Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day and marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. I visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC a few years ago and was deeply saddened as learning about all the beautiful lives that were lost.

It seems so hard to believe that this tragedy happened when my grandparents were about my age. It seems like it’s been forgotten so fast.

We can’t change what happened in the past but we can learn from it to change the present and future. History follows patterns and we should always keep our senses open to the helpless that can’t speak for themselves. James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction…” God cares about the helpless and when James was written, orphans and widows were probably the most vulnerable in the cross section of society. It’s His heart that we should protect and care for them.

You may know what I’m getting to, and that is that unborn babies are in this group today. Science has already proven life begins at conception and we also know that women’s rights aren’t the key issue at stake because killing people isn’t a right and doesn’t reduce the past abuse of another no matter how bad it was.

Oppression starts when the people in control decide that some of the other people aren’t fit to be called people or aren’t privileged to the same rights that they are. It was horrific enough during the Holocaust but now the people being threatened can’t even speak for themselves or put up a fight. They are completely helpless and completely dependent on someone else to fight for them. We’re being told it’s normal, healthy and right and people are being deceived just like they were in the 1940s. I think that’s partly why the Jewish death camps were so powerful; because it was done in the dark, figuratively, and the world didn’t see the horror of it. The same thing happens with abortion. It’s done in clean white room in a streamlined way by respectable people and the gruesomeness of it is hidden away behind closed doors.

Around 6 million Jews died in the Holocaust. Over 56 million people have died by abortion since Roe vs. Wade in 1973.

I’m not writing this to stir up controversy or condemn anyone. We’ve all sinned and those who have had abortions aren’t any less of a person, less loved, or less able to be forgiven. I’m just trying to share the truth.

There were so many soldiers fighting for justice during World War II. You probably knew one or had one in your family. The fight for life isn’t just a politicians’ issue, it’s your and my issue. The battle might be ultimately won in Washington DC but that will be because of the sacrifices and efforts of people all across the nation. Let’s try to make a small difference right where we are.