About a week ago, a group of people dressed in black with red masks (funny how they are afraid to let us know who they are) marched through Columbus, Ohio, carrying Nazi flags, spraying pepper spray, and shouting racist slurs through a megaphone. Pres. Biden, Ohio Gov. DeWine, and Columbus Mayor Ginther, among others, have spoken out against this heinous act of hate, and the investigation is ongoing. This isn’t new – Nazis are all over the world, and it has been six years since they marched down the streets of Charlottesville, VA, shouting “the Jews will not replace us.” They are just some of the many hate groups that exist all over America with no repercussions. They marched against the Capitol Building as part of the attempted insurrection, and some have called them American heroes. As long as there is no violence, they are allowed to raise their voices in hatred. Got to love free speech.
Still, while those who voice support for Nazis are few, it seems that this is something we can unite around – Nazis = Bad people. Simple math for complicated times. Still, for too many people, this isn’t as simple as it should be. Two weeks ago, a group of people carrying Nazi flags demonstrated outside a community theater performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” in Livingston County, Michigan, in a display of antisemitism. This book, officially titled “A Diary of a Young Girl”, as well as the comic book version of it, have been at the center of book banning since 1982, when parents in a town in Virginia protested what they considered inappropriate sexual innuendo and thoughts in the book. I’ve read it, and I can tell you there are far more problematic stories in the Bible. Just sayin’.
As a nation, we have found little to agree about in the last four decades; disagreement, division, and siloing have become part of how we define ourselves. Maybe – just, maybe – we can all agree that Nazis are bad, and that those who support them are bad too. We fought a war over this very question, but if you think Americans were completely united then, think again. Nazis marched freely to cheering crowds throughout this country in the 1920s through the early 1930s. Their ideology of anti-Semitism was widely embraced; it was the practice of genocide that shut that down. Still, we can see the ugly face of hatred rising, and we need to unite against it.
It would be a beautiful way to be thankful in the coming weeks. Thankful for freedom. Thankful for diversity. Thankful for differences of opinion. And thankful that we are all in agreement that hate is not welcome here. Go back to the rocks you crawled out from, Nazis – your evil isn’t welcome here.
Prayer – Holy God, thank You for giving us the ability to tell good from evil. May our commitment to You unite us in this work. Amen.
Today’s art is “Unity 1” by Margaret Munn.