Martin Niemöller was a Protestant pastor and theologian born in Lippstadt, Germany, in 1892. He was an anti-Communist and, frightened by the Bolshevik takeover of Russia, at first supported Hitler's rise to power. But when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemöller became disillusioned, and led a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler.
In 1937, Niemöller was arrested and eventually confined in Sachsenhausen and Dachau. His crime was "not being enthusiastic enough about the Nazi movement". You have probably seen a version of his famous statement, "First they came...", frequently quoted as
a warning about the dangers of political apathy. Here's one version...
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out
Because I was not a Catholic
Then they came for me
And there was no one left to speak for me.
Walt was reminded of this by an article sent to me by Agent 17. It begins with a quote from an (apparently fictional) German psychiatrist, a survivor of World War II, who was asked how many German people were true Nazis. His answer should guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
"Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, like the majority, I just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world as we knew it had come
Compare this with the Islamization of Europe and North America which is being perpetrated by Muslim extremists right now, while we, the silent majority of Western "Christians" -- like the three wise monkeys -- see nothing, hear nothing, and say nothing.
We are told again and again by "experts" and the talking heads of the lamestream media that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. This may be true, but so what? It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.
It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.
The fact is that the peaceful majority of Muslims is a
silent majority -- cowed and extraneous to the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic fundamentalists. The Soviet Union was populated by millions of Russians (and other nationalities) who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Soviet Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.
The majority of China's 1.3 billion (and counting) people are peaceful too, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians -- most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And who can forget the more recent example of Rwanda, which collapsed into tribal butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace-loving"?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points.
Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because -- like Pastor Niemöller -- they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the world as they knew it is at an end.
Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us Westerners, we must pay attention to the only group that counts -- the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
We may be witnessing the beginning of the end, not just of their world, but of our own!
Footnote: The Afghan Taliban today launched a major spring offensive, with multiple attacks against Western embassies in the central diplomatic area and parliament in Kabul. Explosions, rockets and gunfire are rattling the city even as I write, and scores of casulaties are reported.
