Silence in the face of anti-immigration law

I probably won’t win any new friends with today’s blog and might even lose some of my readers … but to remain silent is no longer an option.

Again, I turn to reflect on my present reading material – Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi, which tells the story of Trudi living in Germany during the war years. Yesterday, I read the chapters, which details Germany during the Nazi take over and how those in power abused their authority specifically targeting the Jews and all immigrants ... anyone who was a non-German became a target. They were blamed for many of the economic and social problems that Germany was facing after WWI and just prior to the Great Depression. And the people and the church was silent …

You can see where this reflection is heading can’t you.

What struck me was the language of hate and actions taken that I was reading concerning the much documented persecution of a whole group of individuals wasn’t much different than the language and actions I’ve been witnessing via our national news programs concerning the Arizona anti-immigration law. Especially with the authority granted to the various police departments to stop anyone who might “look” like they are illegal-immigrants. And the people and the church seems to be silent leaving the protest up to the groups targeted by the new law … or, even worse, as in Nazi Germany agreeing with the government including sermons from the various pulpits in favor of the new anti-people law!

Hitler’s Youth group, SA and Gestapo, along with people informing the authorities on each other – even their own parents if they spoke ill of Hitler. And the people were silent ... they were silent with the hope that everything would return to normal in a short period of time … they were silent out of fear that if they spoke up and protest they would be next … they were silent believing that it would not come to their city … they were silent until it was too late to speak up and do anything.

We are approaching a dangerous time in our nation … an “us-against-them” time … where it seems we are looking for people, especially those who are easy targets, to blame for the mess we find ourselves in as a country. We are all playing the “what-if” game – what if the “other” party was in authority, what if this group or that group wasn’t present in our community, what if this action or that had or hadn’t been taken … and in search of answers to the “what-ifs” another opinion is offered, position taken and a senate investigation launched … while the people are silent sitting back believing that others are going to solve the ills of our society or, as in Hegi’s book, it will simply past … besides we are just too busy to get involved … and the people remain silent!

If we remain silent too long then there won’t be anyone left to speak up …

Quote for today: When the emperor Valens threatened Eusebuis with confiscation of all his goods, torture, banishment, or even death, the courageous Christian replied, "He needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow." Source Unknown.