My mother grew up in Nazi-occupied Belgium. At an early age I learned how Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies and the mentally ill were considered subhuman. Along with political prisoners they were thrown into concentration camps, worked to death or simply murdered. Because these individuals were considered subhuman or were going to die anyhow, doctors and other medical people who lived otherwise normal lives performed heinous medical research on these "disposable" human lives. They became items of commerce in a culture of death.
My question to my mother was, "How could this happen in a Christian country? Didn't the pastors speak out against this?" My mother replied, "They were afraid." I really didn't understand or totally accept this until this political season. Pastors are being denounced to the authorities should they dare to speak out on right-to-life issues. Pastors find themselves in a Gestapo-like atmosphere.
We are living in a culture of death where defenseless human life is an item of industry and commerce. Germany has outlawed embryonic stem cell research. Many politicians, including Mike Hatch, have proposed massive taxpayer-funded research on "disposable" human embryos. Have the Germans learned something we have forgotten? During the 1960s pastors were supported in a movement to recognize the rights of many considered less than human. Where is our support for today's pastors who dare speak the truth?
Jim Schwarz
New London
