There Are Invisible Berlin Walls All Over the World

On Sunday, the world will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was the 96-mile (155-km) 12-feet high barrier that separated West Berlin from surrounding Communist East Germany between 1961 and 1989. It was constructed by the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961 to completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin, until it was opened on 9 November 1989 and then demolished. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. Before he Wall went up, some 3,500,000 people escaped Communist East Germany and the eastern European Soviet Bloc for freedom in the West. After the Wall was built, almost no one escaped the Communist world in Europe, although 5,000 tried -- using everything from gliders and pole vaults to tunnels and cars fitted with ramming-device fronts -- and 100 of them were killed. Thus, in practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked East Germany and the Communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period. The Berlin Wall was officially referred to by East German authorities as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart," falsely implying that neighbouring West Berlin was not rid of all traces of Nazi leadership. In West Berlin, the Wall was referred to as the "Wall of Shame" - a term coined by West Berlin mayor, and later German Chancellor, Willy Brandt. The first US President to visit West Berlin after the Wall was built was John F. Kennedy. He uttered the famous words of solidarity : "Ich bin ein Berliner." But, the impetus for eliminating the Berlin Wall came during the series of meetings between US Predident Ronald Reagan and Soviet First Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. On 12 June 1987, President Reagan went to West Berlin. In an historic speech in front of the Brandenberg Gate, he delivered the famous line : "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." But in the same speech, Reagan also offered a fundamental comparison of freedom vs. totalitarianism : "The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront. Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexander Platz. Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw, treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere - that sphere that towers over all Berlin - the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed." ~~~~~ The Berlin Wall was the undeniable symbol of Soviet repression. It became a more than that -- the Berlin Wall was the universal symbol of the victory of the human spirit's quest for democratic freedom over Communist socialism. Its fall marked the beginning of the end of Soviet Communism. ~~~~~ Dear readers, there are Berlin Walls scattered throughout history. Most "Berlin Walls" are not made of concrete and reinforcing metal rods but of the intimidation of the human spirit by guns and fear reinforced by a violent indifference toward human life. The secret security forces in China. The thugs who keep democratic demonstrators under control in Venezuela. The denial of political differences of opinion in Russia. But today, the "Berlin Wall" that is most obvious is the one that exists in the Middle East between the radical jihadists who call themselves ISIS and the rest of the Moslem Middle East who are being terrorized into submission or silence by their extreme violence and disregard for the value and sanctity of human life. It is encouraging that Saudi Arabia and Egypt are discussing the formation of a regional military response force to quickly snuff out ISIS or other extremist blitz attacks on local populations. This is the best signal yet that a "Berlin Wall" is falling in Islam -- that there may be an end to the silence and resignation in the face of radical jihadists who purport to represent a "pure" form of Islam. A determination by political and religious leaders to take back their society from the hands of ISIS and Taliban terroristsl would mark the fall of a "Berlin Wall" every bit as important as the fall of the concrete Berlin Wall that the world is celebrating this weekend.