Justifying Unjustifiable Genocide and Torture of the “Other”

Last updated on: January 4, 2024 at 8:24 am by Julie Nichols

Justifying Unjustifiable Genocide and Torture of the “Other” 2024-01-04T08:24:39-06:00 Julie Nichols

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It’s a grim reality, one that I don’t want to face, although I must. For many years, I personally knew and currently know the very people who are currently fulfilling the title, “Justifying Unjustifiable Genocide and Torture of the “Other.” Before I move forward, I will clearly identify who I am speaking of once again without specifically naming individual people. This is not all conservatives like my beloved moderate Republican husband but a very specific set of conservatives who are willful and deliberate bedfellows with the far-right wing of the Republican party, and they do not believe in democracy but theocratic authoritarianism. Even more specifically, this group also intentionally wants to harm and endanger those unlike themselves through various methods such as (but not limited to) weaponizing and abusing scripture through their version of “Christianity” to justify bigotry, torture, and even genocide. The type of “Christianity” they invoke is about power, authoritarianism, and greed, ie Christian Nationalism….. It’s not about love, justice, and charity which is at the heart of the Gospel and Jesus’ message.

How is it possible that those who claim to be “decent Christian people” are justifying the unjustifiable I mentioned above? We must reflect upon history to understand why the very specific group of right-wing Christians I am speaking of is intentionally willing to repeat history again. First, they are trying to hide history, such as the enslavement of Black Americans and genocide of indigenous people. These specific right-winged Christians are not even willing to discuss lived and current realities and/or a more honest version of American history. In the attempt to hide history and suppress the voices of current-day reality, they are hoping that the oppression, torture, and genocide of these groups will not be revealed to current-day Americans, particularly their adult children and grandchildren. This is why we see the explosion of book banning, specifically books about racial minorities and LGBTQ+ people who have existed since the beginning of humanity. They are trying to label the existence of LGBTQ+ people as “pornography” and equate their existence with “pedophilia.” Anyone who loves and knows an average LGBTQ+ person knows that this is so far from the truth. Most LGBTQ+ people are like any normal person who wants a normal life, a job, family, and stability.

Second, this very specific group of conservatives with very specific descriptors I mentioned would support Adolf Hitler if he were on the ballot. Some in this specific demographic would even campaign for him. If he were the only one who supported abortion restriction, and the alternative were ushering in a variation of the Holocaust, they would still choose Hitler simply because he supports abortion restriction. They are unwilling expand their moral compass and observe the human dignity and the value of born lives who have no value to them which is anyone who is not white, heteronormative, “Christian,” and abled-bodied.

Another grim reality is not only the unconditional support of Donald Trump but the unconditional support of Israel. I am a supporter of Jewish people and their right to exist as a nation. Scripture essentiality describes Jews as “The Apple of God’s Eye.” But I do not unconditionally support the endangerment of innocent women and children in Palestine at the hands of Israeli military force. I support innocent civilians no matter which flag is flying overhead. Watching the unconditional support of Israel’s military actions is sobering but not surprising, not after their unconditional support of Donald Trump.

I am not sure if I can stomach the justification of the unjustifiable much longer. It’s not a difference of opinion. It’s denying the basic human dignity and lives of those who do not fit the white, heteronormative, “Christian,” and abled-bodied criteria. My grandparent’s generation, the World War II generation, would have never stood for this. They fought and died for democracy and against the very core of Nazism.

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