Evil in a Pretty Place

mm

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. - Matthew 7:1-5

m

The Mauthausen concentration camp sits halfway between Vienna and Salzburg, and, during Hitler's regime, it was the final destination for thousands of prisoners from various locations around Southern Europe. Jews, of course, were among the victims, but many others were imprisoned, for a wide variety of political reasons. It is a sobering place to visit, and its museum portrays the cruelties that were committed there.

m

We went there last week (September 30). As we approached the camp, it was difficult to imagine that THIS could be the site for such atrocities: Mauthasen is a pretty, rural town on the Danube River, and even the camp itself looks rather benign, like a castle on a hill. Behind the walls, however, we saw the barracks, the gas chamber, the crematorium, and the mass graves. Evil things can be found, it would seem, in the most unlikely places.

m

In a place like Mauthausen, a person is naturally led to ask some serious questions. Most important, perhaps, is this one: how could so many people get themselves involved with something so horrible? This question is particularly haunting when we consider that the SS guards were largely church-going, hard-working, family men . . . and they frequently committed their crimes with absolutely clear consciences. Once again: evil things can be found, it would seem, in the most unlikely places.

m

How did it all happen? That is a question for the ages, perhaps, but one thing is sure: these people were entangled in the subtle web of "Christian nationalism," and they were unable to recognize the conflicts between Christ and Führer, cross and flag.

m

So . . . we judge them to be evil. Jesus warns us, though, to be careful about judgements, because we, too, are susceptible to the allure of evil. In fact, we might discover that our sins are even greater than the sins that we condemn! If we refuse to confess that reality, then we are treading on dangerous ground. That is a difficult concept to swallow, but it one of the lessons of Mauthausen . . . and of Matthew 7:1-5.

m