The feelings of the people in Germany were perhaps reaching a peak ...beginning not that long after World War I.

Let's look back to the beginning of World War I ...though never is there consensus on beginnings, let's see what we have.

The immediate trigger for war was the 28th of June 1914, with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo. This set off a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia.

It's interesting how when I researched this last, it has since changed how it has been presented on the internet. I had to go to exact dates, instead of the presented narrative ...and it seemed to serve me well in doing that, as it fell more in line with what I have been previously studying.

Admittedly, One cannot know the true motivations behind one's actions, or if in fact, it was the preferred action ...sort of like a cat waiting for a mouse.  But, as talks with Serbia went nowhere, Austria declared war on Serbia.

Russia decided to take Serbia's side, and also worked their alliance with France to get them to join the mobilization.

At this point, Germany decided to join Austria.  Four nations were involved and committed to war before Germany joined.  And it seems that Germany was a force to contend with, and proven adequate fighters.  Was that reason enough to saddle their nation with the war debt ...when they were not even among the first four nations to enter the war???

Now, you could ask, "Isn't the name, Meiner, of German descent ...and aren't you subject to a bias, and possibly slanting the facts?"

Well, you could say those are my feelings, though they do not express my point.  I recently saw a movie on TV about Adolf Hitler during World War I, and then through his rise to power during world War II. France was the first to employ the use of poisonous gas in the war ...and the movie depicted Hitler almost being overcome by the gas, and that horrific feeling.  

I can see that Hitler may have been devastated, and war does get ugly ...and it is sad that World War II came about because of the poor handling of the aftermath of world War I, but that in no way makes me feel sorry for who Hitler became.  I feel sorry that he became who he became.  It's sad that he became so twisted and evil ...but he did.


Am I to be concerned for those feelings??  I am not a psychologist, though I have been part of a team that was concerned with early intervention.  How effective is it?? The problem is not in how effective it can be ...it is rather difficult to diagnose everyone, to decide who we should work with.  

Once something has already happened, it is then evident that there is a problem ...and we should use all our resources available to prevent it from happening again, but often lost in this effort is the urgency to look at the victims needs.

I am concerned for those who have to be subjected to the blistering hatred that leads to such horrific acts as the Holocaust. 


Every individual has significance.  Though what is to be said of those who feel others have no value at all. I am very concerned for the process that leads those to only value selective persons. But, let it be clear that though the person is of much value, the values of the person may not be worth much.

Certain values are wrong.  We are to value each other, yet do we do that in lessening our value of God, or of those things He has taught us to hold to??

Do we value killing??  I'd think we'd value the stoppage of killing ...or an establishment of peace.  At Jesus' birth, the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth ..."

But, the people didn't understand what that meant.  It does not seem like they had peace on earth, and we don't seem to have it either ...unless we understand that it is a promise of a future peace, and most importantly a peace inside that allows us to look forward to that eternal peace.

The ideals of minds that became what we know as Hitler, Stalin, and any number of terrorists today ...can not be present and have peace.  

There are those who fight wars to raise not the standards, but to raise havoc ...and there are those who fight wars to stop those who will not listen or cease their evil destructiveness.

Billy Graham described sin like missing the target ...an archer shoots his arrow, and whether he misses by a little or misses by a large amount ...he still misses.

Another Pastor said,"When we believe that all sins are equal, it often causes us not to take the problem of sin seriously." 

This Pastor also list reasons why people don't take more of stance on sin:

• They don’t want to be like the Pharisee in Luke 18.
• They want to find common ground with non-Christians.
• They don’t want to be labeled “legalistic” or “judgmental” by others.

The Bible says, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

But, the Bible also says something about sins that are of the type that God hates.  So, if all sins are equal ...then why would some be more hated than others??

Thinking about what the answer to this would be ...I have to consider what it is that God wants for us.  He wants us to draw near to Him, and we do this in many ways, not excluding obedience.  But, why does God want us to obey? ...and follow so many standards??  And why would certain sins be more hated???

I believe that those sins are the ones that are a result of having moved further away from God ...as Hitler, Stalin, and so many others have done.  God will forgive our sin, yet there is a point where, though we can be forgiven, we will cease to seek forgiveness ...we will cease to acknowledge sin.

That is why the little sins are also important ...if not dealt with, they can lead to even more sin, and to the most hated ones, which are the ones that bring us to be blinded to sin.

This is just one example, yet it seems to describe the cause and effect that I've tried to communicate.  To back up a bit, we seem to mostly agree that killing is bad, even though it may be necessary at times (self-defense, or trying to protect others).  We say we hate war and we say we hate killing ...yet, we do not take a stance against abortion, which is killing the baby within, while also killing the sensitivity to God's voice within.

The narrative is said to be a war against women, yet the brutalized dead victims are the babies ...truly it would seem to be a war against babies. This is just one clear example of how the blindness evidences itself. The sin is not exclusively abortion, it just further evidences itself this way. It begins much before with unrestrained and unwise desires ...it exists because promiscuity exists.
What happens, is that we say others are not concerned for our feelings ...because we have lost vision or concern for what God has for us.  We may not realize it, nor acknowledge it, but we are placing our feelings above God.