I recently read the book Ordinary Men. The book is about a group of police officers in the SS during Nazi Germany. These men were ordinary, middle-aged individuals—so how did they become killers?
They not only became brutal mass murderers, but also came to enjoy it.
How?
You might say, “I would never do that!” But really?
Are you susceptible to trends, social pressure, and the urge to conform? Do you believe what everyone else believes, and act as they do?
If so, it’s very possible you would have been one of them. It’s incredibly difficult to hold onto beliefs that hardly anyone else shares. However, if you have the ability to resist societal pressures, to act on what you know to be true, then you might be able to withstand it.
The majority of those soldiers were “Christians.” The sooner you recognize how susceptible we all are to such atrocities, the better prepared you’ll be.
Ideas have consequences.
There’s a reason why, as Christians, we are called not to be like the world. This helps us avoid being swept up in its trends and gives us strength to stand against them.
Be careful how many trends you follow.
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