a kind of invisibility to it,” he added. Younkin spoke of the matter being taken up by the U.N., which, unlike the U.S., has not labeled the atrocities as genocide. “Let’s all take a look and see what our response will be.” That “look” will be in the form of a Teach-In hosted by his Church at 47 Maple Ave. on Saturday, March 18, from 7 to 9 p.m. Mark Maxie, executive director of the United Methodist Committee on Relief for non-government organizations who has been to Darfur, will be the quest speaker. Rabbi Garry Loeb of Monroe Temple Beth-El believes there are great opportunities this March to educate the public about Darfur. “With Passover recalling freedom from slavery and Easter representing rebirth, it’s time to be serious about our faith and remember those trying to escape tyranny and in need of a rebirth of hope,” he said. “Religion can play a big, positive role now at a time when many regard religion negatively.” Loeb invites everyone to join the Monroe-Woodbury Clergy Association at Monroe Temple Beth-El at 314 North Main Street on Sunday, March 26, at 7 p.m. This will be a community worship service of witness and an opportunity to show support for the oppressed people of Darfur.