Sometime ago, I was watching evening news. It showed a 75 year man being run over by a hit and run car. There were dozens of people within yards of him as he lay motionless in the middle of the street. Not one person walked over to him to help. I've always wondered how we allowed the Holocaust to happen...now I think I know. These people were not evil. They had families they loved, and who loved them. When we see people react like this we always think they must be totally unlike me. I'm a better person than that. I would never be so cold.
Are those people different than us? Do you think fate cast a situation where only cold hearted, evil people were the only ones one on that corner that day? There is no way I would not act. I am better than they are.. But, what if we aren't? They had grandchildren they loved. They went to church. The odds of only heartless people being in one spot is hard to believe. Then what happened?
What would we have done if we smelled the stench coming from Treblinka, or Auschwitz. Would we have rose up against the SS? Would we have left our children at home and marched to the gates of Auschwitz and demanded they stop?If we were in the middle of a raging lynch mob in 1955, would we have stood up, and tried to stop an out of control crowd, knowing we would be hung for being a nigger lover? In our hearts we need to believe we are not like them.
My New Year's resolution is to stand up and make a difference...not with words, but with my actions. I would rather die than watch a 75 year old man die in the street because of my inaction. My New Year's resolution is to not let a lie go unchallenged...to speak out against genocide...to prove I am not like them...whatever the cost. I will not seek an excuse for not acting like a decent human being. I would rather die with pride, than hide because of fear. My life is not more valuable, than my humanity.
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