Patriot or Law-Abider?

The words  ‘patriot’ and  ‘law-abider’ are  most often linked with the word ‘and’…as in “he was a patriot and a law-abider”.

That is not actually as it should be.  The Nuremberg Trials, held in the German town of Nuremberg at the conclusion of World War II, established that simply saying that one is following the law…following orders…does not relieve one of the greater responsibility to represent the better nature of man.  This responsibility to freedom…found in the Nuremberg Principles, has been used in international war crimes tribunals since they were established.

Importantly, it was decided among humanity that ‘what you know‘ about wrongdoing is as relevant as ‘what you do’. For instance, after the war, most German citizens were shocked to discover the gruesome reality of the Jewish concentration camps, and the gas chambers…though throughout the years preceding the war, most German citizens also bought into the conditioning and propaganda that portrayed the Jewish citizens among them as inferior to their ‘Aryan’ blood.  The German people were absolved of wrongdoing, however, because they were conditioned to believe that the state of affairs was somewhat different than the reality.

Few Germans sought out the truth (see this).  It was easier to ‘go along to get along’…and it has always been easier to point the finger of blame in another direction when hard times befall individuals and nations (see this).  Unfortunately, this unlikely alliance of apathy and fear are the necessary ingredients for tyranny (see this).

Today, this recipe is being stirred together again.

Don’t fall for it.

It’s poison.