Social justice; it doesn’t seem to come very easy.
We have been looking at social justice history and now we have arrived on our timeline to one of the hardest parts of the study of the history of social justice.
I refer to The Holocaust.
REMEMBERING HOLOCAUST
Before World War 2 the word Holocaust meant “a sacrificial offering burned on the altar.” The word took on a whole new meaning after Hitler rose to power.
It was the beginning of World War 2, about 1942.
The Nazis had occupied southern Poland. They built death camps there.
Survivors have called this place “a crack in the earth where hell could be seen.”
The official name was Auschwitz.
If you were Jewish you were taken there to die.
This was the only concentration camp on earth where over one million people died.
HUMILIATING DEATH
The Jewish people (men, women and children) were rounded up from their homes and hiding places and hauled in cattle cars on a long train journey to the concentration camp. They had no water on the way. There were no restrooms.
People were shoved into the carts and had no room to move. The filth was horrible, and when they arrived they were told to strip down and get into communal showers.
All of this had to be the most humiliating circumstances any human had ever endured. The outcome was death.
A POISON GAS AND A POISON SPIRIT
Once the people were standing inside the showers; the Nazis turned on the gas. It was a gas that had previously been used as a pesticide. When the helpless victims finally died and the gas cleared; the bodies were taken to cremation fires and burned. This was the Holocaust.
Then the showers were prepared for the next train load of Jewish people.
Why?
Because; Hitler and the Nazis hated Jews.
They considered them to be an inferior race; and they (mainly Hitler) did not want them to exist anymore.
Hitler’s world view consisted of two ideas; racial purity and superiority and spatial existence of this superior race which he was creating. He wanted “Aryan” people; and he wanted them to have room to live and breathe and he cared nothing at all about anything or anyone else.
In order to achieve the racial purity he considered to be important, he created the concentration camps.
Hitler’s armed soldiers would come into occupied towns, block off the streets and begin to enter the homes in the neighborhoods by force. They were looking for Jews. Once they were found and located they were arrested and eventually carted off to concentration camps.
WHEN YOUR RACE IS YOUR CRIME
You had to have papers proving you were not born a Jew in order to survive this atrocity.
A few of the able bodied Jewish people did not go to the death camps.
They were used as slaves to work in the fields, or to tend to the assembly lines of manufacturing plants; where they slaved around the clock without sleep or food until they could work no more.
Then they were hauled off, whenever they were so worn down that they were considered useless; or else; they were killed.
When people arrived to these death camps, they no longer had a name.
They were given a number. It was tattooed onto the skin of their forearm.
When challenged by a guard you were required to yell out your number. Once you had the “mark” you could no longer hide your Jewishness. You were marked for death.
AN AGE-OLD HATRED
Hatred for the Jews was not a new thing.
This type of injustice had existed for years and went all the way back and even further than ancient Rome. We read bible stories about Esther and the King and realize that from the days of King Agag; this hatred called Anti-Semitism existed.
We all know the story where King Saul was commanded by God as the Jewish people went to battle, to wipe King Agag and his bloodline from the earth; but Saul was not obedient. God wasn’t trying to commit a genocide; he was trying to wipe out this strong, violent spirit of hatred from the generations to come. It was demonic. God knew where this spirit of hate came from; it was straight from the pits of hell and it took many forms but it was always the works of the enemy of God.
We know that God is love and the opposite of love is hate. Yet; the hatred has continued through time; but never so intensified as it was with the regime of Hitler and the Nazis.
SYSTEMATIC GENOCIDE
Hitler’s goal was unprecedented genocide by Nazi Germany to the Jewish people. It was a slow systematic way of killing off a whole population of a certain culture and heritage.
For no reason other than being Jewish, the property and rights of the Jewish people were taken. They were marked and taken away from all forms of normal life.
Why did Hitler hate the Jews so much?
Also; why did others follow this terrible man who committed such evil?
Good questions.
