Sudan, Darfur: My Take

Another set of folks to pray for: people living in Sudan, particularly Darfur.

There's an election coming up, on whether or not the north and south parts of the country stay together, or the south becomes an independent nation. Either way, it looks like there's going to be trouble.

Or, more accurately, more trouble.

Civilized Foreigners, Natives, and Getting a Grip

I've discussed Sudan before in this blog:

"...I'll admit that I have a fairly well-defined point of view, when it comes to Sudan. I also think that one reason that Sudan stayed 'off the radar' for Western news for so long has to do with a sort of cultural legacy we have.

"Over-simplifying the situation in Sudan, the country's run by people who are, by 19th-century standards, fairly 'civilized.' Folks living in the southern part of the country are distinct from the rulers in a number of ways: and are, again by 19th-century standards, 'natives.'

"I think that's one reason why it took several million 'natives' 'just happening' to drop dead, for many Westerners to twig that something wasn't quite right in Sudan. Again, in my opinion...."
(May 1, 2010)

A sort of bottom-line summary of my view of what's going on in Sudan is that the folks running the country practice an unusually screwball version of Islam. As I wrote in another blog:

"...I think if the Sudanese government had more wealth, they could give Saudi Arabia a run for its money as the craziest Islamic country. Still, they're doing a pretty good job with the resources they have...."
(Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 7, 2009))

Please note: I don't 'hate Muslims.' I'm not allowed to hate people, for starters. I've discussed that before. (March 13, 2009, for starters)

My opinion is that what we're looking at in Sudan - and Saudi Arabia - is similar to what America would be like if it were run by people with views like those of Tony Alamo and Fred Phelps.

I've written even more about Sudan and Darfur's appalling situation in other blogs:

• "Lemming Tracks: Sudan, Africa, Independence, Unity, and Getting a Grip"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North(January 6, 2011)
• "Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir Wins Election! Genocide? What Genocide?"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 26, 2010)
• "Sudan, Women, Trousers, Culture and Common Sense"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 7, 2009)
• "Darfur: Overview of the Current Mess, and Some Background"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 23, 2008)
• "British Teacher Home from Sudan: Gillian Gibbons, Muslim Clerics, and a Teddy Bear named Mohammed"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 3, 2007)
• "The War on Terror - What It's For, What It's Against"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 3, 2007)

Related posts in this blog:

• " 'Conflict Minerals,' Politics, and Making Sense"
  (July 22, 2010)
• "Sustainable African Development: And Swift's Modest Proposal"
  (May 6, 2010)
• "Sudan, Election Results, and Genocide: Not Much to Do, But Pray"
  (May 1, 2010)
• "Good News from Africa: But Some People Won't Like It"
  (March 17, 2009)
• "Sex, Condoms, AIDS, an 'Immoral' Pope, and What Everybody Knows"
  (March 17, 2009)

In the news:

• "Darfur bishop: humanitarian troubles, persecution could follow Sudan independence vote"
  CNA/EWTN News, (January 8, 2011)

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Excerpt from the CNA/EWTN News article:

"Darfur bishop: humanitarian troubles, persecution could follow Sudan independence vote"
CNA/EWTN News, (January 8, 2011)

"With independence very likely in south Sudan, one Sudanese bishop is looking to the future. He warns of the possibility of 'humanitarian disaster' in the south and 'real persecution' for Christians in the north following the upcoming election.

"On Sunday there will be a referendum to create an independent state of semi-autonomous southern Sudan. World governments and experts on the region predict a landslide 'yes' vote, giving autonomy to the area which has been united for more than 50 years.

"The Jan. 9 - 15 vote comes five years after a landmark peace agreement ended more than 20 years of civil war in the African nation with the largest land area....

"...Truckloads of hopeful people have been returning from the North for weeks in anticipation of the vote.

"But the southern Sudan they find has little to welcome them. Dropped off 'in the middle of nowhere' without any vital supplies or even bedrolls, he said, they find an infrastructure that is already inadequate for the existing population....

"...He [Bishop Gassis] explained that a five-year window before a vote for independence was provided for in the 2005 peace agreement precisely to give the Khartoum government time to promote unity.

"'It has become the opposite,' Bishop Gassis said. 'It has not adopted a policy that recognizes the needs of the diverse populations that make up this country, which is multi-confessional, but continued to insist on the application of Sharia.'

"Sharia is the Muslim rule of law, installed by then-Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeiry in 1983. Seventy percent of the nation’s 43 million inhabitants profess Sunni Islam while just five percent are Christians who are divided between the capital and South Sudan....

"....'What will become of the Church in the north, once Sudan is divided into a Christian and animist southern state, and in a largely Muslim northern state?' asked the bishop.

"His fear is that Catholics and Copts who remain in the region risk being singled out. A system where the Sharia law is interpreted in the strictest sense, said Bishop Gassis, could demote them to be 'second class citizens, or worse, becoming victims of real persecution.'..."