Amnesty for Criminals ...

Question of the Week:
In striving for peace, is it worthwhile to grant full amnesty to a rebel leader, blamed for murdering innocent civilians, abducting children, and stripping a country of stability for decades?? Yep, this question pertains to Joseph Kony! Not all too original, by the way.

This is more like the question of last week, again I tarried in my response and risk it being old news. But luckily the peace talks between the LRA and the Uganda government is still going on. Sadly, there have been some interesting developments in the past several days and it seems like peace is not going to come easy. The glimmer of hope that there will be a ceasefire between the two sides is diminishing each day as mistrust and bitterness festers in the hearts of the negotiator. I wonder how things can turn out like this, 17 years of vicious war with no end in sight ... and most of the world don't even care.

Enough ranting, back to the original question. My personal opinion is that it is definitely worthwhile to grant on criminal amnesty in exchange for peace for the entire country. When millions of lives and the futures of hundreds of thousands of children are at stake, who are we to forgo a chance for peace in exchange for justice to be served in one man's life? It may seem "unfair" to let a known criminal go unpunished, but it's equally "unfair" that millions have to suffer under this reign of terror in Uganda. If there's a chance for peace, nearly anything is worthwhile. I say this because I truly believe that even if we don't see justice done to Joseph Kony in our lifetime, the Lord's vengeance will be unleashed on him in the the last day. What is our justice system but a faint reflection of God's justice? Even if Kony does not get punished by our human facility in this lifetime, God will make sure justice is done in the next.

If you're wondering what brought on this question, read this excerpt of an email I wrote to my discussion group. There are several good links about Uganda too ... the video is eye-opening.

I had mentioned at the end of last week's discussion that I wish that we could become a people whose faith go beyond our middle class suburban world. I wish our faith would stir in us a desire to yearn for the redemption of every part of creation in this fallen world, that we would not merely be passive spectators but be active participants in God's redemptive plan. (If you like to read, I recommend this book.) If nothing else, we should be a people of prayer. There are countless issues in this world that demand our attention and prayer, some in our own neighborhood, some oceans away from us. For example, Uganda is facing a vicious civil war. There is mass genocide, rape, killings ... you can read about it here and here's a story of one of the victims, for those who are stimulated visually, watch this. This week the Uganda government is trying to find a way to peace ... among all things, this should be something to pray about.