Blaine, I'd say that the Pope [being stuck in the middle of the Nazi power base] is less at fault than the cowardly USA, which was happy to profit from the war against Hitler and the Nazis but didn't enter the conflict directly as a combatant until after the Japanese made the mistake of bombing Pearl Harbour.
If Japan hadn't done that, I suppose the USA would have happily left Europe to become Nazi, with total extermination of the Jews [and a lot more besides].
I wonder why the Catholic Church recently apologized for past mistakes [related to WWII activities] if they were so lily-white?
Here's a timeline. historyplace.com New Zealand was the first country to declare war against Germany. The cowardly USA was the first country to declare neutrality:
<Sept 1, 1939 - Nazis invade Poland.
Sept 3, 1939 - Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany.
Sept 4, 1939 - British Royal Air Force attacks the German Navy.
Sept 5, 1939 - United States proclaims neutrality; German troops cross the Vistula River in Poland.>
But look the USA got brave in 1941 and took possession of German and Italian assets in the USA.
< June 14, 1941 - United States freezes German and Italian assets in America. >
It got really serious later when Japan decided war was unavoidable so made the first surprise attack.
<Dec 7, 1941 - Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor; Hitler issues the Night and Fog decree.
Dec 8, 1941 - United States and Britain declare war on Japan.
Dec 11, 1941 - Germany declares war on the United States. >
The USA soldiers finally get going, two years late:
<Jan 26, 1942 - First American forces arrive in Great Britain.>
If the USA hadn't been so wimpy but had recognized evil in the beginning as my father did, who immediately volunteered to go to the other side of the world, leaving home, wife and child to do so, for the simple concept of defeating the evil of Nazi Germany, the vast horror of WWII would have been much less.
But I don't think people can be criticized too harshly for not taking action. For example, I don't think pacifists do something wrong by refusing to fight. Similarly, neither the Pope nor the USA can be seriously criticized for taking no action. They didn't like the consequence of their lack of action, and things were worse for their lack of action, but the lack of action in itself is not bad. It's the taking of action which is the really criminal thing and that's what the Nazis did.
Profiting from assisting the Nazis would also be criminal in my book. Supplying a criminal a gun is a criminal action. However, it's not always easy to know who is going to do what with something, so supply is a tricky issue - it would need to be knowing. The actual real criminal action is the act which attacks somebody not in self defence or for restitution of property but as a matter of taking power over somebody else's life and property for personal gain.
I think that's my theory anyway.
Mqurice |
