Understanding and lifting bans on "Holocaust Denial" ?

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golly
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Understanding and lifting bans on "Holocaust Denial" ?

Post by golly »

Free speech is extremely important. We all know the issue with free speech that has to do with "yelling fire in a crowded theater" and in the case of Holocaust Denial being illegal in some European jurisdictions, it amounts to the danger of allowing a hatred and fear of Jews being reignited by taking away something that a peaceful population uses as sympathy.

I would like to celebrate that I am free to talk about these matters in a peaceful way with no hatred, resentment, fear or animosity towards my Jewish friends. Indeed, I love all people. That is one of the reasons I think I am qualified to help run this forum. As such, I would like to express language that I would like to use to discuss this matter. I can speak up for people in my very close family and friends who profess to be Jewish (and those who sympathize with Jewish plights perhaps even more than Jews!) that this is a difficult subject to broach because the words are politically charged by the media of imperial colonizing governments such as Israel, the UK and the USA. Like all colonizing governments they use media to direct foreign policy feelings in the hearts and minds of their citizenry. So some of this language may sound as though I am not agreeing with basic common sense. What I would like to say instead is that my language is common sense but it will be the sort of thing that tends to get squelched by empire, which has its own interests when using words to advance policy against the states, nations and peoples it is colonizing.

"Antisemitism" is the way we talk about fear and hatred of Jews, but this word does not make as much sense as words such as: bigotry, prejudice or religious and racial discrimination. If I understand correctly, a "semite" is so called because they are from a region of the world and have ethnic traits associated with that region and they may have nationalism or favor that region or that ethnicity. Therefore, I would like to say that while "antisemitism" is a real problem, and it actually is used to mean the hate and fear of people from the Middle East, it's not good for Jews or for anyone else talking about the Jewish Holocaust of World War II to use the word antisemitism to refer to the fear and hate and prejudice against Jews. I will interpret the word "antisemitism" to mean "hatred of Jews" but I use my own judgment (as I hope we all should and do) to determine whether that word is being used to refer to actual factual hate of Jews or just a resentment of the foreign policy that favors Israel. These are quite different matters I hope you will agree, even though they are related.

"Denial" is a strong word for people who question numbers. If someone said 2 and 2 is 5, I would be willing to entertain the idea that they are math (or "maths") deniers. However, to call any historian interested in the truth a "denier" outright is not fair. Granted, there may be plenty of simple people out there who cannot entertain gray areas of thought. The Holocaust either "did" or "did not" happen (to them). However, it is an unfair assumption and mischaracterization of the majority, I think, to say that most people think this way. Most people I ask about any subject at all will say that the truth usually lies somewhere in between*. Yet we are expected to draw a hard lined stance, collectively, against people who even question whether there is enough evidence for 6 million Jewish deaths in World War II. There are many questions about this, which I will address later in this post. For now, let me just get back to language and say that I tend to read the word "Holocaust Denial" or "Holocaust Denier" and think to myself, "Oh, good, a thinking person." where others read, "Oh God, a foaming at the mouth bigoted racist." This is because people who think about the Holocaust are quickly accused of being "deniers" in our society. Therefore, any Jew should agree that it is bad publicity and wrongheaded to create a population that is in favor of squelching those who wish to learn about the Holocaust. It, in fact, only develops a serious problem that the foreign policy makers only have to blame themselves for: a population naturally poised to adopt the opposite of that foreign policy. It's almost as if the foreign policy makers are meaning to leave the world with two "choices" when it boils over: 1. Become hateful of Jews (check) and 2. Develop mistrust of the State (check)

It is in the interest of every State that wishes to preserve itself to align with the interests of truth and natural inquiry so that its lies and embarrassments don't bite it in the butt. It is not "natural" for people to hate Jews, despite what the government media will broadcast. It is natural to hate lies and deception turned against you. And that hate has to go somewhere. I don't want people to hate Jews or the government that uses Jews as a scapegoat, but that is what happens in thinking populations that have questions about the past. It also puts so many innocent people in harm's way because it creates a population that hates and fears Jews, and Jews are forced to upkeep the lie because they are being lied to by the governments that have served them (Israel, UK and USA) that the fear and hatred of Jews is the natural state of the world if empire were to ever go away. It creates a mutual dependency, like a drug dealer, between the victim of the lie and the liar.

Let us get to the words "Holocaust" and "genocide". People have become respectful of these words and that is a good thing because it means we have a healthy distaste for the elimination of others. I don't know if the distaste is strong enough to prevent our governments and militaries from exercising extremely ruthless prejudice against innocent people, but it's something. Thank the Creator for our hate of genocides. However, I also need to point out that according to most histories and records around the world, people have been wiping each other out for aligning with anything at all (religion, culture, skin color, choice of decoration, etc.) that they don't like if they envy someone. The word "genocide" was apparently coined for World War II to refer to the destruction of the Jewish people but there is another reason to find the word a real insult to anyone accused of using it, let alone believing in it. The concept is that we are "genetic" beings, which is charged with a particular Western science view. The idea is racist from its outset because it assumes there is even a "race" of Jews to begin with, only because there are shared traits that we have been taught to say are "genetic" in nature. This is a huge discussion that I would like to have with many different people around the world, but I would like to suggest that discussion is presently lacking enough consideration for the possibility that shared traits are not necessarily connected to "genes" but some other phenomenon that genes show an expression of. Morphic Resonance and other interesting studies should be considered for the expanding discussion on what makes an alike people so alike and which causes them to be susceptible to similar diseases, causes them to have facial likeness and behavioral patterns and so on. Likewise, slightly more generally problematic, the term "Holocaust" seems to refer too often to the particular historic event of poisoned Jews dying in extermination chambers made for that purpose. We have some anecdotal proof that this occurred and we have some scientific proof that this never occurred. The debate is alive and it should be. In truth, the "Holocaust" more often refers to the entire suffering of the Jews during World War II, and that is how it should be, because their suffering is something that is factual and proven beyond reasonable doubt, and it is consistent with a history of persecution and suffering due to their recent religious experiences being apart from the more recent religious majority.