HITLER’S SORTED PAST
It seems that Hitler was friends with Karl Lueger who was the mayor of Vienna. Lueger used anti-Semitism to his gain in political matters. Hitler watched and observed how this worked for him. Many of Hitler’s later political moves were replicating Karl Lueger’s ideas and philosophies.
Later during World War I when Hitler was only a soldier fighting in Belgium against France, Britain and Russia, it happened that he was a victim of a poison gas attack. It temporarily blinded him and he wound up in the hospital. You have to wonder if this is why Hitler used gas against the Jews; a twisted type of revenge.
It was there in Belgium in the hospital, as he was recovering, that the young man named Hitler heard of the Germans losing the war.
He; like so many other Germans; falsely thought that the Jews, the Social Democrats and the Communists were responsible for the reasons the war was lost by Germany. They were unaware of the countless numbers of loyal Jewish soldiers that fought with Germany in the war. So; this conclusion was false; but Hitler and most Germans had been influenced to think this way from the cradle and they still blamed the Jews for the outcome of the war.
MORE RADICAL FORMS OF ANTISEMITISM
With the violence and chaos in Germany after WWI ended Hitler’s Antisemitism became more and more radical.
In 1920 Hitler began frequently comparing the Jews to germs. He stated that diseases could not be controlled unless you removed their causes. This began his effort to remove all things Jewish from Germany; especially people. From that point forward the Holocaust began to happen.
Hitler viewed the world as an arena for the permanent struggle between peoples. He divided the people in the world into high and low races. The Germans belonged to the high peoples and the Jews to the low ones. He also had specific notions about other peoples. He considered The Slavic people, to be inferior. Hitler thought the Slavic race was predestined to be dominated.
This very sick man named Hitler felt that the German people could only be strong if they were ‘pure’. He had his own definition of “pure.” This meant to him that people with hereditary diseases were considered harmful. and people with physical or mental disabilities, as well as alcoholics and ‘incorrigible’ criminals needed to die.
NO RESPECT FOR SACREDNESS OF LIFE
Once the Nazis had come to power, these radical ideas of HItler led to the forced sterilization and killing of human beings.
When I think of Hitler’s logic with regard to the value of human life; I can’t help but compare it to abortion.
Today if a baby has a chance of being born with a defect and the parents know this; they are offered the alternative of abortion. The fact that life is precious isn’t considered. It was the same with Hitler.
I hear of forced sterilizations and I think of how certain people groups in Africa were sterilized without their knowledge or consent under the hidden guise of “population control.”
Just because you think a certain way; no matter how educated you are, it does not give you the right to force others to think as you do. These innocent people did not know what they were doing. They were tricked into giving up the souls of their next generations. Those who tricked them arrogantly considered themselves to be superior; and to have the right to decide for others instead of asking their permission.
Again, I think of all the babies in China that have been aborted or killed after birth to control the numbers of the population. All was considered legal and within the law of the land. Taking the lives of innocent children was praised and applauded.
I remember those things and I see similarities in the formation of Hitler’s Nazi regimes and their works of terror. The common ground is that life was not sacred to them.
Don’t think it is all history and completely over. Do not be deceived.
Since 1928 a group of organized terrorism has not ceased in their aim to eliminate Israel and destroy all Jewish people from all parts of the earth.
This article will only attempt to focus and cover some of what happened with the Nazis after World War One; but this particular type of hate continues globally.
Terrorism against the Jewish people has been around almost since the beginning of time. Most of the organizations that bring such terror do not wear obvious labels. That doesn’t mean they do not exist.
No one ever broadcasts evidence of their own hate crimes; but that doesn’t mean they do not occur daily.
One huge piece of this proof can be found in the facts surrounding the stories of the Holocaust.
HOLOCAUST AND CRITICAL THEORY
We can look at the atrocity of the Holocaust in many ways. Let’s start with the use of critical theory.
Critical theory’s focus on groups rather than individuals actually mirrors the thinking of Adolph Hitler in his wanting to make a pure race in Germany. He didn’t just hate one Jew for one specific reason; he hated the whole world full of Jews simply because they were Jewish and for no other reason.
