The sky was deep and dark and gray when
I hit snooze for the third time this morning. Rain drenched the
already soaked earth, and I sloshed through the grass in flip flops
as I tried to balance an umbrella, a leash and my phone.
The day couldn't have been more gloomy,
until this story popped into my inbox.
What's wrong with people?
I recently finished The Book Thief,
both the book and movie, and watched The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
on Amazon Prime. I had been doing some minor research when I
discovered that St. Louis has a holocaust museum. After my morning
classes, I drove to the Jewish Community Center in Creve Coeur to
walk through the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center.
I arrived drenched with rain, but was
warmly welcomed and ushered toward the entrance. With an audio guide
in hand, I strolled and listened and stopped and read and stared.
This was not my first Holocaust Museum
experience. I had been to the one in Washington DC several years ago,
but for as many times as you hear the stories, I don't think you can
ever really prepare yourself for the horror they hold.
Entire classes of children that were
wiped off the face of the earth save but one. Mentally disabled
persons being starved to death, or given lethal injections, or gassed
to death, so as to create a perfect race. Death marches,
concentration camps, outright murders.
My eyes ached after 90 minutes of
trying to hold back tears.
And the only thought that kept running
through my mind was...what's wrong with people?
How were so many so led
astray? How could they swallow the lies they were being fed? How
could humanity have allowed this to happen?
My heart and head were heavy as I
stepped out into the warm, humid sunshine of a late summer day in St.
Louis. I felt like the sun shouldn't be allowed to shine after what
I'd just seen...but shine it did, hot and bright.
When we are not directly affected by
tragedy, it's easy to turn a blind eye to the atrocities that
surround us. It's painful to admit that our humanity has so grievously missed the mark.
Then, you hear this story.
Every day, may we each choose to live
like this man.
We are seeing these same horrors playing out right now in Iraq and Syria with ISIS. They (ISIS) would like to perpetrate this same evil on us if given the chance.
ReplyDeleteToday is 9/11, the saddest day of the year.
Hope your day was better than expected, friend!
DeleteThanks for taking the time to read this post and share your thoughts. That's a great question!
ReplyDeleteThere is a section of the museum that asks the question: How much did the world know?
The Soviets were the first to liberate concentration camps and share what they found, but the rest of the Allies did not believe them. It wasn't until Britain and the US liberated camps and saw with their own eyes what was happening and began to report on it. Even then, in America, outside of the Jewish newspapers, only the Washington Post and New York Times really reported on the holocaust.
In fact, locals were walked through some German concentration camps so that they could see with their own eyes how people were forced to live and look on the dead. You could see in their faces that they, too, were horrified.
How much did people know?
Regarding the Christian Iraqi children, I believe you're referring to the news reports of “ISIS systematically beheading christian children.” When this story first broke in August, I was horrified like the rest of the world.
I am, admittedly, (and at times, wonderfully) naïve. I tend to trust people until they prove they cannot be trusted. This applies to the media, and I've found that many cannot be trusted, even certain so-called "christian" media outlets. My husband has taught me to really search out a story to make sure that it is accurate. There have been many times when I have shared a story on my Facebook page only to find out later that it wasn't true at all. (I hate it when that happens.)
In my attempts to guard against sharing false information, I did some research and came across this article. It seems sound to me. Have you read it?
http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/factchecker-is-isis-beheading-children-in-iraq
I find it difficult to know who to trust. If you have first hand information that is unavailable on the first few pages of a google search, I'd appreciate your insight. It sounds like you're very passionate about this issue. How have you been able to support the cause for these children?
Again, thanks for taking the time to post.
This is a hard thing, isn't it? What gives me hope is the knowledge that Jesus loves us, that he finds us intrinsically lovable. All of us. God views the victimizer with the same compassionate love as the victim. That's a thought that can stop me in my tracks.
ReplyDeleteThat is why Jesus tells us not to judge, I think. It can be easy for those who see themselves as Christians to get into an "us vs. them" mentality, "us" being those who believe what we believe and behave the way we behave. We can see those others as being less worthy of love than we are. And when we see people as being less worthy of love, it is easier to treat them with contempt, unkindness, cruelty. It is only possible to treat a person as a thing when you stop seeing him or her as a person.
This is a very thoughtful post. Many blessings as you think things through. (And hugs!!)
I agree whole heartedly! Thanks for your wise and insightful words. Thankful to have a big sister as wonderful as you! xoxo! Let's chat soon!
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