Breakpoint: “The 12 Holocausts of 2025”

Host: Thaddeus Williams
Date: February 12, 2026
Theme: Applying a Christian worldview to the global abortion crisis, with comparisons to historic atrocities.

Episode Overview

This episode of Breakpoint, titled “The 12 Holocausts of 2025,” is hosted by Thaddeus Williams. The episode confronts the staggering number of abortions worldwide in 2025—73 million, a figure the host equates to “12 Nazi holocausts in a single year.” Williams challenges the cultural and rhetorical justifications for abortion, analyzing them as forms of dehumanization akin to atrocities throughout history. He invites listeners to consider whether Christians truly heed Jesus’s command to care for “the least of these,” urging an unwavering commitment to the dignity of all life.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Abortion Statistics and Dehumanization

• Main Point: The leading cause of death in 2025 was abortion, with 73 million deaths worldwide ([00:06]).
  • “That's the equivalent of 12 Nazi holocausts in a single year, more than two victims per second.” – Thaddeus Williams ([00:12])
• Contextual Comparison: This figure exceeds deaths from all other causes—heart disease, cancer, wars (Ukraine, Gaza), COVID-19—combined ([00:17]).
• Dehumanization Language: Williams draws parallels between contemporary abortion rhetoric (“clump of cells”) and historic dehumanizing terminology used by oppressive regimes.
  • “It’s a dark page torn from the same dehumanizing playbook.” ([01:09])

2. Historic Parallels and Warnings

• Nazi Germany: Reference to “Lebens unwertes Leben” (lives unworthy of life), used by the Third Reich to justify genocide ([00:30]).
• Other Atrocities:
  • Rwandan genocide (Tutsis labeled “cockroaches”) ([00:42])
  • U.S. racism (KKK literature calling Blacks “gorillas”) ([00:46])
  • Khmer Rouge extermination (“microbes who must be swept aside”) ([00:50])
  • White supremacist rhetoric (“anti-white vermin”) ([00:54])
• Link to Present Day: Abortion is portrayed as today’s version of this historical logic, with the phrase “clump of cells” echoing past justifications for mass violence ([01:02]).

3. Forms of Discrimination Justifying Abortion

Williams identifies four “deadly discriminations” that underpin abortion rhetoric:

a. Sizeism

• Definition: Assigning human value based on physical size ([01:32]).
• Counterargument: “At fertilization...a new entity is generated...a human being with potential.” – paraphrasing leading ethicists ([01:39])
• Quote: “The developing human embryo is not ‘a potential human being, whatever that might mean, but a human being with potential.’” ([01:43])

b. Spacism

• Definition: Valuing a human life only when it exists outside the womb ([01:53]).
• Refutation: The difference between a baby five seconds before and after birth is only “space,” an arbitrary basis for personhood ([01:57]).

c. Self-sufficiency-ism

• Definition: Valuing only self-sustaining lives ([02:07]).
• Problem: Viability varies by environment and technology (e.g., Los Angeles hospital vs. Amazon rainforest) ([02:12]).
• Christian Perspective: “The more dependent, the more vulnerable, the more helpless a human being, the more we should do to protect it.” ([02:20])

d. Sophisticationism

• Definition: Rights begin with consciousness or the ability to feel pain ([02:29]).
• Rebuttal: Harm can occur without awareness (e.g., under sedation). “If someone cuts my arm off, I’m still harmed, regardless of whether I’m consciously aware of that harm.” ([02:37])
• Point: Millions of aborted children are capable of feeling pain ([02:41]).

4. Broader Social Impacts of Abortion

• Down Syndrome Abortions:
  • “Nearly 100% of preborn humans with Down syndrome in Iceland” aborted ([01:17])
  • Up to 90% in the US; 160 million female infants aborted in Asia due to sex-selection ([01:23])
  • “1/3 of black image bearers in America since Roe v. Wade” terminated ([01:27])
• Christian Call: A challenge to take seriously Jesus’s command to care for “the least of these” ([01:29]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the scale of abortion:
  “The leading cause of death in 2025 was not heart disease or cancer... 73 million humans died at the hands of a greedy abortion industry worldwide.” ([00:05])

• On dehumanizing rhetoric:
  “It’s not a jump then to call the 73 million victims of abortion mere clumps of cells instead of fellow humans... It’s a dark page torn from the same dehumanizing playbook.” ([01:05])

• On discrimination by size:
  “The developing human embryo is not ‘a potential human being, whatever that might mean, but a human being with potential.’” ([01:43])

• On Christian responsibility:
  “Do we take Jesus seriously when he commanded, not suggested, that we care for the least of these?” ([01:29])

• On unwavering commitment:
  “Our commitment must be unwavering, uncompromised, and kept a priority. The fundamental truth is that all life is worth living, and that's the bedrock of any healthy and flourishing civilization.” ([03:01])

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:01-00:30 – Introduction of the abortion statistic and historic echoes with Nazi Germany.
• 00:42-01:02 – Comparison to other genocides (Rwanda, US, Cambodia, White supremacists).
• 01:09-01:32 – The “clump of cells” argument as a modern version of “Lebens unwertes Leben.”
• 01:32-02:44 – Four forms of discrimination: sizeism, spacism, self-sufficiency, sophistication.
• 02:45-03:01 – Call to Christians for an unwavering, principled commitment to the value of all life.

Overall Tone

Williams’s tone is urgent, morally passionate, and rooted in a Christian worldview. He frequently employs historical analogies and evocative statistics to emphasize the gravity of the abortion crisis and to inspire listeners toward principled action. The language is direct and does not shy from equating abortion with historic atrocities, challenging Christians to prioritize the defense of life over political or societal pressures.

Closing

Thaddeus Williams closes by inviting listeners to a deeper exploration of the topic via the Shed and Beam podcast on YouTube, reiterating the call for uncompromised Christian commitment to the dignity of all human life.

For the Colson Center, I’m Thaddeus Williams.