Our D.I.S. (Drew University International Seminar) never really touched on what is probably the biggest question that the Holocaust has raised. Namely, if there is a God, how could He let the Holocaust happened? This question can be subsumed under an older and broader question--why would a good God allow evil? I thought this would be the most difficult question I would tackle on our trip. Surprisingly to me, this question was not difficult for me. I received two moments of clarity in regards to this issue. One was provided by Barbara Ann and the second was provided by Luna Kauffman.
Barbara Ann reminded me of a passage of scripture that is pertinent to the question.
The psalmist definitely understood something that most of us in our post-modernist culture do not. God's ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. The creator of the universe is smart, as is shown in the works of his creation. With this mindset the Holocaust, probably the most horrible human tragedy, is put into perspective. "His thoughts are not our thoughts." Maybe "our priorities are not His priorities" would be a better way of stating the previous statement. Much lasting good has been brought about by the Holocaust. It is known by many people that we learn, we become better, and we experience good by going through the crucible of suffering, and I will give only a few of the examples of this. Because of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is being removed from the church, i.e. the world-wide body of believers of Jesus, and its theology. Another example of good that has come out of the Holocaust would be the establishment of Israel. The second moment of clarity came from Luna Kauffman. While we were at the former concentration camp outside of Krakow, she was explaining what the local Polish citizens knew. Obviously, they knew a lot, even if they did not have complete knowledge. Luna told us that the locals could smell the burning flesh from Auschwitz. They had to have noticed the millions of Jews from Poland which were taken away. And then it became clear to me. 15
People let the Holocaust happen. From the bystanders in Germany to F.D.R. in the United States, humanity let this happen. How many countries turned away the Jews before the Holocaust began? The Allied armies refused to bomb Auschwitz. Many people voted for Hitler. When Hitler began his aggression, the community of nations did not speak up. People looked away and permitted evil. Some went so far as to invite this evil. People did too little.
Given all of this, why do we try to place the blame of the Holocaust with God? As I was told in elementary school, when you point a finger at someone you have three pointing back at yourself. After studying the Holocaust for so long, it has become abundantly clear that humanity failed several times.
So why did God let the Holocaust happen? I do not have an answer for that, and I don't claim to understand God's ways. I do know where the blame lies for the Holocaust. The blame lies with the Nazis and with the numerous people all over the world who did nothing. Blaming God is disingenuous. It actually is quite audacious. The responsibility for the Holocaust does not lie with God. As I have shown, humanity is fully responsible for what it has done and allowed to happen. Humanity just isn't in the place to blame God.
In light of the recent terrorist attacks, many of us have been wondering about theological issues. Especially why would God allow bad things to happen? Here is an article you may be interested about this topic. It embodies my thought on this subject since studying the Holocaust.
I welcome discussion and questions on this and other topics that my site touches on.
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