Have Men About Me Who Are Fat

http://christopherpryor.blogspot.com/p/have-men-about-me-who-are-fat_06.html ^ | J. Chritopher Pryor

[jcpryor]

The case of Bishop Richard Williamson's denial of the Holocaust has caused Catholics and non-Catholics to question this and and other similar conspiracy theories. Many have come to the Bishop’s defense, claiming that questioning the actual number of the Jewish victims of the Nazis does not make one antisemitic. This defense, posited by followers of Bishop Williamson and the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), shows an inherent lack of understanding of what conspiracy theories are and how they are used. Conspiracy theories are not just disagreements about historical facts, they are political tools used to move people to action.

Imagine a discussion between a history professor and a first year college student. The teacher asks, “When was the Battle of Hastings?” The freshman has no idea, and guesses “1492.” The teacher then informs the student that the battle actually took place in 1066. The professor might then recommend some resources for future study. The student would leave class, slightly embarrassed, and that would be the end of it.

Conspiracy theorists are not concerned with obscure facts of history that have little or no consequence. Reducing the number of Hitler’s victims from 6,000,000 to 200,000 is a totally different thing than innocently believing the battle of Hastings occurred 426 years after it actually did. Holocaust deniers are impassioned about a world view that requires that fascism be exculpated from wanton genocide. Conspiracy theorists take all sensory data, and twist it so it supports their personal theory. They do not do this because of some abstract intellectual devotion to denying reality, but to further their political agenda and world view.

Their Method

The method of presenting a conspiracy to a new recruit is rather straightforward. First a crisis, usually unsolvable, is presented to the new inductee.

[Villiany_Inc]

I dont care whether it was 6 million or “merely” 200,000.
Am I antisemitic just b/c I can as easily accept the lower number as the higher number?

The goals of Hitler/fascism in this case are nearly impossible to refute - regardless of what number you use. Using the lower one does not negate the evil.

Believing the lower number does not make one an antisemite, either.

[dfwgator]

There were 11 million Jews in Europe before the war, after there were less than four....where did they all go? They certainly all didn’t go to Israel. In Ppland there were 3 million Jews, today less than 40,000, where did they all go?

[Villiany_Inc]

I am not denying the Holocaust.
I simply dont care what the numbers were - whether it was 6 million or 200,000... it was clear that Hitler/NAZI/Fasicism was trying to rid the world of undesirables - as they saw them - and what they did was evil.

If I kill 3 innocent people for no other reason than I dont like them b/c of some imagined wrong that they have committed - not through their own actions but b/c of their heritage, am I less evil than if I killed 20 people for the same reason?

As a Christian and as an American Conservative, I am very supportive of Israel’s right to exist and supportive of the Jewish people (as a country, a culture, & a faith).

However - I see no point in arguing about whether it was 6 million or 200,000 people that were put to death. The motivations towards (and subsequent steps in) that act of evil - in & of itself - are quite clear.

[dmz]

So you don’t see how the minimizing of the numbers lends credence to the Holocaust denier’s arguments, how it bolsters them? Really?

[onedoug]

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves. —Julius Caesar

[Jim Robinson]

zot