They trudged up the street, their women in a whispering knot behind them, and now there was mud on their shining shoes. They came to the tangle of bodies and then moved closer together. The living looked at the dead and the dead stared back at them and there was no sound on the hill…
But this was not their guilt, the leading citizens of Ohrdruf explained. They had never shot a man, or used a club. Yes, they were of the same political faith as the executioners. They prospered from the work of these slaves. This camp was in their town but they had never come here before this. Therefore, the leading citizens say, they were blameless. (James Cannon, European Stars and Stripes staff writer, talking about local Germans who were forced by American military officers to march by Ohrdruf, a sub-camp of Buchenwald, after its liberation in April 1945.)
In both Christian compassion and a recognition of our common humanity, pro-life advocates still grieve for the victims of the Nazi barbarism. Yet when we read such passages as this, we also think of the abortion clinics in American neighborhoods where blasphemous brutality against preborn boys and girls (every bit as wicked as anything the Nazis did) is performed nearly every day.
And yet the citizens of American cities and towns drive, walk, and bicycle by abortion businesses without giving a single thought to what’s happening inside. Businesses — even day care centers, doctors’ offices, and police stations — may be located right next door. Yet their activities go on apace, very few people troubled by the unjust violence being performed so near to them.
And what about the churches and synagogues, the civic groups, the schools and the charitable organizations of the towns where abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood ply their grisly trade? Where is the protest of abortion? Where is the outcry against the barbaric injustices perpetrated therein to preborn boys and girls?
But this was not their guilt, the citizens of Ohrdruf explained to the American soldiers. Yes, this concentration camp was in their town, but they had never come here before this. They hadn’t participated themselves in the bloody deeds. Therefore, the citizens maintain that they were, in fact, quite blameless.
Shouldn’t such a conclusion alarm us, at least to cause us to honestly, humbly consider why Christians are not motivated to…say, pray at those abortion businesses, even once in awhile? To lodge principled protests of these horrors to the powers that be? To support with time and treasure the critical work of pro-life pregnancy aid centers and others who are engaged against the culture of death? To work and give what’s necessary for genuine pro-life defenders to be elected to public office? To pray fervently and frequently for a holy redress of grievances?
Make no mistake, if the Church does not do these things, Christians in the West must accept their guilt of apathy and callousness and outright disloyalty to the Lord God Who warned them, “Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, O hold them back. If you say, ‘See, we did not know this,’ does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?” (Proverbs 24:11-12)
And “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (Isaiah 1:17) And “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.” (Psalm 82:3) And “Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.” (Jeremiah 22:3)
Of course, many, many more Scriptures are immediately relevant to this matter and you can survey those Scriptures at “Key Scripture Passages Relating to the Sanctity of Human Life” over at the website of Vital Signs Ministries. I encourage you to do so in order to best evaluate this exhortation.
Dear God, please help us to avoid the guilt of complicity, including the complicity of silence and lack of caring that has so shamefully marked the modern American church. Give us instead a new motivation to stand for righteousness. Give us courage and boldness and a deep desire to get out of our comfort zones and into Your will.
And Lord, please give us very specific directions in how we should improve our Christian service. How, for instance, should we be praying? Can we give more to Christ-honoring pregnancy centers and other pro-life ministries? How do we go about joining other Christians in prayer at an abortion business? What about those letter-writing parties that Vital Signs Ministries offers? For that matter, what about the action alerts promoted by pro-life, profamily organizations? And then there’s the annual March for Life, the Life Chain, the need to more enthusiastically support pro-life advocates running for public office, and the ongoing need to talk up pro-life issues to friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, and fellow church members.
Guys, we can do this. Unlike the people of Ohrdruf that had to be forced by foreign soldiers to look closely at the evil they had driven out of their minds, we can (by God’s ever-abounding grace) squarely face the facts…and then act wisely and winsomely to shine God’s truth abroad in our darkened culture. Indeed, the death camps are in our own cities and towns. But we can earnestly strive to be guiltless — not by hunkering down in an illusory safety, not by ignoring what’s really happening, but by holding aloft the standards of His holiness, His truth, and His grace.