The Sum of Our Fears
Bob Wickizer
Isaiah 65:1-9
In the 1950s a German Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Martin Niemöller wrote a poem that began to be widely circulated. The poem refers to the cowardice of the German intellectual community during the rise of Hitler's Third Reich as each dissenting group in society was rounded up and disposed of.
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.
Niemöller, by the way, paid the price for his delayed political activism. The Nazis imprisoned him at the Dachau concentration camp from 1937 until he was freed by the Allies in 1945.
The drive to create a uniform, like-minded, similar-looking comfort group is alive today as it was in Nazi Germany and as it was in the time of Jesus. The force that motivates people to welcome similar-looking people and reject those who are different is called ''xenophobia'' or ''fear of the stranger.'' We even find this strong force working hard on Sunday mornings in the churches of Muskogee.
Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to Sunday mornings as ''the most segregated hour in the United States.'' Here in Muskogee we have separate ministerial groups for black and white clergy. Our churches are mostly all black or all white. But the segregation is not limited to racial distinctions. Wealthy people do not like poor people. Poor people do not like wealthy people. Disabled people may envy able bodied people and able bodied people often feel uncomfortable around disabled people. Some people have a problem with cross-dressers. Others have a problem with gay folks. Still others can't deal with transgendered people. Even more folks have a hard time trusting others with foreign accents. And around and ar ...
Bob Wickizer
Isaiah 65:1-9
In the 1950s a German Lutheran pastor, the Rev. Martin Niemöller wrote a poem that began to be widely circulated. The poem refers to the cowardice of the German intellectual community during the rise of Hitler's Third Reich as each dissenting group in society was rounded up and disposed of.
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.
Niemöller, by the way, paid the price for his delayed political activism. The Nazis imprisoned him at the Dachau concentration camp from 1937 until he was freed by the Allies in 1945.
The drive to create a uniform, like-minded, similar-looking comfort group is alive today as it was in Nazi Germany and as it was in the time of Jesus. The force that motivates people to welcome similar-looking people and reject those who are different is called ''xenophobia'' or ''fear of the stranger.'' We even find this strong force working hard on Sunday mornings in the churches of Muskogee.
Martin Luther King, Jr. referred to Sunday mornings as ''the most segregated hour in the United States.'' Here in Muskogee we have separate ministerial groups for black and white clergy. Our churches are mostly all black or all white. But the segregation is not limited to racial distinctions. Wealthy people do not like poor people. Poor people do not like wealthy people. Disabled people may envy able bodied people and able bodied people often feel uncomfortable around disabled people. Some people have a problem with cross-dressers. Others have a problem with gay folks. Still others can't deal with transgendered people. Even more folks have a hard time trusting others with foreign accents. And around and ar ...
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