Wednesday.....Culture.....First They Came For The Fundamentalist

German Theologian and pastor Martin Niemoller repeated a statement in the 1940's that has been quoted many times. As Niemoller grew older he repeated it in slightly different versions. This doesn't take away from the importance of meditating on the thought contained in the variations, for they are essentially the same. One version went like this: First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up, for I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up for me. I'm not talking about an individual in this blog, nor a particular group but rather an idea that germinates and is cultivated on occasion into Totalitarianism. When this tyranny begins, it satisfies some groups because it opposes those who they vehemently disagree with. It picks up followers and then opposes those who the new group vehemently disagrees with, once again by taking away their rights. It eventually assumes total power over everyone. The initial adherents often find that they lose their own beloved rights but it is far too late to turn the tide. Those with the absolute power no longer need to patronize anyone. There are those today who play this centralized power game, possibly thinking that it is not dangerous nor that they are susceptible of expanding it. Those who speak from pulpits, from radio microphones and parents who insist on teaching their children their own values are experiencing threatening political talk to restrict their rights. It might be satisfying for some to see this but they may find their own cherished liberties someday running afoul of a philosophy that eschews a literal interpretation of the Constitution and prosecutes and penalizes dissent. Why are there some concerned today and others celebrating? I believe that the answer is somewhere in the realm of responsibility and irresponsibility. We all have biases. Some of those biases were built on learning and experience, some grew out of selfishness. The responsible admit this, examine their motivations, look to the possible consequences of decisions they make, and backtrack if they have to. The irresponsible savor the immediate gratification too much to do this. The current movement to bring increasing areas of life under the control of a central government may not be totalitarianism at this moment but it is an ominous sign that should set off alarms. Considering that 233 years of our heritage is being hustled out the door under the guise of emergency action, it would behoove both Conservative and Liberal alike to protest. If this agenda is sound, which I firmly believe that it is not, then time and examination will prove it so but its proponents know that time is an enemy and an examiner a stern disciplinarian.