In a novel by Janet Fitch, I read these words: “My history teacher said the reason we studied history was to find out why things were the way they were, how we got here. He said you could do anything you wanted to people who didn’t know their history. That was the way a totalitarian system worked.”

    I’ve never been a history buff, but I do know that our American forefathers risked their lives to come to this continent to establish a place of freedom for themselves, their families, and future generations. The early patriots in our nation had experienced tyranny that prevented them from expressing their opinions. They could not speak against the king or against the established church. In his latest book, “A More Perfect Union,” Ben Carson reminds us that those patriots set in place the Constitution’s First Amendment, guaranteeing the freedom of speech and expression.

    Carson reminds us that we must not keep silent when our ideas and values are being attacked. He quotes Ayn Rand: “If a dictatorship ever comes to this country, it will be by the default of those who keep silent. We are still free to speak. Do we have time? No one can tell.”

    If, for instance, we learn that a local school is trying to take the words “under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance, we should get involved in voicing our opposition to that censorship. We should never be intimidated by what others might say when we know we are speaking up for what is right. Ben Carson reminds us that our ancestors were very courageous and that we must take courage to do those things that will preserve our freedom.

    If the occasion arises in my lifetime, I pray to be as courageous as one small ninety-one-year-old grandmother in Germany in 1933. Nazi soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder in front of Jewish shops across Germany in a boycott which was the first measure Adolf Hitler mounted against the Jews. The Star of David had been painted on the doors along with signs that read, “Don’t buy from Jews” and “The Jews are our disgrace.”

    Most Germans were hurrying by the shops, pretending they hadn’t intended to shop that day anyway. Perhaps they did not realize that this was the beginning of the Holocaust. However, one little grandmother knew that she must face evil head-on. Oma Bonhoeffer fearlessly pushed her way through the surprised SA guards, walked into the cordoned-off shop, and selected her basket of strawberries. She took out her coin purse, paid for them, chatted for a moment with the shopkeeper, and then pushed past the guards once more.    

    This brave ninety-one-year-old lady was the grandmother of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor, who stood in opposition to the national church that supported Hitler. He was later imprisoned in an extermination camp for his stand against Hitler. The Bonhoeffers saw the truth, spoke it, and acted upon it with fearlessness.

    “Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance. It must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people.” – Ronald Reagan

Contact Virginia Dawkins at jtdawk06@aol.com.