Learning from the Past

George Santayna is the author to whom this quote is attributed: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

In college I was a social studies education major, focusing on history, economics, & psychology. So knowing about the world's history & learning from it is something which is a passion of mine.

Earlier today, I saw a quote on social media attributed to Anne Frank, from her diary. So naturally, I borrowed the e-book from our local library & read the diary entry for the date quoted, to verify the accuracy of the quote. It was correct & therefore I posted it below:

On Wednesday, January 13, 1943, Anne Frank wrote the following passage in her diary:

"Terrible things are happening outside. At any time of night and day, poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. They’re allowed to take only a knapsack and a little cash with them, and even then, they’re robbed of these possessions on the way. Families are torn apart; men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone. The Christians in Holland are also living in fear because their sons are being sent to Germany. Everyone is scared. Every night hundreds of planes pass over Holland on their way to German cities, to sow their bombs on German soil. Every hour hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people are being killed in Russia and Africa. No one can keep out of the conflict, the entire world is at war, and even though the Allies are doing better, the end is nowhere in sight."

Frank, Otto, and Mirjam Pressler, editors. “Wednesday, January 13, 1943.” The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank, Anchor Books, 1991.

Isn't it disturbing when you read a snippet of a quote (the bolded parts above) & can't immediately tell if it is from the Holocaust or our present day & age?

Somewhere along the line, the Church has stopped questioning the State. It has stopped helping the victims of the State and instead the Church is piously standing behind the State saying, "Well they shouldn't have broken the law if they don't want to be treated this way." It is our role to care for those whom Society deems unworthy of its aid: the poor, the foreigner, the widow, the orphan, and the enemy. At least that is one consistent theme in the Bible.

It is not the role of the Church to pass judgment on those breaking the State's laws. It is our role to spread the Gospel to all people as we love both our neighbors and our enemies.

We should be disturbed that Anne's description of the Nazi-occupied Netherlands sound so close to ICE raids and detention centers in the US.

God, have mercy on us all.