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Saturday, September 04, 2004
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Martin Niemoller - A Courageous Christian in a time of War
by Robert Wilkinson
In an era where selfishness, powerlessness, and the sense of separation from others are pandemic, and people use heavy-handed tactics to stifle dissent, it is useful to remember the words of Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran minister imprisoned by the Gestapo in Dachau and Sachsenhausen concentration camps. An outspoken pacifist and advocate for disarmament, these words are from one who said he “would rather burn his church to the ground, than to preach the Nazi trinity of ‘race, blood, and soil.’”
'First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist, so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat, so I did nothing. Then came the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left to stand up for me."
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© Copyright 2006 Robert Wilkinson.
Last update: 8/27/2006; 10:31:33 AM.
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