As the world rightfully turns its eye to the Middle East, and the ongoing conflict around Gaza, we should not forget what is taking place in other parts of the world, such as at Sri Lanka. As we find in this news report by the BBC, many groups trying to bring aid to the region are finding themselves to be victims in a two-sided war where both sides have some legitimate claims and yet both sides have acted unjustly. “Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have expressed concern over the plight of civilians and have blamed both the government and the rebels.”
As Christians, we should realize the structures of sin which surround the societies we live in need to be untangled and removed. All social structures share, in part, with human sin. And it is for this reason, in times of conflict, there is rarely anyone who remains innocent. We should not use the guilt of one side in a conflict as justification for the other; rather, we should look to the sin from which the conflict finds its origin, and suggest a way to remove that sin so as to help establish a more just (but still, imperfect) human society. And when one side or another commits an atrocity, we should be willing to label it for what it is; we must not allow the unjust actions of one side be used to justify greater, disproportionate responses from the other.
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