First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
—Pastor Martin Niemöller, 1955

Pastor Niemöller was born in Germany in 1892. He was fiercely loyal to his country in the early half of the century. An anti-communist, he fit well into the ideology of Hitler’s Nazism. He gave fiery speeches from his position as a Lutheran Pastor explaining how, in his eyes, the Jews had suffered as they had for thousands of years because they “murdered Christ”.  He only turned against Hitler when Hitler turned against the churches. It was then Niemöller realized the churches were all alone against a machine of slaughter they could not keep at bay. He spent the remainder of the war years fighting the Third Reich and eventually in concentration camps. His poem says a lot about how he believed and acted in the years leading up to WWII. 

But this is all ancient history to us Americans. And we know that history never repeats. What’s more, it happened on someone else’s continent, far away from the plush overstuffed chairs of our fairy-tale land where we can hide behind the stone walls of self-evident Jeffersonian rights. Yes, we can just go on with our American Idol lives, watching our football and Soaps and never worrying about what our neighbors are thinking or doing. Except for maybe if they’re a little weird, and we don’t like the way they think. And when the feds swoop down, we watch it all on TV and talk about how good it was to see those kooks get what was coming to them because it was a sick way they lived anyhow. And when those feds burned that compound fifteen years ago to smoke out the poor, helpless victims we were happy to see David Koresh and his cronies killed or carted off to jail. It was all to save the little ones. They shouldn’t have to live like that, being indoctrinated as they were. They should live free of the fetters of the teachings of obviously tyrannical cultists and be normal like the rest of us. That was all OK. We knew they were wrong because of what the TV showed us. And we could go on back to our lives eating Cheetos and Snickers bars and letting our brains turn to mush.

And when they came for those sick-o polygamists and their child-brides, what were we saying then? Oh, those disgusting people. They got what was coming to them because they are indoctrinating those helpless children. It’s good the government went in there and broke up that disgusting ring. Who cares that the phone tip was an anonymous call from—where?—Colorado Springs, they said? Oh, never mind that. This is a good thing, to break up these families, whoever they are, whoever they belong to. They’re in state custody now, away from those thugs, so they are safe while we figure out what to do about these obviously abusive, self-professed prophets. I don’t know, I heard them say that on the news, so it’s gotta be true, right? And anyway, these people are guilty. They think weird; they think differently from me. It’s good that they go down, whether the raid was legal or not, because they are obviously bad.

Force destroys freedom in many ways. Indoctrination, as used by our culture connotes force in its teachings and prohibits the rational, critical questioning of the things the person is learning. Any organization that follows such a methodology should reevaluate its motives, be it extremist cult or the mainstream cult of government education. State police rounding up 430+ children on the pretense of one anonymous phone call destroys freedom. States, all states and not Texas alone, should look very carefully at its policy and reconsider how easily they are willing to destroy families without due process. This happens far too often.

The common by-stander—and with the latest technological aids we are all bystanders—should reevaluate his/her reaction to such events. Are you glad these families have been ripped from their homes? Do you act as if they are guilty before even the investigators know the facts? Do you believe it is just to separate families from one another until you can gather those facts? If you answer in the affirmative, you should rethink the amount of tyranny that is in your own heart. Your force may destroy the freedom of others, but it most certainly will destroy your own freedom by fettering the ability of your turning your brain on. 

The FLDS stand accused of indoctrinating their girls. Indoctrination is a very loose term, extremely and intentionally so defined. The accusation is very difficult to defend oneself against. Anyone can be accused of indoctrination. 

After the war, Niemöller lived out his life veritably atoning for his sometimes weak, sometimes ambivalent attitude regarding ideas he later confessed he knew better about. The Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt, which he helped draft, states”

With great pain we say: By us infinite wrong was brought over many peoples and countries. That which we often testified to in our communities, we express now in the name of the whole church: We did fight for long years in the name of Jesus Christ against the mentality that found its awful expression in the National Socialist regime of violence; but we accuse ourselves for not standing to our beliefs more courageously, for not praying more faithfully, for not believing more joyously, and for not not loving more ardently.

First they came for the Branch Davidians…
Then they came for the FLDS…
Did you speak out for them?
Because … you’re next.

MRFC Principles:  (4, 11)

Resources

Niemöller, Martin. “First They Came for the Jews.” Holocaust Poetry. ed. Hilda Schiff. New York. St. Martin’s Press, 1995. p. 9.

Wikipedia, “Martin Niemöller”

The Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt

Michelle Roberts (AP), “Texas Polygamous Sect Is Accused of Indoctrinating Girls” Yahoo! News, April 18, 2008.

George Merritt (AP), “Arrest Warrant: Colo. Woman’s Phone Linked to Polygamous Ranch Raid,” Salt Lake Tribune, April 23, 2008.