'Never again' what?

No German was ever asked to vote for the holocaust, or even internment camps. Nazi tyranny began with the appearance of democracy, the excuse of a national emergency, and the cooperation of the nation with demands by the political leaders for unusual powers to "save" Germany from an enemy made larger than life by government propaganda.

The 1933 Reichstag fire was just the excuse they were looking for to give the president dictatorial powers. They soon expanded further, and in a pleasant and benevolent-sounding law called the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State, God-given, constitutional freedom of assembly, freedom of the press and freedom of speech were suspended within Germany.

If we really meant it when we said, "Never again", we would never countenance gullibly trusting government with even "temporarily" suspending the natural rights of every last one of our citizens, residents and visitors, no matter the "emergency" or propagandised "greater good".

Yesterday I remembered and mourned the more than 6 million lives cruelly tortured and slain by an evil political agenda, enabled by the blissfully ignorant citizens who preferred safety to liberty.

Government's purpose is to protect God-given freedoms: first of all life, and then liberty. Essential ingredients to liberty are freedom of belief and speech, as well as association and assembly. Also necessary to the pursuit of happiness are the freedom of trade/commerce and movement, private property and self defence.

No tyranny can long withstand a virtuous people who value liberty above safety.

No democracy can long withstand a cowardly people who allow a government of any character to diminish the freedoms it was sworn to uphold in exchange for a promise of safety from a magnified threat.

"Never again" what?

Never again will we allow the ratcheted expansion of government authority at the expense of civil liberty, God-given freedoms and natural rights. Though the abuse of such concentrated power be unforeseeable without the benefit of hindsight, we now have that history to instruct us and we solemnly take this oath: NEVER AGAIN.