tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2654455663519806899.post8981478366449282567..comments2023-11-09T02:43:59.293-08:00Comments on Christian Medical Comment: Holocaust Memorial Day – Let’s not forget the key role doctors playedPeter Saundershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17222354018504253042noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2654455663519806899.post-39368907527533291432013-01-30T08:16:01.070-08:002013-01-30T08:16:01.070-08:00Aidan,
And yet again you miss the point.
The wh...<br />Aidan,<br /><br />And yet again you miss the point. <br /><br />The whole idea of the "final solution" STARTED with eugenics - it didn't start out as ovens for gypsies and jews, it started out as killing machines for the disabled and the "unworthy".<br /><br />Eugenics as a philosophical idea may have been "sexy" in the Europe and USA of the early 20th century, but the fact remains that it wasn't actually put into practice, definitely not on a significant scale, except in Germany.<br /><br />None of this takes away from the brutality of the Nazi regime, and the fear factor you keep banging on about (yes, of COURSE millions complied out of fear - that goes without saying. But it has no relevance to this particular discussion). Or the fact that ordinary individuals are capable of great evil, under the "right" circumstances.<br /><br />Since this is one of the rare occasions when I actually agree with Peter, I'm surprised and disappointed he doesn't back me up :)Jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2654455663519806899.post-17853042849227398322013-01-29T10:49:09.942-08:002013-01-29T10:49:09.942-08:00You're missing the point, mate. I think what P...<br />You're missing the point, mate. I think what Peter is trying to say is that the medical profession LED with the changes, they did not merely "comply".<br /><br />Ergo, your conclusion that it would have simply lengthened the queues for the ovens is wrong. This was about incremental extension. Once people get used to disabled and other "unworthy" lives being extinguished (at the instigation of the medical profession, no less), then it is the start of a slippery slope. The point is that the slope would likely never have been reached, were it not for these doctors "paving the way" by their previous actions wrt the physically disabled and the mentally ill.Jamesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2654455663519806899.post-533455539893027302013-01-29T00:20:28.570-08:002013-01-29T00:20:28.570-08:00The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil i...The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (See also Pastor Niemoeller's famous quote).<br /><br />On the other hand, Stanley Milgram's work showed us that it is remarkably easy to persuade human beings to readily comply with the apparent torture (possibly even execution) of other human beings. Having read Milgram's book, I feel far from certain that if placed in his experiment, I wouldn't comply. I feel moderately certain that if I lived in a country like Nazi Germany (and had no means of escape), where I considered the lives of my family and children to be threatened by the state for my non-compliance, I would do anything I was told, in order to ensure their safety. I think for any of us to pretend otherwise is naive.<br /><br />What happened in Nazi Germany is but one example (among dozens) of how one group of human beings has visited untold suffering on another group of human beings. It is not special; it just has the advantage of having been recent enough that eyewitness accounts and reliable photographic documentation have survived to allow us to scrutinise what happened. The fact that some of those human beings who perpetuated the suffering were doctors doesn't surprise me in the least. I dare say quite a lot of them were also Christians.<br /><br />Doctors are people. Like all people, most are compassionate, decent and kind, but some are cruel, selfish and wicked.<br /><br />If the German medical profession had taken a stand against the Nazis, it might indeed have slowed them up a bit. However, I tend to think it would simply have slightly lengthened the queues for the ovens, as they were all rounded up, family by medical family.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com