The Sounds of Silence: Bargaining with Evil
Most people want to be seen as fair, rational and tolerant of others’ beliefs and perspectives. There is also a desire to be diplomatic and avoid offending those who differ in opinion from us. This is a natural impulse and works reasonably well when discussing, perhaps, whether Indian or Chinese food is a good dinner choice, or whether a value-added tax is a better fiscal strategy than a progressive income tax. In such issues, reasonable people can disagree and discuss the pros and cons of a particular question. Unfortunately, this equanimical approach fails when considering evil and circumstances in which there can be no “alternative” point of view. Persisting in an even-minded fashion, when confronted with situations demanding a single-minded statement serves no one well and, inevitably, ends in tragedy.
In the German federal election of July 1932, the Nazi party won 37.3% of the popular vote and held the largest number of seats in the German parliament, or Reichstag, giving them the right to appoint the President of the Reichstag. Hermann Goring was appointed Reichstag President and Adolf Hitler became Chancellor. In commenting on the election, Max Naumann, Chairman of the Association of German National Jews (Verband Nationaldeutscher Juden) (VNJ), said:
“We have always held the well-being of the German people and the fatherland, to which we feel inextricably linked, above our own well-being. Thus we greeted the results of January 1933 [when Hitler and the Nazi cabinet were installed]. VNJ believes that it is up to each individual to make their own decision about which way to vote in the upcoming referendum.
We are respectfully asking both sides of the campaign debate, all political parties and any other interested groups to stop exploiting Jews to promote their campaign views.
We would also like to remind campaigners on both sides of the debate that Jews listen to the news and read newspapers. We ask that the tone of the debate is respectful towards all people of all faiths.”
If this seems pretty unbelievable, you are partially right. This is the actual quote from Max Naumann:
“We have always held the well-being of the German people and the fatherland, to which we feel inextricably linked, above our own well-being. Thus we greeted the results of January 1933.” (A)
This part of the statement was taken (and modified) from another source:
“VNJ believes that it is up to each individual to make their own decision about which way to vote in the upcoming referendum.
We are respectfully asking both sides of the campaign debate, all political parties and any other interested groups to stop exploiting Jews to promote their campaign views.
We would also like to remind campaigners on both sides of the debate that Jews listen to the news and read newspapers. We ask that the tone of the debate is respectful towards all people of all faiths.”
The portion of the statement I added is from a contemporary advocacy group called Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI), commenting on a 2018 referendum to repeal the constitutional right to life of the unborn in that country. I merely substituted “VNJ” for “DSI,” “Jews” for “people with Down Syndrome,” and “faiths” for “disabilities.” The actual statement from Down Syndrome Ireland is:
“Down Syndrome Ireland believes that it is up to each individual to make their own decision about which way to vote in the upcoming referendum.
We are respectfully asking both sides of the campaign debate, all political parties and any other interested groups to stop exploiting children and adults with Down syndrome to promote their campaign views.
We would also like to remind campaigners on both sides of the debate that people with Down syndrome listen to the news and read media articles, including social media content. We ask that the tone of the debate is respectful towards all people with disabilities”(1).
Again, in this statement, Down Syndrome Ireland is commenting on the 2018 referendum to repeal the Irish constitutional right to life of the unborn in all circumstances, except when the mother’s life was endangered or in the case of a fatal fetal anomaly. (Irish constitutional politics are beyond the scope of this discussion, but in 1983, the Irish Constitution was amended to enshrine the right to life for the unborn as a response to increasingly liberal abortion laws around the world. Abortion had been illegal in Ireland since 1861 but was not prohibited in its constitution. After much histrionic media publicity, citing rare outliers as examples of the “need” for the “right to abortion,” the 2018 referendum was held which repealed the 1983 Constitutional Amendment and made abortion legal in Ireland up to the second trimester, and beyond for reasons of maternal health and fetal anomaly. The talking points of the Irish pro-abortion lobby would be familiar to anyone in post-Roe America and were filled with the usual “reproductive health,” miscarriage, rape, and other disingenuously-interpreted outliers.)
So why the subterfuge and statement modification? Modern Ireland is a bulwark of Catholicism and a strong member of the European Union. It is a democratic society and nothing like Nazi Germany. Perhaps I am the one being disingenuous? Before the 2018 referendum, Irish women desiring an abortion had to travel to the UK, where abortion is essentially permitted under the same limitations as in Roe v. Wade, that is, up to 24 weeks gestation with exceptions for maternal health and fetal anomaly. Notably, the definitions of maternal health and fetal anomaly in the UK are quite a bit broader than in Ireland, where Down Syndrome is not considered a qualifying anomaly. (Not to get into the weeds, but Northern Ireland, part of the UK, has laws that differ from those of Great Britain, and are more like those of the Republic of Ireland. Women from the Republic of Ireland have traditionally traveled to Great Britain for abortions rather than Northern Ireland.) Before the referendum, pundits, analysts and even bioethicists predicted that nothing much would change for the disabled unborn in Ireland, specifically those with Down Syndrome. Using children with Down Syndrome as a caution regarding the referendum was decried as unfair, deceitful and unsubstantiated, among other pejoratives. Indeed, the earlier statement from Down Syndrome Ireland was made to protest the use of images of children with Down Syndrome in ads opposing the 2018 referendum (1). Typical of this is a quote from Jennifer Donnelly, an obstetrician at Rotunda Hospital, Ireland’s largest maternity center,
“Disability is something that is used as a scaremongering tactic because it’s a departure from the current legislation…, but the likelihood of somebody getting [prenatal non-invasive screening] as a matter of routine as a result of the legislation is very unlikely (2).”
