RELIGION IS A CHOICE; SEXUALITY, GENDER, & RACE ARE NOT CHOICES
People Doomed People to This Fate
"Work Sets You Free, Through Crematorium Number Three"
Death was their reward after the horrors of the Nazi occupation and life in a concentration camp at the hands of people who believed they had no intrinsic value.
We are Stronger Together — The Division Is Meant To Weaken Us
Martin Niemöller was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian born in Lippstadt, Germany, in 1892. He wrote his famous poem about the rise of the Nazis and the silence of the "intellectuals" and the clergy.
First They Came… by Martin Niemöller
First, they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist,
Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me
The Auschwitz I sign was made by prison laborers, including master blacksmith Jan Liwacz, and features an upside-down B, which has been interpreted as an act of defiance by the prisoners who made it.[9][10][11]
From Dachau, it was copied by the Nazi officer Rudolf Höss, who had previously worked there. Höss was appointed to create the original camp at Auschwitz, which became known as Auschwitz (or Camp) 1 and whose intended purpose was to incarcerate Polish political detainees.[7][8]
Stop and imagine being a young Jewish mother walking through those gates with your child holding your hand and looking up at you for guidance and reassurances, with the chimneys of the crematorium filling the sky with black smoke—
What must that have felt like?
Her only crime was being born a Jew.
Some prisoners reacted to the horrible cynicism of the slogan placed above the entrance gate of the #Auschwitz I camp with sad ironic lines: “Arbeit macht frei durch Krematorium Nummer drei” (Work makes one free, through crematorium number three.)
At the peak of the gassings, this pile of shoes represents about 25,000 pairs from one day's collection at Auschwitz.
Each pair of shoes represents a person — and may have been the only remaining evidence that person ever existed.
This isn't a History Lesson — This is a Warning of What is Coming Unless We Do Something NOW.
My daughter is in the eighth grade, and they are reading The Diary of Anne Frank in class.
As we discussed the book, I looked at my precious daughter, and I felt what it must have been like to be that Jewish mother in 1943 — walking through the gate of Auschwitz.
During the mid-1980s, I lived in Wildflecken, Germany, for several years. It was a small village near the border of East Germany with cobblestone streets and rich in tradition and history.
I was there when the Wall between East and West Germany came down.
The military base in Wildflecken was built by forced labor, to Hitler's exact plans — at the cost of thousands of lives and it was also where Adolph Hitler hid when the Allies first landed in Germany to liberate the Jews.
My friend was a German man who had served as an SS officer during WW2. Al, as we called him, imparted a lesson to me that remains etched in my memory.
One day, I complained about what a monster Hitler was, and he said, "There are many Hitlers."
Al's words echo as I watch what's happening in Congress, local governments, and the mainstream media — the monsters are multiplying.
America, It's Scary Everywhere
I was born gay.
I live in the South.
My fear is real.
"Christians" have painted targets on my back.
I am filled with fear, uncertainty, anger, and rage. There is no more urgent need than to protect my daughter — her body, her mind, and her future.
Together, we can stop them.
Please don't turn away. I beg you.
Humanity is calling out to you. Will you answer the call? Your response could make a significant difference in someone's life.
Or many lives.
Maybe even mine.
We are in a war for our minds, sanity and hearts. The choices we make today; changes tomorrow for the World.
Arbeit Macht Frei — Work is Freedom
We've all wondered how the Germans could have been convinced to round up and kill their neighbors. What happened to make people do this to other people?
People Focused on the Big Lie and Not the Big Liar
The BIG LIARS are tricking us, manipulating and marketing us directly into devaluing life, looking the other way, and making excuses for the people who commit these crimes against other people — making us complicit and even co-conspirators with the killers.
The lies pouring from the Republican Party are directly connected to Vladimir Putin.
The media has been conditioned to avoid implicating Putin directly and investigating the connections between Russia and the Republican Party, leaving us unable to fight back amidst the chaos.
You can only stop the chaos if you stop it at the source.
The chaos of Trump intends to keep people so distracted we overlook the threats of Christian-Nazis.
This is happening now.
A Trojan horse cloaked in the Christian flag has been rolled into the city center to destroy people for how they were born and to serve "Corporate Jesus."
LGBTQ+ people, folks with disabilities, Jewish people, and Black and Brown people are all targets of this dangerous, deadly, and manufactured cult.
Let Me Explain, Simply
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” George Orwell, 1984
Those who hold power are masters of shaping the narrative through censorship, propaganda, and distortion of historical facts. They control the discourse by banning books, spreading misinformation, and rewriting history to fit their agenda.
Shaping the narrative tactics include gaslighting and whitewashing, which they use to maintain their hold over society's collective consciousness.
“Whoever controls the media controls the mind.” Jim Morrison, The Doors
"Corporate Jesus" is a term used to describe Rupert Murdoch's vast media empire.
With his purchase of the Rights to the Bible, Christian publishing, numerous news outlets, and other media companies, Murdoch wields an unprecedented level of influence over how millions of people perceive the world.
Celebrity tabloid gossip is what paid for the purchase and privilege to screw us out of our Democracy.
He purchased editorial control over Christianity.
Murdoch shapes the Christian experience globally. Source
The leader of the "Christian" White Nationalist movement is Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump works for Putin.
Donald Trump cements his control over the Republican Party with Rupert's marketing and has just instilled his puppet, tightly wrapped in the Christian flag, into the House of Representatives.
The propaganda pumped out of Fox "News" is intended to make Americans numb to what is happening and to control what we feel, think, and do.
Controlling the narrative is critical to manipulating the people.
- Viktor Orban said the way to get the people to accept authoritarianism is to do so gradually.
- In Dallas, TX, Viktor Orban got a standing ovation from the Trump faithful.
- Fox "News" praises Putin and presses the narrative about President Biden's age and Hunter Biden's laptop.
I don't give a rat's ass about that goddamn laptop. I want my children to grow up free and safe.
I bet you do, too.
Here's their newest tool: Speaker of the House of Representatives, MAGA Mike Johnson.
In these op-eds, he argued for the criminalization of gay sex and said legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to America’s doom.
America's destruction is being ushered in with lies told by elected officials — claiming to do it all for "Jesus."
There is no "Jesus" in their efforts to destroy for power and profit.
These people are trying to kill people for how they were born, and they want to distract the masses with lies about a laptop because they are encouraged, emboldened, and enraged by a religion of CHOICE that is owned and operated by the same person who owns Fox "News."
What is the Point? Why is this Happening?
Their goal is to destroy America from within for power and profit.
“PEOPLE DOOMED PEOPLE TO THIS FATE” — HOLOCAUST EXHIBITION PROJECT
The fight to stop this corporate-funded fascism will require all we have — or else our only sign of resistance will be known even less than the story behind an inverted 'B' on a sign in Poland.
A special shoutout to Chantal Christie Weiss, whose article inspired me to write this article. Please read her article, and if you find it as moving as I did, please make it a point to follow her.
Kimberlee Jakobe publishes We Are The Guardrails on Medium; follow her here and get each post in your email–If you're not a Medium member, you can join here.