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The general consciousness of individuals and peoples does not yet know the answer to the Cain question from the biblical prehistory: Shall I be my brother’s keeper (1)? A real epidemic of greed for power, lies and brutality is now ravaging millions of people worldwide like the plague of the Middle Ages. But the disastrous effects of the murderous state “protective measures” against a supposed Corona pandemic touch our lifeblood, but they do not shake us up; we remain in lethargy. 

The plight of humanity does not touch our hearts

Foolish as we are, we continue to lull ourselves into security while the dark clouds of this crime against humanity gather ominously over our heads. While we are half aware that we live on the edge of a volcano, we give in to the deceptive hope that there will be no eruption. We prefer the comforting self-delusion to the thought of danger. We want to forget unwillingness and prefer to wish for pleasure. The pleasure principle, however, is incapable of protecting human life, because reality needs to be recognised and understood: anyone who contradicts it will either be harmed or destroyed.

Thousands of injustices happen not only in faraway countries, but also in our immediate vicinity. But we do not outrage, we do not defend the weak and we do not help the helpless. The plight of the millions affected does not touch our hearts. By not fighting against the obvious tyranny of those in power, we condone it. We have the deceptive hope that it will spare us. But the moment it takes a stranglehold on us, it is usually too late to contain it. The disease that we have failed to cure in the other takes us away ourselves.

The “jungle doctor” Albert Schweitzer gave us an answer

Again and again, one makes the bitter experience that many fellow citizens lack real compassion for their younger and older fellow human beings who are in need and suffering – or do not show it, do not become active. But only then can and will something change in our world.

Humanity must find an answer to the Cain question posed at the beginning: Should I be my brother’s keeper? The German-French doctor, philosopher, Protestant theologian, musicologist and pacifist Albert Schweitzer (1875 to 1965), one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century and Nobel Peace Prize winner (1952), gave us an answer:

“Compassion for all creatures is what makes human beings truly human.”

When the Nazis took the communists, I kept silent, I wasn’t a communist

Martin Niemöller (1892 to 1984), German Protestant theologian, resistance fighter against National Socialism and prisoner in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, expressed in a few lines after this traumatic experience what it means not to have this compassion:

“When the Nazis took the communists,
I kept silent,
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the Social Democrats,
I kept silent,
I wasn’t a Social Democrat. 

When they took the trade unionists,
I kept quiet,
I wasn’t a trade unionist. 

When they came for me,
there was no one left
who could protest (2).”

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Dr Rudolf Hänsel is a qualified psychologist and educationalist.

Notes

(1) Prehistory of the Bible: Genesis 4:1-16.

(2) Martin-niemoeller-stiftung.de/martin-niemoeller/as-the…