When it came my turn to speak, I remembered the following story, told me by members of our African refugee congregation in Rennes, Brittany, France:<\/p>\n
During the height of the genocide in Rwanda, a Hutu militia patrol stopped at a village, populated mostly by Hutus but with several Tutsi families as well. \u201cBring out your Tutsis,\u201d\u009d said the militia commander. \u201cWe know from others that you have Tutsis living among you.\u201d\u009d The Hutu villagers refused. \u201cIf you do not give them up, you will die with them.\u201d\u009d \u201cHow can we give them up?\u201d\u009d they asked. \u201cWe are one in Christ.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
You can imagine what happened next.<\/p>\n
As I told this story, I finished by saying, \u201cThere are many here who say, \u201d\u02dcI am Tutsi, you are Hutu,\u2019 \u201d\u02dcI am for gays, you are against gays.\u2019 But we must first be one with those martyred sisters and brothers, one in Christ first, or we cannot be his disciples.<\/p>\n