If only it were true.
Since the 2018 referendum, prenatal screening for Down Syndrome has exploded in Ireland, as has the rate of abortion, both inside and outside of the Republic, gauged by the number of Irish women traveling to Great Britain for abortions. In fact, the number of women traveling to Great Britain for abortions has tripled since 2018 (3). In a pattern familiar to those who follow abortion statistics in Europe, 95% of unborn children with a diagnosis of Down Syndrome in “Catholic” Ireland are aborted, that is, exterminated (4). Is anyone shocked by this, at least anyone who is honest? Even before the 2018 referendum, the rate of abortion for unborn children diagnosed with Down Syndrome in Great Britain was 90% (5). As we have previously discussed, Great Britain is no outlier, with Denmark aborting 98% of these children and Iceland boasting of having nearly eliminated Down Syndrome by systematically testing for and exterminating each and every unborn child with that diagnosis (6). (I suppose one could say that the Nazis similarly “eliminated” the Jews in Poland, albeit far less efficiently.) Frankly, I am incredulous that anyone can possibly be surprised by this and really have to wonder about Irish admission criteria for medical school if Dr. Donnelly’s statement above is her honest opinion. Our world is consumed in bloodlust for the murder of the disabled and others judged “unworthy of life,” to paraphrase the Nazis, lebsunwerten leben. What actually surprises me is that there are any children with Down Syndrome left.
Dear reader, the point of this column, however, is not to reiterate the evil of the “war” on the disabled. That has been discussed before. My question this week is, where is Saint Patrick, where are the Crusader knights and why isn’t David fighting the Philistines? It was very clear (to anyone with the eyes to see) that the moment abortion was legalized in Ireland, unborn human beings believed to be “less than perfect” or otherwise “inconvenient” would be systematically slaughtered. And they have. Where are the hue and cry? Why wasn’t the Temple curtain torn? The one ostensible advocacy group, Down Syndrome Ireland, was supposed to die on this hill, as it is, literally, an existential threat to their constituency. Instead, they chose to equivocate and take no strong position on the referendum, aside from the milquetoast nonsense noted earlier. In Catholic Ireland, where were the riots in the streets led by the clergy? Why wasn’t every Catholic who voted to repeal the constitutional right to life publicly excommunicated? Why are the Irish Catholic politicians, who brought the referendum forward, allowed to participate in the Sacrifice of the Mass, much less partake of the Holy Eucharist? (Don’t get me started on our American “devout Catholic” politicians.)
By 1935, Verband nationaldeutscher Juden had been outlawed and, shortly afterward, most of its members were sent to concentration camps. I suspect Down Syndrome Ireland will not need much office space in the future. Fair, rational and equivocal consideration does not apply to evil. It serves no one well, particularly evil’s victims. Evil does not desire fairness or rational debate. Has anyone ever in recorded history heard one of the pro-abortion crowd entertain any limits or regulation, whatsoever, on abortion? This crowd never gives an inch, not even a nanometer. Abortion, on-demand at any time, as the unquestioned and unconditional choice of the woman, without reason or apology, is their alpha and omega, period, full stop. So, why is there a desire on the pro-life side to be seen as “reasonable?” Could it be that the concept of abortion has been so normalized that total opposition is seen as “unreasonable” even by pro-life individuals themselves? I suspect Max Naumann also thought of himself as reasonable.
Catholic doctrine could not be clearer. Abortion is a grave moral evil in all circumstances. It is never permissible. We have previously discussed the various straw-man arguments put forward by the pro-abortion lobby to justify the purposeful termination of unborn human life. None of them are valid, in either a religious or secular sense. Abortion is murder, period, full stop. No one, particularly we Catholics, should hesitate to call it that, clearly, undiplomatically and unapologetically. Silence, equivocation and reason don’t work in the face of evil.
It didn’t work for Verband nationaldeutcher Juden and Max Naumann.
It didn’t work for Down Syndrome Ireland.
It didn’t work for the 65 million innocent victims of Roe v Wade.
It won’t work when they come for you and your children.
This concludes the audio portion of today’s article. Thank you for listening.
George Mychaskiw II, DO, FAAP, FACOP, FASA
Founding President
Saint Padre Pio Institute for the Relief of Suffering
School of Osteopathic Medicine
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References:
(A) N. Stoltzfus. Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany. p. 315.
https://downsyndrome.ie/statement-on-the-topic-of-the-upcoming-referendum/
https://qz.com/1286358/how-would-legalizing-abortion-in-ireland-affect-down-syndrome-births
https://thelifeinstitute.net/blog/2022/abortion-for-down-syndrome-babies-from-ireland-has-tripled-since-2018-referendum#
https://www.irishtimes.com/health/2022/12/26/rotunda-master-says-95-of-parents-of-babies-diagnosed-with-down-syndrome-choose-abortion/
