My name is Matthew Quick and I'm a sophmore at Bluefield College. I transferred last August from Northern Virginia Community College. I'm a 21 year old Christian Studies major. I love music and I have fun playing the bass and the guitar but I can't sing to save my life. I try to do my best without being perfectionistic. The more I learn the more I believe that there is a God and He does care about people. I didn't always think that way.

I signed up for the Holocaust class last semester one, because it fit my degree as a religion class and two, because I thought it would be an interesting challenge. I definitely found the challenge to be real. Not only were the assignments a challenge because of the amount of reading (at least for me),but also because of the intense subject matter. This isn't a course that explores something like the civil war, replete with dusty records and stories of people many generations back. It is a subject matter that deals with a generation still alive today and living survivors who speak from experience. Nor was it the study of an abstract subject matter left only for the intellect to untangle. The subject is grappled with by the heart. The subject is flesh and bone. Real. Hard. And Difficult to think about. There would be times I would leave class and just be left in a dark, gloomy world. The gloom is hard to shake because it's real and not just a sick movie, though we all wish it were.

I'm glad I took the class. My knowledge was very minimal and naive before the class. Not that I am now a scholar, but now my eyes have been opened. I believe God has opened not only my eyes, but the eyes of others for a reason - to prevent it from happening again. Hopefully awareness will prove to be a useful tool that will be able to chip away at our apathy. It was hard to think about how people blame God for the Holocaust. I imagine if I had gone through the same thing I would have too. I know many have lost faith because of it or still believe "God is on vacation." I don't have any clear cut answers as to why things happen. Or as to why this happened. I know many survivors such as Elie Wiesel blame Christianity for what happened. I don't agree with that, but I haven't walked in his shoes. But I also know that he, nor I know the mind of God, or what reasons these things happen for.

This web page is my final exam. I know that I've learned more from this assignment than HTML codes, background colors, and animated pictures. I've learned that while this subject can be summarized as pure evil it can also be as complex as the mystery of life and death. Its hard to give a clear cut answer as to why bad things happen to good people. Or answer if justice will be given when it seems so absent. For centuries people have talked and reasoned through the questions of life seeking answers. The problem is that the more you learn the less you know, and you're left with more questions than you began with.

My response is this. Though many have put "God on trial" and found Him guilty we must understand that if we believe God exists, (and we must if we put Him on trial) then we must admit our failure to know all the facts and admit that He knows all of them if He is responsible. Having said this, it is imperative that we each individually seek God for the answers. We may not know them now but if God is on trial then He will open our eyes. This is certain - there will be a day of Justice one day and Adolf Hitler and his followers will have to face the consequences of their actions. We must find peace in God, that He will right the wrongs. At the same time the Holocaust has put several positive things in motion like the UN Genocide Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and countless other human rights organizations. Israel has been given statehood and Jews have a homeland for the first time in centuries. Can God use evil events for good purposes? Sometimes people say "nothing good comes from tragedy." I leave you with this - Is that true?