Jeanie Embry
Monday, January 10, 2011 10:36 am

During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities targeted other groups, besides the Jews, because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). These other groups were also persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them were even Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals. Sound familiar?!?
 
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The Nazi regime and its collaborators used the same fear-mongering and paranoia to further its agenda. In the early years of the Nazi regime, the government established concentration camps to detain real and imagined political and ideological opponents.

There are dozens of these 'private prison concentration camps' set up in the Southwest US, ie T. Hutto facility, in Texas. The AZ immigration law was written by private prison corps and we must keep in mind that Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona colluded with these people to draft that legislation. Our own Senate President David Williams is pushing for a "Papers, Please" Law for KY! Let's hope our KY Legislators will keep these facts in mind before they decide to jump on board with enacting an AZ-like immigration law.
 
Our 'bible belt' region has the highest concentration of hate groups in these United States. We certainly don't need legislative policies that will promote yet more bigotry and hatred. We should all stop, take a deep breath and ask ourselves: "What would Jesus do?"

Regardless of our political ideologies we should be mindful that hurtful words do have unintended consequences and we have a personal responsiblity to let our lights shine. Blessed are the peaceakers; it's time to end the hateful rhetoric and instead, find empathy and tolerance for our brothers and sisters in Christ and seek peaceful resolutions to our differences rather than violent ones.
 
Jeanie Embry
Paducah, KY