FROM THE PASTOR - MAY 2005

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe. As we approach this momentous event, I wonder how much we've actually learned since that terrible time. As more and more actual witnesses to the horrors of Nazism die, are we in danger of forgetting? Could someone like Hitler ever happen again? I believe the answer, unfortunately, is yes.

Whenever we scapegoat any group of people for the problems of society, we open the door to another Hitler. Whenever patriotism is defined as unquestioning loyalty to those in power, we open that door a little more. Whenever the free exchange of ideas is squelched, and people are told, "shut up and sing," (to quote a recent book title) the door creaks even more open. Whenever we use our faith as a reason to hate and mistreat others, we open the door widely. Whenever good people do nothing in the face of oppression of any individual or group because we don't want to "get involved," we've taken the door off its hinges.

We who follow the call of Jesus must never allow evil to prosper. We must speak out clearly and forthrightly. We must do all that we can to oppose evil, injustice and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves. For if we do not, then we will suffer the same fate as that penned by Pastor Martin Niemoller during the Holocaust. "First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me."

Pastor Tony