Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide exemplified the spiral of violence because it started with basic injustices. These injustices were the mistreatment of the Hutus by the Belgians. These colonists favored the Tutsis. This simple prejudice led to a feeling of jealousy and hatred towards the Tutsis, which then led to the mass murder of them.
This act of violence could have been stopped if people not were informed of what happened, but also took action on the killings that were going on. In "Hotel Rwanda" the man recording the genocide said "I think people will see the videos and say, 'Oh thats terrible' and continue eating their dinners." People must do something about it, not just feel bad about it.
In our country, bullying is a huge problem. It may start out as a small thing, for example name calling. But this step, can turn into violence and even killing. We hear stories on the news of kids killing other kids for bullying, or killing themselves. To stop it, we must intervene. If we see bullying, we should stop it and get a parent or adult involved. We should help the person being bullied and try to have the two kids talk it out.

Restoring Justice in Rwanda

Through Rwanda's gacaca courts, many wounds have been healed from the massacre that has taken place. At these court meetings, discussions are held and deep emotions resurface as survivors talk about the horror they went through and defendants tell their side of the story. These trials do not involve qualified lawyers/judges, which is very different from the courts we have here in the United States. Although this process can be healing and benefit many, it can also harm by resurfacing emotions of fear and killing.
One theme of catholic social teaching that is embodied by the gacaca court is solidarity. By discussing the issues at hand together, people may feel a sense of community.
Another theme of catholic social teaching is the respect of human life. This theme is exemplified by the court system by caring for each person's need to recover from the loss of life they may have gone through. However, this theme is also ignored when dealing with the jail systems in Rwanda. Many prisoners were neglected, malnourished and crammed into small quarters due to overcrowding.
A third theme of catholic social teaching seen in the gacaca courts is the call to family and community participation. This is seen through the community of people gathering at the courts to hear and feel for the survivors and their stories. Also, prisoners may be sentenced to community service, which enables them to participate and help care for their environment.

Lethal Injection

The death penalty is a difficult topic to discuss because of my mixed emotions. However, after reading stories and multiple articles I have become more against these executions. Lethal injection is currently the most common form of killing on death row. There is a debate is this is humane or not. In my opinion, killing another person, whether by electric chair, lethal injection, firing squad, hanging or gas chamber, is inhumane. The person is bound to suffer in all of the above methods of killing; whether this pain be physical, or mental just from knowing their life is about to end. We will never know for ourselves if lethal injection hurts the person before they pass away, since there is no method to test it. I do believe that if states continue with the death penalty, doctors should be certain that they give the correct dosage.