Following the President to Buchenwald

Today the President was in Germany touring a former concentration camp in Buchenwald, Germany. It was a somber moment as the President, Germany's chancellor, and Elie Wiesel spoke to commemorate the atrocities there. (Transcripts of their speeches on the White House blog).

Elie Wiesel had some poignant words that left me questioning some things. (A brief video here). Excerpts:

"I was so hopeful. Paradoxically, I was so hopeful then. Many of us were,
although we had the right to give up on humanity, to give up on culture, to give
up on education, to give up on the possibility of living one's life with dignity
in a world that has no place for dignity. We rejected that possibility and we
said, no, we must continue believing in a future, because the world has learned.
But again, the world hasn't. Had the world learned, there would have been no
Cambodia and no Rwanda and no Darfur and no Bosnia. Will the world ever
learn?..."

Wiesel's words reminded me of something I read in Chesterton's Orthodoxy where Chesterton notes that the only obviously provable doctrine in Christianity is the depravity of humanity. Sure, there are proofs for the existence of a deity and Christianity definitely presents a rational, historical account of God entering the human scene. The depravity of humanity, however, is immediately provable simply by watching the news or driving in a car alone. Humanity is deprave despite ever present arguments for the goodness of humanity.

I don't think that means Wiesel doesn't have the right to be hopeful, but its just that his hope is in the wrong place. Neither presidents, nor the desires to avoid war, nor the modern mirage of progress via technology or health will ever deliver humankind from its greatest problem.

War will always threaten. Genocide always a potential. The destruction of life seemingly infinite. All of this unless humankind places its hope in the right place. The object of hope must be in a good God who saves the people from our own depravity.