Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Sixty five years ago Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by soldiers of the Soviet Union. The sign that hung over the gate at Auschwitz read "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Makes One Free." Irony. Auschwitz was not a work camp, it was a death camp - part of a network of death camps created by evil men.
Though I could produce paragraph upon paragraph of text about the issue of evil in our world, so many more before me have done so already, and they've done it more eloquently than I could. Thus, I give to you a litany of wisdom from minds far greater than my own:
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing." - Albert Einstein
"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke
"Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all -- the apathy of human beings." - Helen Keller
"He who does not punish evil, commands it to be done." - Leonardo Da Vinci
". . . evil will always triumph because because good is dumb." - Mel Brooks [Spaceballs]
Do you get where I'm going with this? If you guessed "Evil flourishes because not enough people care to do anything about it" you're on the right track. One more quote for the heck of it:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayanna
Today, please take a moment to:
1) Remember the millions of people who have lost their lives to the whims of evil men.
2) Thank the good Lord (or other deity of choice) for what you have today.
3) Care enough to do something, anything for those who suffer at the hands of evil men.
Amnesty International is a good place to start if you're looking for ideas.
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