Men of peace

A week after Tony Blair called for faith to be given a central role in tackling the world’s problems, Foreign Policy magazine lists five men whose faith plays a central role in creating some of the world’s problems. Here’s just one member of this infamous five:

Joseph Kony

Religion: Christianity/personality cult

Who is he?: Commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)

Country: Uganda

Quote: “[The spirits] speak to me. They load through me. They will tell us what is going to happen. They say ‘You, Mr. Joseph, tell your people that the enemy is planning to come and attack.’ They will come like dreaming; they will tell us everything.”

Why he matters: During two decades of civil war, Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army has killed more people than al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah combined. Kony, a former altar boy, aims to overthrow the Ugandan government and establish a regime based on the Ten Commandments. In pursuit of this goal, the LRA has abducted over 20,000 children to serve as soldiers and sex slaves, often forcing them to kill their own parents. Although Kony frequently uses biblical passages to justify his actions and has his child soldiers make the sign of the cross before battle, he mixes Christianity with mysticism and claims to be advised by a “spirit council” from beyond the grave. The LRA is currently in the process of negotiating a peace deal with the Ugandan government, but Kony is reluctant to leave his hide-out while under International Criminal Court indictment.

Quite the Love Thy Neighbour type. I assume Blair wasn’t talking about giving these guys‘ faiths a central role in problem-solving. Otherwise, we’d all have to start buying canned goods.

(Hat Tip)