Lessons from our past

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

These are the words of Voltaire. He also wrote in his letters with Catherine the Great, warning of the potential dangers of pure democracy that, “Almost nothing great has ever been done in the world except by the genius and firmness of a single man combating the prejudices of the multitude.”

Scholars, philosophers, and writers throughout history have warned us of the dangers of the mob and how cultures can be disrupted by ‘movements’ and the passions of the crowds.

Voltaire, whose writings savagely attacked the doctrinaire Catholic Church of his time, also wrote several tracts highly critical of the Jewish faith and other faiths as well. He was an opponent of organized doctrines in general, seemingly seeing them as the cause for division amongst cultures and countries and the causes of much disruption, while limiting the advancements of culture and knowledge.

I would suggest that the real answers of life lies somewhere in between and that quite possibly it has been the manipulations of evil men hiding behind the robes of religion to advance their own positions in our affairs throughout history. It was not the Canon but the cannons that have been used to deny positive gains in societies and to bring about destruction. The Canons provide the bulwark of what can be right and just.

Modern history is replete with evidence of how the crowds can be manipulated and the populace, especially during times of cultural or economic stress, can be led down paths that end up being nothing but destruction. Throughout history the structures of faith have been used as tools by those who would do evil. It has never been the true faith that cuts deep into cultures, but rather has been those of evil intent who have manipulated problems to suit their own plans and to advance their own nefarious causes.

We still struggle to lean from the examples of The Holocaust, a collective atrocity well beyond anything else in our modern Western era. While we flatter ourselves into thinking we are above these kinds of horrors the blatant truth is that less than a century ago the world stood by while a rising political leader used the seeds of evil that lie within so many as tools to kill over six million people of one religion while also killing millions more, the victims all living within the same cultures and in the same cities and towns as the murderers.

How well do you know your neighbors? Do you think of them as possible of supporting a murderous regime? Would they stand up for you at the risk of losing what they have?

A deeply Christian martyr of the Nazi era was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died at the hands of evil himself, yet he was able to speak loudly and point out our inherent flaws. He wrote “If I sit next to a madman as he drives a car into a group of innocent bystanders, I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe, then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.” “Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”

There are groups who seek to convey the lessons we should have learned from the evils which have been done. “Lest we forget” is a commonly used phrase for the dark stains we have within our history, whether it be the atrocities of wars or the heavy burdens of enslavement of peoples based on their color, faiths, or cultures across the globe.

In Florida our Capitol has a Holocaust Remembrance site where student groups can come to learn, and citizens can be nudged to think deeply about how it has been and how it must become. Each year there is a dinner sponsored by the Holocaust Education Resource Council, held in Tallahassee, so that the bright light of learning can be shined even if for just a night, It is to be held October 29th this year and I would hope many will attend and learn. Join me as we learn together!

As I age, I tend to reflect more upon what I have done to make my community, my state, and my world a better place. I am realizing that this should be our common task, even as our politics seem to divide us even further apart. The chasm must be corrected and our focus upon tomorrow better connected. Am I doing enough? This is a question we all need to ask ourselves.

It is clear to me that one of my favorite philosophers, C.S. Lewis, was spot on when he wrote, “When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind.” But the reality is that often the contrarian holds the key to salvation.

He also wrote, “Once people stop believing in God, the problem is not that they will believe in nothing; rather, the problem is that they will believe anything.”

Let us strive to recall both the best and the worst of our history while we endeavor to embrace our neighbors, so we know each other better and will never succumb to the messages of those who manipulate us for their own purposes.

Author

Dr. Ed Moore

• Dr. Ed Moore served for many years as the president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) and has served in both the legislative and executive branches of Florida government. Prior to ICUF, Dr. Moore was staff director for Policy, for Worker’s Compensation, for Medical Liability and for Public Safety and Security in the Florida House of Representatives. Dr. Moore also worked in the private sector for 21 years and has experience in areas ranging from multi-state commercial development and utilities, public safety, mental health, corrections, education at all levels, to higher education.