H is for Holocaust

It is impossible to think about it. It is impossible not to think about it. Nothing in history equals the horror of it. … Many were old men. Many were small children. Many were women. They were charged with nothing except being Jews. …

That many of the people who took part in the killings were professing Christians, not to mention many more who knew about the killings but did nothing to interfere, is a scandal which the Church of Christ perhaps does not deserve to survive.

Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

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Moving on in this (un)happy week in American history, I read this by Buechner.

I have been haunted by the images from the El Salvadoran prison and the young mother whose husband is there. A clerical error. Oops. American Christians should be hanging their heads in shame. This is not what Jesus calls us to do.

I know, I know — I heard J.D. Vance called him a vicious gang member and human trafficker. Today, as I write this, the Supreme Court has ordered the US goverment to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego García, yet the DoJ can’t even say where he is. No one is doubling down on the vicious gang story anymore.

Also, no one in the government has apologized to my knowledge. Probably no one ever will.

Go on — look at the photos from the prison and tell me that it doesn’t turn your stomach. Okay — it’s not old men, women, and children, but’s it’s still wrong. This is what we as a country have done.