kriz@skat.usc.edu (Dennis Kriz) (03/19/91)
Someone a while back asked how one would answer the question: Well what would have happened if we didn't resist Hitler militarily during WW II (in relation to the question of just war)? I think that if there were a just war, that probably would be it. But I would like to add a few things to consider: (1) The phenomenal ammount of people killed in that war (50 million). The Nazis may have exterminated 10 million or so people, but millions of people died in the actual combat, millions more due to hunger and disease that come with conflict. In addition, from Manchester to Stalingrad, *hundreds* of cities across Europe were destroyed in the conflict. Even the Nazis extermination campaign was done at a "war footing" Outside of the context of war, it would have been much more difficult to explain even to the officers involved *why* somthing like that was "necessary." During the war, the Germans for the most part were too busy rallying around the flag, first for "national honor" then for "national survival" to busy themselves with moral questions about what their leadership was doing. Outside of the context of war, the behavior of the Nazi army would have been far harder to explain. (2) WW II was probably the last war that "we could get away with" Ok, Hussein we could still clobber, but arguably what China did to Tibet, or the USSR did in varying degrees to the Ukraine, the Baltics and to Eastern Europe were similarly appalling ... 'cept to do *anything* military about these crimes would have put the entire planet at risk. (3) Enter 1989. That year we found things happen that we did not think would ever happen. The Wall came down (E. Germany), and the former dissidents became power-brokers (Walesa), legislators (Sakharov) and even Presidents (Havel and later also Walesa). Evil does not last. What would have happened if we did not resist Hitler in WW II? I think something very similar to what has happened and is continue to happen in the Communist world. Eventually, Naziism would have destroyed itself in its own evil, or may have even progressively been "converted" (or even *converted* without the quotes). Consider that after Stalin died, his dreaded security chief Beria was dead soon afterwards ... killed quite possibly by the members of the Soviet politburo itself. It is significant to me that despite all the attrocities that the Nazis committed, Rev. Martin Niemoeller was not killed, and Rev. Dietrich Bon- hoeffer, despite being flagrantly involved in the celebrated plot to kill Hitler, was not executed until literarily the closing days of the war (the generals involved were dealt with far more swiftly than Bonhoeffer). Why was this? Certainly one more attrocity would not have made a difference to the Nazis' world standing. They knew what was coming from the outside anyway. But rather, killing either of those two men would have probably caused a great deal of trouble internally, with the German generals themselves. Bonhoeffer organized much of the plot against Hitler FROM HIS JAIL CELL. (4) Finally, while Charles Colson gives a glowing account of Rev. Martin Niemoeller in his book "Kingdoms in Conflict" (and I have a lot of respect for Colson and his book) ... Colson ends his biography of Niemoeller with the end of WW II. He neglects to mention that Niemoeller emerged from his jail cell at the end of the War an avowed pacifist. Niemoeller was elected one of the heads of the World Council of Churches, and later in 1967 he even went on a peace mission to Hanoi (Encl. Brittanica under Niemoeller, Martin). If we celebrate Niemoeller as a hero for what he did during the Nazi era (and he was a hero). We have to also at least mention what he did following the War. Anyway... it is something to consider. In the context of the recent Persian Gulf conflict, I think that one thing that the Christian community in this country did do is to make "Dresden" style carpet bombing of Iraq's cities an impossibility. And through the whole crisis, the *only* time that Bush was ever on the defensive was when he faced us ... the Christian community. Two incidents come to mind: (1) that Bush found himself having to speak to National Assoc. of Religious Broadcasters (read the tele-evangelists) rather than for instance the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church or a meeting of the Catholic bishops. (2) that the day after his speech asking for us to pray that God bless every American soldier entering combat (at the start of the ground offensive) there was such play in the media the next day that at the church service that Pres. Bush attended the next day, Pres. Bush and the rest of the congregation were praying for *all* those involved in the conflict (including presumably the Iraqis). Perhaps the Persian Gulf War was necessary ... it did happen afterall. But for the most part, I think that the churches in this country did their jobs also ... remind everyone that God doesn't distinguish between Iraqis and Americans. We're *all* under God ... and that may have ended up saving a lot of (Iraqi) lives. dennis kriz@skat.usc.edu