“But mass violence, too, must be organized; it does not occur aimlessly. Even mobs and riots have a design, and great and sustained destruction requires great ambition. It must be conceived as a means toward achieving a new order, and although the idea behind the new order may be criminal and objectively very stupid, it must also be compellingly simple and at the same time absolute.” 

Philip Gourevitch describes the ideology of genocide and emphasizes the importance of cultivating a hatred so intense that people want to completely eliminate a group of fellow human beings. The murder of at least 800,000 people was no spontaneous matter; it was planned and carried out by living, breathing human beings. The organizers of this genocide dehumanized the Tutsi population, calling them cockroaches, and used radio to encourage and assist their slaughter.

“[T]he refugees at the hospital watched Dr. Gerard and his father, Pastor Ntakirutimana, driving around with militiamen and members of the Presidential Guard. The refugees wondered whether these men had forgotten their God.” 

Gourevitch highlights the hypocrisy of religious figures during the genocide. Instead of embracing their Tutsi brothers and sisters as Christians, Pastor Ntakirutimana and his son succumbed to the ideology of Hutu Power. While the author provides examples of clergy helping Tutsis, the majority did not.

“I asked him whether he remembered the precise language of the letter addressed to him by the seven Tutsi pastors who were killed at Mugonero.” 

In a post-genocide interview with Pastor Ntakirutimana in Texas, Gourevitch inquired about the former’s colleagues’ letter pleading for aid. The pastor gives the letter to Gourevitch, and it is one of its phrases that makes up the title of the book. Tutsi pastors knew they and their families faced death. But like the pleas of many others, the letter, too, was disregarded—which was especially painful given the common bond of religious leadership.