They were not the race he favored for his nation; so he considered that he could just commit genocide and change the world. Adolph Hitler thought with critical theory patterns.
Of course, this thinking, is evil and flawed from every angle; but if we are going to use critical thinking as a way of life; we have to note that it was very typical of the thinking patterns of Adolph Hitler in the Holocaust.
He only focused on a “group” of people as the problem of his nation; the Jews were the “privileged” party in those days. Today’s critical theory thinking points out “white privilege.”
OPPRESSED VICTIMS OPPRESSING OTHERS
The Aryans (or the chosen people of Hitler’s “pure” race) were considered to be the “victims.”
This was true in certain elements of theory even though they were not victimized at all; and they were actually the oppressors of the Jewish groups who were being slaughtered by the droves.
Hitler saw his “pure” race as being victimized by the inclusion of Jews. The Jews had obtained wealth and material comforts as well as status that Hitler thought only belonged to his “pure” race.
The followers of Hitler looked at the successful, capitalistic, rich, Jewish culture that had existed in Germany before the war, and they thought of how these were the highly educated ones, the sons of the wealthy who never had to dirty their hands in working the fields or the factories as the common man of their own communities did,
They formed the opinion that the tables needed turning. If anyone was going to be so privileged; it should have been them; the hard-working people of the middle class. They were the ones who should be entitled to prosperity.
Though many of these Jewish people actually had strict work-ethics and high scholarly contributions in their work in the world of research; to the common man listening to Hitler’s twisted words; they were the ones who had kept the other common and poor people from moving up and becoming more successful.
Never mind the fact that the so-called oppressors often employed these men, giving them an opportunity to earn wages in hard times, or the fact that they shared their theories and research from their higher educational levels with the world, making life better for the common good. Never mind that their prosperity stimulated the economy and created growth in the marketplace for ALL citizens; the Nazi’s could only see they held a power that they wanted to take away from them.
DRIVING THE JEWS AWAY
Their high standards had held back the men who could not obtain those standards; and the common German workers began to protest this by not patronizing the Jewish shops and stores, not buying their wares, not sending their children to them to be educated; basically forcing them into bankruptcy.
The very mention of a “Jew” in that culture of false propaganda brought forth greed, hate and violence from the common man walking the streets and listening to the propaganda mill.
A large portion of the whole German culture began to hate the Jews and they wanted to squeeze them out of their society completely.
That was why it was so easy for the Marxist living in that culture after World War One to believe that there would eventually be an up-rising so strong that it would grow into a Marxist revolution to stomp out all capitalism (ironically perpetrated by successful Jews) and a new utopia would eventually come about that would redistribute all the wealth of the country in a more fair way; regardless of what others had paid in time, effort, money, and education to have achieved the wealth for themselves beforehand.
Can you see the similarity in the days leading up to the Holocaust and the critical theory thinking of our modern day?
DANGEROUS PARALLELS
Many dangerous parallels do exist and it is an enticing trap for the young and inexperienced to fall into.
Who doesn’t want utopia?
The reality of that dream is that utopias are built upon hard work and unity; not ideology and dreams. The young usually miss that part of the equation.
Also – there is no free ride; someone always has to pay. Even in a true utopia; each man is only as good as his own work for the day.
Any time one group of society is elevated in order to subdue another group of society; critical thinking will be hiding in the shadows and a deeper state of manipulation of society for power and wealth will eventually show up; but usually it is too late for the culture to recognize and recover.
JUST ANOTHER SILENT AND OPPRESSIVE FORM OF SLAVERY
In the end; critical theory thinking leads to just another silent and oppressive form of slavery.
The common man becomes a slave to his almighty government.
We have already been served a taste of that lifestyle in America. Many liberal thinkers would like to try the rest of the course.
You can also glimpse this form of government oppression in apartheid in South Africa; yet another form of social injustice that we will try to explain eventually.
Somehow, by the use of critical theory, immorality always tends to get codified and written into the laws.
By use of critical theory in government, certain laws, institutions and systems become dramatically amplified and twisted using language that encourages greed and human wickedness.
