We Just Didn't Know!

It wasn’t our fault. When it started our imaginations were captured and our hopes for a renewal of national pride reignited. And it was all in the face of serious problems—the economy, our relationship with other nations, the hatred generated by radical movements beyond our borders.

Then there were the dangerous outsiders already in our midst. They were a constant source of trouble. As long as they were among us, we were not safe. These immigrants were not our kind of people. They would not speak our language, but had brought with them a corruption of it by which they communicated. They would not attend our churches or honor our traditions. They even threatened to take our already scarce jobs.

In time a new powerful leader arose among us. He reminded us every day that we could not trust these aliens, and promised to save us from their treachery. He was supported by right-wing politicians and the conservative churches these politicians had seduced. These patriots had vowed to make him our national savior, no matter what he said, even when most of us disagreed with it. But he had vowed to rid the nation of those who threatened us from within. He would deport them! What is more he would fence out any others who tried illegally to sneak across our borders. With him as our leader we would be safe. Great crowds cheered him on.

There were a few problems. Some of his supporters began to attack and deface the businesses and places of worship these strangers owned. In time we required them to be identified by displaying on their clothes a special insignia. While nobody was able to predict just how this scenario would play itself out, we knew that nothing unsavory could ever happen here. We were not that sort of people.

Nevertheless, we slowly began to realize that the enclaves in our cites where these outsiders had isolated themselves were being cleared, and the populations moved away. Where to? We never asked. If we knew anything more, we did not share our concerns even with each other. This was not our problem, and at least we were to be rid of these troublemakers.

When later if was revealed what had happened, we were shocked. Concentration camps, Gas chambers? But these horrible events were not our doing. We were shielded from the truth by our self-imposed refusal to see. If we knew those who might have been involved, well they were just following orders—and isn’t that what good citizens are called to do? We ordinary folks don’t make the laws, we are just supposed to obey them.

While many of us—perhaps even most of us—thought the whole thing was ridiculous from the start, calling our new leader a buffoon, we let it happen, and by the time we finally realized what we had allowed, it was too late. It all started so innocently, so slowly.

What about this so-called national leader? He had appealed to what seemed important to the most patriotic among us. He was particularly popular with many Christians who may not have liked his religion—or lack of it—but appreciated the force of his convictions. Once we had been a great nation, the greatest in all human history—and he had promised to make us great again. He would reassemble a military machine powerful enough to wipe from the face of the earth anyone who opposed us. No one would dare take us on. Our borders would be sealed. We would have gotten rid of those who threatened us from within, and bombed into oblivion anyone who threatened us from without.

How did it happen? The sad truth is, we gradually let it happen. But it wasn’t our fault. We just didn’t know.