The movie “Nuremberg” presents a timely reminder of how easily a nation can fall into a coma while evil flourishes and prevails. The reality is that every act of brutality and savagery has its genesis, and all it needs to survive and thrive is for a large part of the populace to lack empathy while wearing blinders that ignore the pain and suffering of others. Such complacency can lead down a path of demonic levels of man’s inhumanity to man.  

And yet much of America finds itself living in denial while pushing to maintain revisionist history under the guise of patriotism. There is a cultlike loyalty that allows such evil to blossom and go unchallenged.  

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) was a prominent Lutheran pastor in Germany, best known for his quote, “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 me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

What Niemöller makes clear is that it’s not enough to simply sit it out and not get involved. As Albert Einstein said, “Silence is compliance.”

Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden and since Cain killed his brother Abel, mankind has gravitated toward evil deeds all over the world, and no demographic of people across the globe can claim innocence and that they have no blood on their hands.

For America to pretend that we are the exception just doesn’t make logical sense. And our history speaks to this matter clearly. As expressed by Hitler’s right-hand man Hermann Göring in the movie, America cannot claim a moral high ground when it dropped, not one, but two atomic bombs on innocent people in Japan.

Psychiatrist Captain Douglas Kelley, while being interviewed on a radio broadcast just before being ushered out of the studio, essentially shares the same conclusion from the research in his book. Consequently, his book sales fail, and he is ostracized as a result, ultimately leading him to the same fate as Göring, suicide by cyanide.    

And now here we are like frogs boiling in a pot, one degree at a time. Despite obvious ongoing destructive practices by this administration, many continue to support him and turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to all that this president says and does, no matter how bizarre.  

The destruction of a third of the Whitehouse to build a ballroom that the average American will never be able to enjoy is very symbolic of his mentality. Like Nero mythically playing his fiddle while Rome burned, he celebrates and parties with his wealthy friends and plays golf while the people suffer from loss of employment, high grocery prices, and gas prices.

There is a major disconnect here between the haves and the have-nots. It’s a mirrored reality of the Hebrews worshipping a golden calf in the wilderness. This golden calf represents the idol god of an unholy trinity of the love of money, power, and the lust of the flesh. It contains the root of ALL evil, and there is no way around this Biblical truth.

Parents are already being separated from their children. People are being deported to countries where they don’t originate without due process. ICE is aggressively abducting Black and brown skinned people despite their American citizenship.

The military is dispatched to American cities and given carte blanche to “do whatever they need to do,” to maintain law and order in the streets. And this order given by a 34-count felon who pardoned 1,500 January 6 insurrectionists out to do his bidding, many of whom have already committed other crimes since being released.

Sounding familiar? Hail Hitler! Hail Trump! Blind allegiance breeds chaotic results.    

It’s not too late to learn from history and avoid falling prey to the past. But the masses must see the value of unity and fighting against the powers that be, that wish to divide and conquer, to fill their pockets and establish lasting power.   

This is not only an issue for the present but for future generations as well. But we have to show up and allow our voices to be heard.