Monday, April 16, 2007

Pastor Niemoller Said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

This is the poem that has been in the back of my mind since I first heard about the detention camps:

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for the sick, the so-called incurables, and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't mentally ill.
Then they came for me,
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Here's a modern variant:

"Re-gaining Unconsciousness" by punk band NOFX

First they put away the dealers,
keep our kids safe and off the streets.
Then they put away the prostitutes,
keep married men cloistered at home.
Then they shooed away the bums,
then they beat and bashed the queers,
turned away asylum-seekers,
fed us suspicions and fears.
We didn't raise our voice,
we didn't make a fuss.
It's funny there was no one left to notice
when they came for us.

What is it about the fact that detention camps exist on American soil that does not outrage you?
Is it that the occupants are all illegal immigrants, as far as we know?
Does that make it OK in your eyes?
Why?

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