Who do we normally think of as the epitome of human evil? Who is the quintessential example of the dark potential of human depravity?
Adolph Hitler. If you want to cast someone as a tyrant, bigot, or inhuman masochist, compare them to Hitler. How many times during George W. Bush’s presidency did we see protesters carrying large pictures of Bush with the perennially recognizable Hitler mustache painted on his upper lip? Recently, Hank Williams Jr. compared President Obama to Hitler, and as a result his song, “All My Rowdy Friends,” was discontinued as the intro to Monday Night Football after serving twenty years in that role. It’s a serious thing to throw the “Hitler epithet.”
Why is that? There have been other more murderous figures in human history, several in the 20th century alone. Yet, Hitler tops the list. There may be numerous reasons for this. Perhaps it is because his atrocities were the most widely documented. Who hasn’t seen the horrific pictures of giants pits full of emaciated corpses and heard the nightmarish tales of the suffering perpetrated in the concentration camps? Perhaps it is due to the fact that the holocaust represented an ethnic cleansing – millions of people died simply for being Jews. Perhaps it was the cruelty employed in the murdering of these people. Perhaps it was the brainwashing of the German people that empowered Hitler and his Nazis to carry out the epic slaughter. Perhaps it was all these things combined. Whatever the reasons, Hitler and Nazi Germany remain today the automatic darkest examples of the evil that human beings are capable of committing.
It’s amazing how easy it is to recognize evil that is happening or has happened somewhere else. We are horrified by a Hitler from which we are over half a century removed, yet we tolerate a more diabolical evil taking place right under our noses. There is a greater holocaust, both in terms of duration and lives lost, currently happening in the United States.
Hitler killed a total of between 10 and 12 million people. The United States has aborted over 50 million children since 1973.
I recently came across one of the most powerful videos I’ve ever seen. There is a link below to a video called “180,” released by Living Waters, a ministry founded by Ray Comfort. In it, Comfort uses his signature street evangelism method to lead people through a discussion of the holocaust, eliciting from them the pure evil of what happened at the hands of the Nazis. He then relates the holocaust to the modern massacre that we know as abortion. The results are stunning.
The video is about 33 minutes long, but well worth your time. It does contain graphic content – there are disturbing images of both the holocaust and the world of abortion, as well as some profanity, all of which is bleeped out, though. This is probably not something you will want your children to watch with you. You may also want to view it yourself before allowing your teens to see it.
Let me also say that even as we take a hard stand against abortion, we need to reach out in love and grace to those who have had abortions. Abortion is a sin, as the Bible clearly demonstrates that it is wrong to murder. But God is loving and gracious. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). If you or someone you know has had an abortion and still struggle with guilt, please contact the church. We want to come alongside and offer hope and help from God’s Word. The church phone is 513-759-0096.
Posted by Greg Birdwell
Comments