That is why "Holocaust denier" is an unfair term to use against those who wonder about gas chamber facts and prison camp death numbers for Jews. With this term, the person being labeled as such is accused in one fell swoop of addressing world history (instead of specifically contested matters of World War II) and being in denial of it (rather than having questions about it).

That is how the term "Holocaust denial" has become associated with similar definitions for the word "historian", and created a lot of problems for people. This is in a manner consistent with an imperial way of government that has no problem denying true human issues, erasing facts and attempting to change our collective memory of history (i.e.; colonize the mind) in favor of any present foreign policy it wishes to promote, usually for trade and economic wars waged against the nations it is attempting to colonize. It is also a convenient way to make themselves appear on the side of humanity and the side of "good" and against "evil" to paint themselves in this way.

Finally, in the definition of "Jew" we have to understand that the definition of Jews in the peoples and cultures that were targeted in World War II was defined by racists. That is a group that believes itself superior to all other groups. Someone who did not identify as Jewish but who was nevertheless accused of being "polluted" by Jews or was in some way inferior could also be lumped in with the "genocide" (slaughter) of innocents.

One of the main reasons I think it's a good idea for Europe to lift bans on Holocaust Denial is because there actually are very fuzzy numbers surrounding the supposedly largest mass death of any one people/culture and it leads to unfair policies that favor Israel against Palestine. It also depicts Jewish thought as inherently racist, in that it forces Jews in a position of lying to themselves and to others about the true extent of their suffering and it devalues their suffering as a point of trivial foreign policy instead of a truly felt trauma and evil done against them in a very particular way. Congratulations might be in order to those Jews who are forcing their people into this position for, perhaps, believing it is the only way to save their people from a cruel world that hates them and wants to destroy them. However that belief only begets the reality of the situation, by creating a false story of certainty where uncertainty and ambiguity are important values of mourning and healthfully processing real trauma.

Jews should not continue to allow themselves to be used by violent colonial governments like Israel, the UK and the USA. And I don't think the only solution to some kind of Jewish State is in the religious extremists who have partnered with empire to create the semblance or simulation of one. A true Jewish State, which is holy and not cursed by violence, will probably only come about if its values can be aligned with truth and divine righteousness and a recognition of all that is sacred about patience for attaining that State in the morally correct way.

Ending suffering for any family or people or nation or even artificial State is not something that can be accomplished on this planet, where suffering is a fact of life itself. It can be ameliorated by medicine and it can be something we strive for as we search for the correct meaning of the mysteries as they pertain to our lives and the lives of our communities that all experience suffering. But to constantly beg the world for a special lack of suffering is a bigoted position and it can take the form of racism or a religious superiority complex, as it has with Israel. It's a shame that countries that consider themselves the best "competitors" or "champions" of civilization think they have to resort to superiority complexes to prove their greatness. That shows a very deep insecurity indeed, one that perhaps only a spiritual awakening can help.

The facts of the Holocaust of the Jews during World War II, for me, can be divided into distinct categories:

Really quite true
1. Jews were targeted in World War II and over 100,000 are confirmed dead
2. All countries in World War II relied heavily on propaganda to survive (and/or win) the war
3. "The winners write history"
4. There are amazing stories of survival and avoiding war
5. The peace loving Jews did everything they could to avoid conflict and suffering
6. Jews and their allies (and The Allies) performed incredible feats of valor and bravery to preserve innocent lives
7. Jews were hated and feared, and historical enmities of Christians and others surfaced to side with the attack of Jews
8. Germany is generally a xenophobic and racist country
9. Racism, bigotry and prejudice suck, and they cause most of the wars and slaughters of this world
10. We should fight racism and bigotry and prejudice
11. Jews are not a problem (or special) but just another loving and lovable people, just like all of us

Unknowns and Questions
1. Jews were exclusively innocent of propaganda efforts
2. Jews were active participants of propaganda efforts
3. Jews only suffered losses (and no gains) during and after the war
4. Jews made many gains during and after the war by aligning with the victors
5. More Jews died than the Red Cross reported (fewer than 200,000, which is actually a huge number of people)
6. There was a general understanding that Jews should not be persecuted but exterminated and erased
7. The book of Jews in the Ann Frank museum in Amsterdam accurately records the names of missing Jews
8. Ann Frank wrote her own diary
9. Germany was to be painted as the ultimate evil by the winning Allies
10. Fighting racism, bigotry and prejudice is accomplished through deception, propaganda and prejudice
11. Extremist Jews have caused a huge amount of unneeded racism, trauma, suffering and death for themselves and others

There are many other matters that can be discussed but many of these are critical issues of our times and we should not be left in old thinking about matters that so critically affect our lives and communities. We should move beyond the idea that Jews are special or have a superior level of suffering. We can then understand that the particulars of their suffering are important to learn about and that will help us all, all people everywhere, live together in peace.

*No pun intended regarding where truth lies and I really hope we get a population of thinking people on this forum that doesn't resort too often to reading too much into words and always looking for ways of finding cleverness where ordinary language is being used. This only comes up here in an aside because there are plenty of people out there who blame Jews as a primary evil of the world and have developed specific (((language nuance))) to wink at likeminded people, which is pretty disrespectful of readers' basic intelligence, not to mention rather creepy and evocative of the KKK or Masonic hand signs, etc.

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