Last night, Sybren and I went to a friend’s ranch to watch a movie in her chapel called the
“I AM” chapel. It’s a simple green building with a lovely stained-glass window picturing a dove.
Normally, the small chapel seats about 15 to 20 people, but this evening there were almost 50 of us sitting on benches, ice chests, camp chairs and standing against the wall.
We were from all different churches in Washington county gathered to watch A Letter to the American Church. The movie was produced by Eric Metaxas, author of the acclaimed biography about a German pastor who was executed in WWII named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The movie was based on his book by the same title.
Why was it called “A Letter to the American Church?” Eric Metaxas sees himself a bit like St. Paul writing to the Corinthians. I see him more like Paul Revere. Either way, his film is a warning to all Americans that we are approaching another holocaust as Germany and Poland experienced during World War II. (See my earlier column titled, “Paul Revere is Here with a Message”).
The German church had an opportunity to stop Hitler but failed. It appeared that everyone went along to get along. Only a handful of pastors stood up and spoke against “The Fuhrer.” Many pastors like Dietrich Bonhoeffer were also executed by the German Nazi government.
Why did this failure happen? In the beginning of the 1930s, most German citizens were caught up in the excitement of the age: they loved Hitler’s parades, the momentum, his promises, the positive message, the growing economy. He promised to fix everything. Yet over time, many Germans came to realize that they were trapped. Since neighbors were rewarded for reporting anyone who did not support the regime, they did. 15,000 out of 18,000 churches remained quiet or leaned in with support of the government. People were not stupid. They could see what was going on, and they were completely cowed. They saw the Gestapo arrest their neighbors and seize their property. In addition to those who resisted, the Gestapo hunted out socialists, communists, homosexuals, gypsies, outspoken pastors, outspoken professors and teachers, uncooperative doctors, trade unionists, the mentally challenged, the handicapped, and finally the Jews, six million of them.
The opportunity to resist existed at the beginning of Hitler's reign when the Fuhrer promised that he was Germany’s Savior. At that moment, the Church should have said, “No, you’re not! Nein, Nein NEIN!”
By waiting so long, the Nazi regime grew in power and influence over large swaths of the population by giving them “jobs” and recruiting them into the Nazi Party. Resistance assured a certain death sentence.
A dear friend once shared this quote from Winston Churchill, “If you will not fight for freedom when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”
In Germany’s case, too many “Christians” played the organ and sang louder so they wouldn’t hear the trains full of suffering people headed to the death camps.
We cannot be like them.
There are times when we must fight. Right now, it is not the time. Eric Metaxas is saying right now we must speak. We must use our voice. Hang on to our microphone and don’t let it go. Get our churches in unity against all the ways that our society is being pulled apart: whether the issue is the sanctity of the family, the invasion at our border, the inflationary economy, our over regulated ranches and farms, our dependence on foreign energy and medicine, and most importantly, the lack of justice in our legal system.
My teaching partner from my school days is 92 years old. We were talking today about the historic conviction of our former president. She said, “The justice system is always the first institution to fail in a collapse.” Now, we can hope that she’s wrong, and the higher courts will take the high road to real justice, not the partisan road.
In Texas, we know about hardship and sacrifice to beat back tyranny. Washington County is where Texas became Texas. Let us be leaders. Let us say, “Nein! No, we do not accept that there are 72 genders. God made us male and female. We believe in nationhood with borders that are respected and defended. We believe in legal immigration. We believe that we are a nation of laws, not of men. We believe in property rights. We believe in the ten commandments: Thou shall not murder. Thou shall not steal. Thou shalt not covet because we believe every human life is precious.
At the end of the documentary, Carroll Clover, a local Brenhamite, spoke about an initiative called the White Rose Resistance. (www.WhiteRose.life) This organization has as its goal to start a grass roots movement to wake up the church and get the church pastors to speak to the preciousness of life, in other words to speak out against abortion. Please look at this website and get involved.
If we don’t speak out now against all these issues, our civilization, our way of life will go the way of Carthage obliterated by the Romans or Constantinople decimated by the Ottoman Turks.
As Churchill presciently warned, the fighting will grow more desperate the longer we fail to speak and confront.
Studying ancient history, you may recall the fighting Jews of Masada when every man, woman and child died rather than submit to tyranny. In more recent times, remember the Texans who died at the Alamo. They knew one thing for sure. Freedom isn’t free.
The Marxist-Authoritarian world movement cannot succeed as long as the American Church stands up. Let’s get our churches to stand and speak out so we don’t have to fight.
I must close with two short stories.
Today, my husband put up spotlights on two documents that are hanging by the door of our event center. On one side is the Texas Declaration of Independence, which was signed just five miles from my place, a fact of which I am immensely proud. On the other is the American Declaration of Independence. We bought the spotlights a while back, and I asked him if yesterday’s court verdict motivated him to hang those lights. He said he hadn’t even thought of that, but I did. I think it may have been subconscious because we know we must know our rights, our history, our biblical principles better than ever before. The test is going to be on how we use our voice and speak up for our rights, our history, and our biblical principles.
The last story is this. On Memorial Day, we decided to watch the movie Patton with George C. Scott. Watch the beginning. It’s General Patton giving a speech to the troops. We researched that speech and found out that what he said in reality was far more interesting than what the movie depicted. There is one line that I am about to quote that was in the movie and was spoken on this day, May 31, 1944, exactly 80 years ago. Remember Patton liked to cuss, so don’t be offended by his language. And again, remember now is the time to use your voice. But this is a great quote and in honor of General Patton and his service to our country, I leave you with this.
“No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”