‘First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me.’ (1)
Pastor Martin Neimöller was a Protestant pastor in Germany, who was enthusiastic about the coming to power of the Nazi Party in 1933. However, by 1937, he understood the underlying tyranny of the Nazis and actively engaged in opposing them. He joined with Dietrich Bonhöffer in establishing the Confessing Church, which taught biblical Christianity. Inevitably, he was arrested by the Gestapo and spent years in concentration camps. Somehow, he survived World War II. Bonhöffer was executed just near the end of the war.
The quote above is from Neimöller. It was never written down but he spoke these and similar words many times during his time of freedom. Sometimes, some of these phrases were omitted for one group and substituted with another, such as Roman Catholics, homosexuals, gypsies, the mentally ill, etc. His basic principle was to defy and denounce totalitarianism against any group of people who, by simply existing, warranted persecution by the state.
Over and over again in the last century we seen similar tactics of arrest by state officials without justification and on mere suspicion that the person apprehended might commit a crime. Previously, Australians were highly disturbed when stories of the Gestapo, KGB, Stasi, North Korean and Chinese secret police or religious police in Arab countries undertook these activities.
The Lower House of the Victorian Parliament has already passed the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2020. If passed by the Victorian Upper House next week, it will give ‘authorised officers’ the power to detain indefinitely anyone who they think may commit a crime against public health. There is no process of review or appeal in the legislation.
So, we are in a position where it may soon occur that Victorians can be arrested and detained at the whim of some unknown ‘authorised officer’ for something we didn’t know we had done.
Yet the people of Australia don’t seem to care about this assault on freedoms we have taken for granted.
Where are church leaders on this subject. Silent!
Where are the civil rights groups on this subject. Silent!
Where are the media (who hypocritically claim to be the voice of freedom—when it suits them!) on this subject. Silent!
Where is the Christian Prime Minister of the Liberal(?!) Party on this subject. Silent!
Neimöller was correct. When they come for me OR YOU, there will be no one to speak for us. We will have condemned ourselves to tyranny by the state because we were silent. We have not learnt the lessons of history and may soon have to endure them again. Why would one Australian have died for freedom in our many wars if they had known that their legacy would be a lethargic, ignorant and uncaring nation that, by silence, enabled itself to be chained to evil.
There is still time to express opposition to this totalitarian legislation. Speak to members of parliament in the Victorian Upper House and urge them to reject this legislation.
5 How great are Your works, O Lord!
Your thoughts are very deep.
6 A senseless man has no knowledge,
Nor does a stupid man understand this:
7 That when the wicked sprouted up like grass
And all who did iniquity flourished,
It was onlythat they might be destroyed forevermore.
8 But You, O Lord, are on high forever.
9 For, behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For, behold, Your enemies will perish;
All who do iniquity will be scattered.
Psalm 92:5-9
(1) ‘First They Came’ by Pastor Martin Neimöller, Holocaust Memorial Trust, UK.
