Tonight marks the seventieth anniversary of Kristallnackt, the night of broken glass in Nazi Germany. In response to the death of a German diplomat shot by a Jew in the German embassy in Paris, the Nazis systematically and unsystematically killed 92 Jews, burned 1000 synagogues and thousands of Jewish businesses, and arrested and deported 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. The man in Paris was protesting the overnight deportation of 12,000 Jews to Poland, which had taken place on October 18.
It was a decisive moment in the turn toward the Holocaust and in the severing of diplomatic relations that would eventually landslide into World War 2.
No nation should think itself incapable of such atrocities toward a group. We see it now in Darfur. We saw it in Rwanda. We saw it in those who lynched "blacks" before we allowed that they might be African-Americans. And we saw it in those who wanted to make sure the "coloreds" stayed out of their schools, sat at the back of the bus, and used a different water fountain.
The feeling of many Americans toward Muslims after 9-11 was not dissimilar in kind although thankfully it never reached the same degree. The attitudes of many toward Mexican immigrants is of the same kind. The excuses always change for why we justify hatred toward the other, but the underlying emotion is exactly the same. The emotion of the person who hates the illegal Mexican immigrant is the same as the emotion of the German who hated the Polish immigrant in 1938.
The next generation is born without memory. Each child born could just as easily become a Nazi or a terrorist as a Ghandi or ambassador. Each child could just as well be an ancient Egyptian, a twenty-first century American, or a tribesman in eighteenth century Africa.
None of us is better than any of these, just because of when and where we were born. And any advance that we enjoy or profess today could be lost within a generation.
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Amen and Amen. I do want to bring up a little thought though, concerning your use of black and african-american. I was under the full impression that during the Civ. Rights movement, the group wanted to be called "Black", and not colored. When was African-American first used? For truly, they aren't really African-Americans anymore than I am a European-American...we are all just Americans, I am white, another brother of mine might be black.
Is there some sort of background on this development I have missed out on?
On a different note, Friday nights at my practicum volunteering with youth we discussed the topic of racism--the group was all hispanic and I myself am white. It was interesting to hear there stories about bullying at school, over many reasons--and I put forth the idea that racism is not very different than misogyny, nationalism, or class struggle--it all appears to be about the control of power over another, the actions between groups are just names for one problem. -shrugs-
No, you are quite right, Kris. I wasn't quite sure how to word that sentence. It didn't flow right to say African American there, but many don't like the word "black" today and so didn't want to use it unqualifiedly either. My feeble attempt was to leave the connotation that full American status was not given at that time.
Thanks...
I grew up in the South in a segregated era and participated in the civil rights movement. My wife and I also worked at black colleges in the South. Segregation and the violence that supported it were morally repugnant. Additionally too many "Bible believing" Christians opposed integration. However, analogies between Germany and the United States are flawed historically. For example, the entire German government(with some individual exceptions such as Bonhoeffer)was anti-semitic in word and deed. The United States government by the 1950s came to support legislation and actions to open our society to excellence based upon merit(and not race). We need to assist all in our country to be able to overcome poverty and debilitating prejudice.
John Gardner
Onalaska Wisconsin
Thanks John. The analogy I'm drawing is not between countries but between individuals.
Ken, Hate is a term for emotion, while responding to terrorism is not necessarily filled with emotion, as it is a criminal attack against the Western culture. I do not find that protecting one's values is wrong, when it comes to Islam's intolerance and radicalism. I do and am doing the same when it comes to fundamental Christians. Fundamentalists are not reasonable, as they do not base their faith on reason.
Last night Wim's sister called from California. She is so very different from Wim in her convictions and commitments. She is not a believer in the traditional sense, but is committed to American values and the Dutch "work to live" (instead of America's "live to work" paradigm)...She has fully disagreed with the war in Iraq and has felt that the "war of terror" as a whole has been misguided extremism. BUT, last night she expressed grave concern, as she had actually seen footage of real live Muslims in "worship". It scared her to death. And she said she felt like calling Wim and asking him "what should or could she do about it"....all this to say that we are not facing just a docile, typical, "religion". We are facing an ideology that is rooted in cultish commitment. So it is not unreasonalbe to "fight" and resist on all sides the undermining of Western values and culture...
Thanks Angie. We're not talking about bringing justice to those who plot and carry out acts of terrorism here. We're talking about lumping all Muslims into the same category of a very small percentage of terrorists. The overwhelming majority of Muslims have never lifted a finger to harm an American.
Just tonight there was a special on National Geographic on Islam. It said that the European Muslims were much more likely to do the damage next time on American soil because they for the most part are isolated in Europe.
It also stated that American Muslims have helped the FBI with Al Quaida. But, there was an American turned Muslim that was convicted of treason for helping Al Qaida...
Many British born Muslims have been responsible for terrorist attacks...this is a subtle, hidden, and devious enemy. Many have "treated" Muslims as cults with psychiatric help with brain-washing...
As far as Islam in general, I am so adamantly opposed to their understanding of life, their discrimination, their radicalism, their blind commitment, their groupism...etc..
The hatred of many Muslims toward Americans is another example of the same kind of "emotion" too, of a kind with the hatred of many Americans toward Muslims.
No doubt about it, that one's identity is culturally defined. But, America's tolerance of diversity is what Islam hates, even though we affirm the Muslims within our own borders and give them a "usefulness" to our culture's resistance to another culture's undermining. One does wonder why a Muslim would want to continue in practicing Islam in the West since it is so different in cultural values (unless Hirshi Aryaan Ali is correct in her assessment of how Islam wants to gain power).
For the most part, what America stands for is in exact opposition to Islam's values (unless one is a fundamental Chrisitina). And as Wim ways, it is very hard to even get into the head (worldview) of a Muslim. Even while it may be hard to understand how a Muslim thinks, that does not negate the fact that women are abused in this "systme" of belief! Hirshi Araayn Ali, as well as other "escapees" have testified that, as human beings, the system is a demoralizing and damaging one. How perverted can you be to have a doctrine of a heaven of virgins (it only goes to show how they view women)?
So, hatred of the system of abuse is a "virtue" I would think. Prejuidice is not wrong, if it is rightfully and reasonably assessed.(Tineke, Wim's sister, admitted that the Dutch culture of tolerance has been the culture of its own problems with Islam).
The Catholics talked with the Muslims last week at the Vatican, in response to the document and follow-up correspondence found at this website:
www.acommonword.com
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