Monday, April 20, 2015

Yom HaShoah

Yom HaShoah (A day of remembrance of the holocaust)


 4/15/2015 was a day to remember the holocaust. I do not have first-hand knowledge of relatives who were directly affected but it is something that should impact us all.
Genocide noun
  1. The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.
 Armenia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Eastern Europe; so many times have people risen against another group in a mob mentality with the intent to annihilate. It is horrifying yet how does that happen. How do we, a fairly civilized society, turn so dark and ugly? How did the Germans, the Hutu's and the Bosnian's participate in such atrocities? How does a society allow kids to be sold, girls to be rented? How is ISIS allowed to gather Christians and just murder in cold blood. These are questions that nag. I have read many accounts of brutality and also bravery regarding these issues. How far removed am I  as an American to becoming cold and uncaring? We can say “never again” about the holocaust yet Jews are being marginalized and bullied in Europe and Christians beheaded in the Middle East. It is easy to say that those perpetrating the crimes are not like me. But are they? Do I too have that capability when I rely on man’s definition of who is good enough? The Germans started with deeming the sick, the insane, homosexuals and gypsy’s as inferior and moved on to the Jews, the Polish and many more.  Who gets to define who is worthy or valuable? These are haunting thoughts if we rely on man.  But what  if we allow the One who created us to be the definer of who is valuable. 

1 JOHN 4:19-20 “We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

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