By Michael Otto for NZ Catholic…
One of the ten areas that the synod preparatory document proposes as key aspects of living as a synodal Church is titled “Dialogue in Church and Society”. Under that heading, one of the questions is, “What experiences of shared commitment do we have with believers of other religions and with non-believers?”
We are living in stressful times and many tempers are frayed. The need for scrutiny of Government moves is high, but the language of debate should not sink to a level that is very low.
A recent article by New Zealand journalist Miriam Bell on the website of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council stated that moves around vaccination mandates in the public and private sectors have “been quickly followed by objectionable comparisons to the Holocaust . . . “.
The article cited examples of this behaviour in New Zealand, and quoted Holocaust Centre of NZ chair Deborah Hart saying that “protests using the yellow Star of David and the Holocaust are making a false equivalence that diminishes the enormity of what the Nazis did in the Holocaust”.
“In essence, no one is trying to systematically exterminate people who choose not to be vaccinated,” Ms Hart said.?
“To compare the Holocaust and a government requiring vaccination if you want to do certain things, but leaving individuals the choice to decide, is grotesque, wrong and deeply hurtful to Holocaust survivors and their families, she said…
Read the full article on NZ Catholic here.
