BLOG 6/19/18. OUR OWN VERSION OF THE HOLOCAUST

BLOG 6/19/18. OUR OWN VERSION OF THE HOLOCAUST

In the 1930s in Poland and Germany, the civil authorities instituted a horrific program to purge the countries of Jews because, in their minds, “the Jews don’t belong here, they’re not Aryan.” What followed is now history, and resulted in the holocaust what with Auschwitz, and the other concentration/death camps. As unbelievable as it may seem in our “land of the free and home of the brave,” our own government has now instituted its own version of the holocaust with its immigration policy. Thankfully, there are strong voices being raised against it (and I want to add my voice here) but it is still government policy to separate children from their parents and ‘warehouses’ them in huge holding facilities, to take infants from their mothers’ arms, all because “they do not belong here.” Here are those desperate parents who are taking huge risks to flee from dangerous countries in Latin America with a hope of survival and a life of safety for their families, … only to be met by such inhumane forces.

In Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler and his propaganda chiefs told the Christian folk in Germany that to be a good ‘German Christian’ one would support the policies of Hitler, … and so most of the church in Germany remained silent in the face of the anti-semetic holocaust. Millions died. Now our own president and attorney general are insisting on their policy toward the immigrants along the Texas-Mexico border (along with prejudice toward immigrants from other ethnic/religious immigrants). The attorney general, like his predecessors in Poland and Germany, is adamant that “these people do not belong here” and quotes a bit of scripture (out of context): “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities” to justify the policy, … but following close on that text (Romans 13:1) is the further humanitarian principle: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

A generation ago, when this nation was engaged in the struggle over racial segregation and civil rights, Dr. Martin Luther King was imprisoned, with other leaders for his protest against the segregation laws of the state of Alabama. The Episcopal bishop and other church leaders sought to persuade Dr. King (as are our authorities of today) to obey the laws of the state. Out of his prison cell, Dr. King wrote his (now classic) Letter from the Birmingham Jail. In it he addressed the church authorities (and anyone else to whom it communicated) quite respectfully, but insisted: “… but I appeal to a higher law.”

Dr. King’s words resonate with incredible force to the immoral, inhumane, destructive policies of this current government. Those of us who are primarily citizens of the Kingdom of Our God and of His Christ (before we are citizens of these United States) must insist on that higher law. Jesus insisted that those who follow him are those who have a heart for the strangers, the homeless, the hungry, and the unjustly imprisoned. To those who call upon his name, but refuse these humanitarian obligations, Jesus responds (listen carefully!): “Depart from me you wicked … I was a stranger and you took me not in.”

Those of us who are serious in our discipleship as followers of Jesus, are a radical bunch. We will not be muted by the policies of the current government. Rather, we weep with those who weep. We open our arms to those fleeing tyranny. Our churches become agents of righteous protests, and self-sacrificing love to the very real human beings making their way into our country and neighborhoods. Of course they make demands and cause problems, so what’s new? Where else would they look, or seek survival? One hopes they would find the compassion of Christ in the people of Jesus Chrrist.

Yes, we do indeed appeal to a higher law. Lord have mercy on a nation that refuses such a just and humane response to the victims of the tragedies that have driven them to seek survival and life among us.

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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2 Responses to BLOG 6/19/18. OUR OWN VERSION OF THE HOLOCAUST

  1. Ann Rose says:

    Bob, I have admired and grown from your wisdom since I was an undergraduate at Duke in the early ’60s. Your blog, along with your books, continues to be one of my guiding lights. On this issue, you, Fr. Richard Rohr, and the Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry are making the gospel position abundantly clear, and I so deeply appreciate your wisdom and articulation. Thank you for continuing to lead all these years.

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