QUOTATION: People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote - a very different thing. - Walter H. Judd
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2004-06-28 - 2:31 p.m. We Must Help Each OtherLast night Ed and I watched Divided We Fall (2000), a poignant, humanistic, and in spite of its topic, irresistibly funny-in-spots, subtitled Czech movie. During the dark days of World War II, a Czechoslovakian couple grudgingly agrees to shelter in the pantry of their tiny apartment a former Jewish neighbor, who had escaped from a concentration camp. The director walked a fine line between comedy and tragedy in this movie I�d ordered from Netflix, but that we had put off watching because of the topic. As it turned out, it is not just another holocaust film. It is filled with acerbic humor and universal truths, as some people turn the young man away. This family ends up collaborating with the Germans, in order to save themselves and the young man they keep hidden away. I found the music and humor a great addition to what could have been a grim subject. The title is a little misleading; it might more aptly be called "We must help each other," which apparently is a more direct translation from the original Czech. And, indeed, we must help each other. According to Bill Clinton, one of the major regrets of his presidency is that he failed to do more to stop the genocide that occurred in Rwanda when 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu moderates were massacred there in 1994. According to recent articles, a similar major human tragedy is occurring in Sudan today, one that has reportedly already claimed at least 30,000 lives. Magboula�s Brush with Genocide Whenever genocide has occurred before, the world community has vowed, "never again." Yet today, it is happening again. Unless the world community does something immediately, it could claim hundreds of thousands more lives. As yet, the U.S. State Department has not publicly condemned the atrocities that constitute genocide in Sudan nor demanded that it stop. While there were apparently private conversations about it at the recent G-8 summit meetings, world leaders passed up this prime opportunity to formally recognize the massacres as genocide. First They Came for the JewsFirst they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. Pastor Martin Niem�ller We must help each other! We can help now by calling or writing Colin Powell and our state representatives and asking that they represent us in urging the world to condemn these actions, to come to the aid of the people of Sudan � NOW. We must help each other - divided we fall.
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