Building a Better World* |
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by Armen GakavianHave you ever watched the evening news with horror and wished you could do something, but felt utterly helpless? For eleven years I studied at the University of Sydney, located in the heart of Sydney's inner city. I walked through the local aboriginal ghetto, a suburb called Redfern, countless times on my way to and from the station and wondered at the injustice of it all. Often times I felt helpless, convinced that I was merely one of many faces who simply peered curiously and fearfully into other peoples' problems, only to walk on. My great grandparents were killed because the world watched and 'walked on'. I suppose that those watching at the time felt helpless just as we do. Or perhaps they were simply unwilling to step out of their comfort zones. Or maybe a combination of both. In the context of World War One, of course, the Allies were too busy worrying about the 'enemy', and as a result the Ottoman Turkish government was able to get away with the first genocide of the twentieth century against its Armenian population. My grandparents were among the few survivors in their families. Our 'civilised century' has seen millions killed by their own governments in the name of a 'pure society' or 'ethnic cleansing'. In the past decade we've watched on our TV screens the unspeakable atrocities in Rwanda and the Former Yugoslavia. In Sydney, as in all the major cities throughout the world, we have the homeless, a problem which was only made worse with the advent of the 2000 Olympics. We have also had successive Australian governments who have played, and continue to play, the role of beneficiary and bystander in the East Timor saga - until recently when it was finally 'safe' to intervene. And we have yet to deal fully and honestly with our own bloodstained history of genocide against indigenous Australians. I have given much thought to what my response should be to all of this, as an Armenian, as a member of a survivor community, and as a committed Christian. It is easy to do nothing. Worse still, it is easy for the victim to become the victimiser in the name of self-protection. On all counts there is a great personal cost to getting involved. Yet the real question is: what is the cost of not getting involved? In the field of Genocide Studies there is a very dirty word: 'bystander'. This term is used to describe individuals and countries who stand by and watch, do nothing, or plead ignorance when a crime is being committed. I can't help but be reminded of the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The two religious men simply walked past and ignored the problem. The 'pagan', on the other hand, used whatever resources he had to bring hope to a tragic situation. World history is full of bystanders too many to count. However there are also those who, although relatively few, stand out as people of courage who did and do get involved. These people are living proof of the possibility of social change, if only we each do our part. We can find inspiration from men and women such as Jesus and the early Church, through to the Franciscans, Russian author Leo Tolstoy, English slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce, German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, black rights reformer Dr Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Christina Noble and India's Mahatma Gandhi. In Australia we have our very own Dr Fred Hollows, Rev. Tim Costello and Fr. Brian Gore, musicians such as Peter Garrett, and an army of quiet achievers whose names we will never know. The example of these men and women motivates me to roll up my sleeves and get involved. When it comes to Building a Better World, I have upon me an historic responsibility, as a member of a survivor community, to empathise with the needy and the marginalised, and to bring faith, hope and love to those who suffer injustice. __________________________________
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