HEGEMONIC POWER
Often, like in the Holocaust; when critical theory takes over, hegemonic power comes into existence and this affects all norms and values of a society.
In order to consider a simple example; let’s look at the Victoria Secret models. They reflect how immorality in a society can destroy the standards of womanhood for a generation or two of women.
Little girls see the alluring commercials and they think they have to grow up to be a skinny body with perfect and un-flawed skin, and straightly aligned facial features in order to be loved and adored and/or successful in all areas of life.
This idea, of course, is a false illusion put forth by a group of people with no morals who are only seeking wealth and material gain the easy way – by exploiting others.
CULTURES FOLLOWING FALSE ILLUSIONS
A whole culture will watch on the sidelines and let this popular part of society define their standards for beauty and sexuality.
What at first looks appealing is not at all accurate or moral. The end is ruin and disgrace; but it is hard for the young and immature to see or understand. They automatically rebel against the wisdom offered from the older culture who has seen this pattern before. Every generation has to learn its own way.
One answer, both in the example above and in the deeper horrors of the Holocaust and its false sense of any race being a “pure” race and/or any race being unacceptable; is that parents with mature values and morals MUST teach Godly concepts to their children in their formative years. The educational system is flooded with ideology that is not the same as yours if you are a Christian trying to lead a godly life and have a godly family.
The ways in which we have allowed entertainment and advertising industries to shape how our culture understands human value is another example of modern-day hegemonic power.
Hitler used this aspect of critical theory to his advantage. He plotted the wealth and the material gains of the prudent and hard-working, highly educated Jewish culture against the uneducated, poor factory workers in Germany and created power and unity that was bound together simply because they all had hate in common with each other. They hated that one group of people who had finally risen up to a lifestyle that was better than theirs; and they wanted to destroy them instead of exploring ways that they could also attain such success.
The end results of critical theory/group thinking, in the horrible history of the Holocaust was counted out in millions of dead bodies; piled against each other, on and on for miles and miles; nothing but dead Jewish bodies piled up in heaps and burned in the fires.
Hitler’s privileged hate against those he saw as too privileged prevailed to the detriment of everyone.
TOO MUCH HATE COMES FROM CRITICAL THEORY THINKING
The hate of critical theory thinking causes death.
Was the playing field of the people in Germany leveled in the end?
No.
The greatest death-toll ever recorded in history resulted.
No revolution for the better ever came about.
Looking back through history it is easy to see that no revolution has ever held its unity when it was founded on hate instead of love.
When ungodly principles prevail; ungodly results happen.
PAYING DOWN THE ROAD
Eventually those critical thinkers, those men who participated in the shameful deaths of the Jews had to pay the price for their war crimes.
Because of this type of thinking originally, the common man was eventually taxed heavily for many years after as the country tried to make amends
The cost was more than anyone would ever be able to pay back.
Most parts of Germany became poor and underprivileged again; only the end of this story was much, much worse than what they had begun with. Again, the poor and hungry struggled.
Most of all; the incredible lifestyle that the Jewish people had developed in Germany was lost forever.
Were the others jealous that God has chosen Israel to be a pattern for the world to follow?
Could they not simply look and learn and repeat the pattern set before them?
No. Human nature doesn’t work that way. It is geometrically opposed to the way that God thinks. Humanity (without God’s ways) has to have its revenge.
Taking revenge, for any reason – logical or illogical – is (ironically) a form of racism at its core. They mistakenly use the disease to treat the cure.
SURVIVING WITH GRACE
I have always loved the story of the Jewish missionary named Corrie Ten Boom. This wise lady survived the Holocaust.
She lost her family in those horrible concentration camps and she barely escaped herself. While living through this nightmare, she became a Christian and went on to be one of the most loved missionaries of God’s invisible earthly Kingdom.
A day came when she looked out on the large audience where she was speaking about the miracles of God’s grace; and her eyes fell on one of the commanders who had been involved with the killing of her family members.
