Karma
Heart Attack
This is a personal topic that ive brought to the board before. I wasnt sure how it would be recieved but thankfully I got some candid comments without any needless cruelty so I'm revisiting it now in the hopes itll open up more dialogue.
i expressed my displeasure how it seemed some people used the memory of the holocaust as a cruch or excuse for their bad behavior/faux moral superiority and wondered why the holocaust gets so much coverage/discussion when other things like the slave trade, the colonization of america and the genocide towards its indegenous people, rawanda genocide & other acts of atrocity do not.
I've expressed confusion/lack of understanding over all the "antisemitic" fury over the last few years that seemed to gain increased media attention following mel gibsons meltdown. those ofyou who know me know i am staunchly anti-racist but after talking about this on the board last time, i started looking at myself deeper and wondering if i could be dealing with some anti-semetic issues and how this could be possible.
this was the first time i'd really discussed this OPENLY like this because I was truly confused and even ashamed to think that *I*, being the staunch support of gays, feminism, civil rights and equal rights/protection for ALL could have some form of anti-semitic feeling? and worse...not even know where it came from.
so after that topic i brought here and the responses, especially sam's about visiting the holocaust museum and the what a moving experience it was for her (even reading her description of it touched me)
I've done some reading, deep, ongoing. i read about the holocaust. i watched some select documentaries, viewed photos and went to the holocaust survivor website. of course i knew about it and i'm NOT one of those idiots who is a "holocaust denier"...how could you deny something there's so much physical evidence not to mention survivors to proove? I read about the Holocaust, the far-right ideaology of nazism, aryansm and how this terrible thing could have happened.
the books i read and the articles i read online- left me mentally exhausted BUT i appreciate that because its GOOD to delve deeply in order to gain an understanding.
I'd always known based on what i learned in school/college that the holocaust was a nightmare of epic proportions...but NOW to understand it as i do. it actually made my anxiety levels elevate as i was reading and after finishing. I understand though from my doctor that when you become more aware of something, the likelyhood of your anxiety elevating over it is possible.
ANYWAY- having a better understanding that I do...I now know that it's not a case of me being some how anti-semitic. It was simply me not knowing...ignorance of the details. PLUS in this age of 24 hr. media saturation (and not all of it accurate/unbiased) its easy for ANYONE to get desensitized now in a way that wasnt possible back then. American media (including the new york times) actually surpressed the first awareness of what was happening in Europe during that time. PLUS in this age when people in political party's so casually use nazi, hitler and holocaust as analogies to try to make their opinions/arguments seem more profound...(and the irony is that the party that does this is more alligned with that dangerous far-right ideaology than the ones they compare "hitler", "nazi" and "holocaust" to) actually does it disservice. they use these terms in the midst of what are ultimately petty disagreements. but the holocaust was born out of a deliberate thought out plan based on far right ideaology and the use of science to justify biological racism (among other things) and an alarming cohesive cooperation of all branches of a single government and regime to go after anyone they didnt deem fit to live.
I just wanted to express the progress I had made in my months long quest on this personal issue I had. I cant believe that people dont know or worse...DENY the horror of it. Still it bothers me that in THIS day and age...things going on like what's happening in the Ivory Coast go over without much concern.
I ask you...do any of us REALLY believe that we've come far enough that another "holocaust" could not occurr elsehwere?
the targets/victims in the holocaust WERENT just jews. there was the mentally ill/disabled, gays, russians, ethnic poles, politically left identified, political prisoners, intellectuals... the same people that the TEA PARTY and the FAR RIGHT view as enemies today (along with blacks, latinos, women and liberals). This isnt meant to be another "political discussion" this is just me expressing to you all, my board fam what i've been dealing with on this issue.
Your thoughts/feedback?
i expressed my displeasure how it seemed some people used the memory of the holocaust as a cruch or excuse for their bad behavior/faux moral superiority and wondered why the holocaust gets so much coverage/discussion when other things like the slave trade, the colonization of america and the genocide towards its indegenous people, rawanda genocide & other acts of atrocity do not.
I've expressed confusion/lack of understanding over all the "antisemitic" fury over the last few years that seemed to gain increased media attention following mel gibsons meltdown. those ofyou who know me know i am staunchly anti-racist but after talking about this on the board last time, i started looking at myself deeper and wondering if i could be dealing with some anti-semetic issues and how this could be possible.
this was the first time i'd really discussed this OPENLY like this because I was truly confused and even ashamed to think that *I*, being the staunch support of gays, feminism, civil rights and equal rights/protection for ALL could have some form of anti-semitic feeling? and worse...not even know where it came from.
so after that topic i brought here and the responses, especially sam's about visiting the holocaust museum and the what a moving experience it was for her (even reading her description of it touched me)
I've done some reading, deep, ongoing. i read about the holocaust. i watched some select documentaries, viewed photos and went to the holocaust survivor website. of course i knew about it and i'm NOT one of those idiots who is a "holocaust denier"...how could you deny something there's so much physical evidence not to mention survivors to proove? I read about the Holocaust, the far-right ideaology of nazism, aryansm and how this terrible thing could have happened.
the books i read and the articles i read online- left me mentally exhausted BUT i appreciate that because its GOOD to delve deeply in order to gain an understanding.
I'd always known based on what i learned in school/college that the holocaust was a nightmare of epic proportions...but NOW to understand it as i do. it actually made my anxiety levels elevate as i was reading and after finishing. I understand though from my doctor that when you become more aware of something, the likelyhood of your anxiety elevating over it is possible.
ANYWAY- having a better understanding that I do...I now know that it's not a case of me being some how anti-semitic. It was simply me not knowing...ignorance of the details. PLUS in this age of 24 hr. media saturation (and not all of it accurate/unbiased) its easy for ANYONE to get desensitized now in a way that wasnt possible back then. American media (including the new york times) actually surpressed the first awareness of what was happening in Europe during that time. PLUS in this age when people in political party's so casually use nazi, hitler and holocaust as analogies to try to make their opinions/arguments seem more profound...(and the irony is that the party that does this is more alligned with that dangerous far-right ideaology than the ones they compare "hitler", "nazi" and "holocaust" to) actually does it disservice. they use these terms in the midst of what are ultimately petty disagreements. but the holocaust was born out of a deliberate thought out plan based on far right ideaology and the use of science to justify biological racism (among other things) and an alarming cohesive cooperation of all branches of a single government and regime to go after anyone they didnt deem fit to live.
I just wanted to express the progress I had made in my months long quest on this personal issue I had. I cant believe that people dont know or worse...DENY the horror of it. Still it bothers me that in THIS day and age...things going on like what's happening in the Ivory Coast go over without much concern.
I ask you...do any of us REALLY believe that we've come far enough that another "holocaust" could not occurr elsehwere?
the targets/victims in the holocaust WERENT just jews. there was the mentally ill/disabled, gays, russians, ethnic poles, politically left identified, political prisoners, intellectuals... the same people that the TEA PARTY and the FAR RIGHT view as enemies today (along with blacks, latinos, women and liberals). This isnt meant to be another "political discussion" this is just me expressing to you all, my board fam what i've been dealing with on this issue.
Your thoughts/feedback?
