Posted on 09/25/2025 8:06:57 AM PDT by Rummyfan
Several columns ago, I used the phrase, “Thunder without sound,” when writing about our First Lady, Melania Trump. After my wife, two good friends, and I toured Auschwitz, I hope you’ll allow me to reuse that phrase, albeit slightly changed.
Auschwitz doesn’t whisper, shout, or mumble; it’s a quiet explosion rocking the foundation of my soul. I walked through our tour with an open mind, allowing it to flow rudderlessly to shape an outline for me to express in a way I hope makes sense. However, to properly share my thoughts, I’ll need to break this down into a few parts.
There was a strong sense of irony as we entered the camp, disembarking in the same area that victims did around 85 years ago, except we knew what to expect. The air felt different as we entered through the gates, almost as though it remembered. The weather truly fit the mood: windy, cold, rainy, as if we needed a reminder of what occurred there.
Then the barracks, the long rows of brick, standing like mute witnesses refusing to look away. When we entered them, it hit me, it wasn’t sadness, although that was there, it was rage. Unrestricted, boiling rage.
I was furious when looking at the selection lines, where men sitting in uniforms holding clipboards, deciding on the fly which prisoner would be healthy enough to work, and those who didn’t died a cruel death minutes later.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
Anger against God who didn’t stop it.
God gave man free will. It is a terrible and infinately precious gift. This is on mankind not on God.
True but God is the ruler so ....
If you tour the Bergen Belsen exhibit at the Imperial war museum and are not angry at the end, you have no humanity.
That’s a gross misunderstanding. God is not up in heaven shooting lightning bolts at the evil, or wiggling his nose like Samantha on Bewitched, making miracles to save the faithful.
That is often how people pray, but that is not the covenant today.
He sent his son, and we have freewill, and our salvation is assured on that faith. But what is not assure is that you don’t have a blowout, or won’t get mugged downtown.
Matthew 5:45
“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”
Sermon on the Mount.
The Bill Gates of Auschwitz?
There are many people today who claim none of the Holocaust happened.
I live in a town that has about 25% Jewish population. When I moved here 30 years ago it was not uncommon to see people in the line at the grocery store with tattooed numbers on their arms. It made the whole thing more “real.”
Every year there would be survivors at the high school talking to the students about their experiences. Those talks impacted several generations in our town.
The survivors are almost all gone by now. It is important that we remember so that we can prevent it from happening.
‘As Mortals We Stand Between Two Eternities deciding our Eternitie
By the Grace of God.
He did stop it. He just didn't prevent it.
When I was in high school I had a literature review assignment for which I chose to review the book of Job (from a long list the teacher provided).
My paper was fine, but I didn't really understand why God allowed Job to suffer so greatly. So, my explanations fell short.
But recently I discovered what I had been missing. Or, at least I believe so.
I don't think the book of Job actually answers the question of why Job, or other righteous and/or innocent people suffer.
And I think that is the point. Instead, it simply points out how wise and powerful God must be to have made the things He made. I think the answer is we have to trust that He knows what He's doing and will ultimately bring justice and mercy that will make all wrongs right.
It was God who gave us our sense of right, wrong, and justice. If God were to act unjustly, no one could stop Him or do anything about it anyway. But the fact that He made the rules and defined good and evil leads me to believe He will ultimately make all things right. He will punish all evil and reward all good.
Forgiveness is for the benefit of the victim. I know this is true because it’s Biblical, but it’s one of the most difficult of all Christian doctrines.
There’s a great line from a movie that I think is called “A time to love, a time to die.”
“God is not responsible to us for the things we do to one another on earth. Rather, we are responsible to God for the things that we do.”
I have tried to live that truth.
God ultimately punished evil when He came to earth and hung on the cross and “He who knew no sin became sin”. He made a way for us to repent and be cleansed from all unrighteousness, if we on!y will. Even the worst sinners. The exception is Judas, and those who refuse to accept Him as LORD and Savior, and those who, having once been Christians, blaspheme the Holy Spirit. It is not His will that ANY should perish (be condemned to Hell), but he knows there are many who will choose to do so , by refusing Him.
My husband and I have been studying Jeremiah. God warned Judah for 70 years to stop worshiping idols and repent, but they would not. Eventually, He allowed the Babylonians, as had been prophesied, to lay siege to them and conquer them. The result was horrific. Mothers and fathers eating their own children, children eating their own parents. And yet, despite allowing Babylon to conquer them, he saved a remnant, because He loved His people and had promised they would not be totally wiped out. And after the Babylonians were conquered, the Jews were eventually allowed to return to their homeland. Thankfully, with Jesus’ sacrifice, we are under a new Covenant, and God does not overtly punish as He once did. (I would expect not a few to be struck by lightning for some of the things they say or do, if He did). But He already meted out the punishment to Jesus. What a wonderful and free gift! Ours for the receiving, if we only will! Does it mean we won’t suffer? No, there is still evil in the world. But we who believe on Him have an whole eternity of peace and joy awaiting us, no matter what we suffer here on earth. I have not suffered anything like those poor victims of Hitler. It is pathetic and horrifying what they went through. But truth is truth, and the Bible is true. If we want peace, we must forgive. If we do not forgive others, God will not forgive us, and our suffering will be forever.
Well God sure isn’t taking care of business, that’s for sure. As some Jews say, they wished God chose some other people.
No such thing as ‘free will’ because if you use it, you’re condemned for using it.
We toured Mauthausen. It was unbelievable.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.