In her testimony, she was speaking of the necessity of forgiveness.
God’s timing can be so amazing.
How could she ever live up to her witness of that day when it came to forgiving this man in her audience, who probably didn’t even know who she was?
He did know her though; and later he approached her and explained that his life had changed completely since those days and he humbly asked her forgiveness.
AN INTERESTING ELEMENT OF FORGIVENESS
God helped Corrie Ten Boom to offer grace and forgiveness to the man who had murdered her innocent family. It was probably the hardest thing she had ever done, or ever would do.
If this could happen then; it can happen now.
We do not need a movement based on critical theory when it comes to racial crimes against humanity; what we need is forgiveness – on both sides.
The fact that it must exist on both sides is critical. That is the interesting element of forgiveness that is often overlooked by today’s cultural thinking.
I’ve watched well-meaning white people who had not one thing to do with slavery march in the Black Lives Matter protests. They had loving hearts and their intentions were good. They wanted love and unity at any cost; even if it meant they would admit guilt to something that they had nothing whatsoever to do with or that they would take a stand with a group that carried values they had no understanding of. Their stand, right or wrong, was based on their desire for peace and unity.
I watched that solution; then I looked at the story of Corrie Ten Boom. In that story, it wasn’t about the person who committed the crime admitting their guilt and giving up everything to those he had harmed.
The man did do that; but his asking was not the key to the total and final healing of the individuals that were harmed in the past.
Also; many white people have stepped up in other public ways now for years, trying their best to achieve some level of grace, forgiveness and unity with the black population across the land.
For example; in Birmingham, Alabama we have acted out a series of short, active dramas and called them The Justice Trail. People can go and participate and experience in a similar-to-then drama that really must have happened when slavery was real. These are very revealing and heart wrenching re-enactments. They have changed hearts across the nation. However; the hate still lingers; or why are we still seeking healing?
Off and on in such cases, for a little while both black and white brothers and sisters have found one another and come together in grace; but that isn’t the real answer anymore. There has to be a deeper; longer, more satisfying solution.
It has to end like the ending in the Corrie Ten Boom story.
THE SECRET TO TRUE HEALING
Some of us have come to understand over time that it isn’t about the perpetrator asking for forgiveness. Though that still helps tremendously; unless there is MORE to the story healing cannot take place.
That has been done over and over again; but never finished. There have been no solid resolutions.
For so many years now the verdict has been handed down and the guilt has been laid at the feet of the guilty. Generations have repented and then tried to get along; but the hate has continued to thrive and live on anyway.
Finally we who have been on this journey for the longest time have glimpsed a way to heal through this Holocaust survivor named Corrie Ten Boom. Finally we see the fact that the closure only comes when the VICTIM looks into the eyes of the one they perceive as being guilty and truly, from deep down inside themselves, they learn how to allow God’s grace to let them forgive and let go of the past.
This makes forgiveness true and final.
God’s definitions always work.
Finally, some of us can grasp the full truth about turning the page. EVERY person has a part to play. EACH PERSON must either seek forgiveness AND RECEIVE forgiveness. Every person is responsible for their own maturity and recovery.
AMERICANS MUST COME OF AGE
America – we ALL must grow up.
If one tired and feeble old lady who survived the concentration camps of the Holocaust by putting her trust in God can do this type of forgiveness; I see no reason why the black population of the world cannot do the same.
Forgive.
Let go.
Feel the REAL freedom of love for mankind; all of mankind.
Quit being a puppet for other sick people’s hatred and become a peacemaker.
Drop the judgments; the trials are over.
The guilty have sadly born their shame for generations now.
It takes two sides to have total forgiveness and healing.
The victim must learn to forgive the one who inflicted the harm.
Forgiveness doesn’t work from only one side.
Grace comes when we all forget about RECEIVING forgiveness and we all begin instead to GIVE IT OUT.
G/RACE is the only true path that leads to the healing of any social injustice.
Need some help?
Ask God
He is waiting.
God truly loves our nation and He wants to heal our people.
Trust Him and step out to bravely be the first.