Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda

Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda
Author: Timothy Longman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521191394

This book studies the role of Christian churches in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Timothy Longman's research shows that Rwandan churches have consistently allied themselves with the state and engaged in ethnic politics, making them a center of struggle over power and resources. He argues that the genocide in Rwanda was a conservative response to progressive forces that were attempting to democratize Christian churches.

Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda

Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda
Author: Timothy Longman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 377
Release: 2009-09-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139479539

Although Rwanda is among the most Christian countries in Africa, in the 1994 genocide, church buildings became the primary killing grounds. To explain why so many Christians participated in the violence, this book looks at the history of Christian engagement in Rwanda and then turns to a rich body of original national- and local-level research to argue that Rwanda's churches have consistently allied themselves with the state and played ethnic politics. Comparing two local Presbyterian parishes in Kibuye before the genocide demonstrates that progressive forces were seeking to democratize the churches. Just as Hutu politicians used the genocide of Tutsi to assert political power and crush democratic reform, church leaders supported the genocide to secure their own power. The fact that Christianity inspired some Rwandans to oppose the genocide demonstrates that opposition by the churches was possible and might have hindered the violence.

Mirror to the Church

Mirror to the Church
Author: Emmanuel Katongole
Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM
Total Pages: 108
Release: 2009-05-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 031056316X

We learn who we are as we walk together in the way of Jesus. So I want to invite you on a pilgrimage. Rwanda is often held up as a model of evangelization in Africa. Yet in 1994, beginning on the Thursday of Easter week, Christians killed other Christians, often in the same churches where they had worshiped together. The most Christianized country in Africa became the site of its worst genocide. With a mother who was a Hutu and a father who was a Tutsi, author Emmanuel Katongole is uniquely qualified to point out that the tragedy in Rwanda is also a mirror reflecting the deep brokenness of the church in the West. Rwanda brings us to a cry of lament on our knees where together we learn that we must interrupt these patterns of brokenness But Rwanda also brings us to a place of hope. Indeed, the only hope for our world after Rwanda’s genocide is a new kind of Christian identity for the global body of Christ—a people on pilgrimage together, a mixed group, bearing witness to a new identity made possible by the Gospel.

From Red Earth

From Red Earth
Author: Denise Uwimana
Publisher:
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2019
Genre: Genocide survivors
ISBN: 9780874869842

A hundred days of carnage, twenty-five years of rebirth--Provided by publisher.

The Genocide Against the Tutsi, and the Rwandan Churches

The Genocide Against the Tutsi, and the Rwandan Churches
Author: Philippe Denis
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2022
Genre: History
ISBN: 1847012906

Pioneering study of the role of the Christian churches in the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsi; a key work for historians, memory studies scholars, religion scholars and Africanists.

Memory and Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Memory and Justice in Post-Genocide Rwanda
Author: Timothy Longman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 389
Release: 2017-07-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107017998

A critical exploration of the steps taken to promote peace, reconciliation and justice in post-genocide Rwanda.

Left to Tell

Left to Tell
Author: Immaculee Ilibagiza
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2014-04-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1401944329

Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans. Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them. It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers. The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.

Survivors

Survivors
Author: Donald E. Miller
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 274
Release: 1999-02-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520219562

"A superb work of scholarship and a deeply moving human document. . . . A unique work, one that will serve truth, understanding, and decency."—Roger W. Smith, College of William and Mary

Rwanda Before the Genocide

Rwanda Before the Genocide
Author: J. J. Carney
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2016-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 0190612371

Rwanda Before the Genocide analyzes the intersection of ethnic discourse, Rwandan politics, and Catholic social teaching during the critical final decade of Belgian colonial rule, exploring the many-threaded roots of the ethnic and political mythos that culminated with the 1994 genocide.

As We Forgive

As We Forgive
Author: Catherine Claire Larson
Publisher: Zondervan
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2009-05-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0310560292

Inspired by the award-winning film of the same name. If you were told that a murderer was to be released into your neighborhood, how would you feel? But what if it weren't only one, but thousands? Could there be a common roadmap to reconciliation? Could there be a shared future after unthinkable evil? If forgiveness is possible after the slaughter of nearly a million in a hundred days in Rwanda, then today, more than ever, we owe it to humanity to explore how one country is addressing perceptual, social-psychological, and spiritual dimensions to achieve a more lasting peace. If forgiveness is possible after genocide, then perhaps there is hope for the comparably smaller rifts that plague our relationships, our communities, and our nation. Based on personal interviews and thorough research, As We Forgive returns to the boundary lines of genocide's wounds and traces the route of reconciliation in the lives of Rwandans--victims, widows, orphans, and perpetrators--whose past and future intersect. We find in these stories how suffering, memory, and identity set up roadblocks to forgiveness, while mediation, truth-telling, restitution, and interdependence create bridges to healing. As We Forgive explores the pain, the mystery, and the hope through seven compelling stories of those who have made this journey toward reconciliation. The result is a narrative that breathes with humanity and is as haunting as it is hopeful.