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eftychia: Me in kilt and poofy shirt, facing away, playing acoustic guitar behind head (Default)
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QotD

posted by [personal profile] eftychia at 05:25am on 2004-12-22

"It's not a comfortable conversation, when a child wants to dismiss the actions of the Nazis by saying, 'They were just bad people; I'm ashamed that I'm part German!' to disagree with that sentiment. It's not easy to point to the things that made people believe and think and act as they did and try to explain how they came to those beliefs. But it's necessary; it's vital.

"One only has to look to Abu Ghraib prison to know why.

"Believing that only those other people can possibly be Bad, and that we are Good leads to dehumanizing people and treating them as inferior beings. It leads to smiling thumbs up signs over the dead bodies of people that your sense of superiority has let you believe are less than human, less worthy, inferior."

-- [livejournal.com profile] zoethe, 2004-08-09

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There are 4 comments on this entry. (Reply.)
 

(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] selki.livejournal.com at 01:54pm on 2004-12-22
One can also point out Germans who went to camps for speaking out against Hitler.
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] osuneko.livejournal.com at 02:49pm on 2004-12-22
Well, I do agree for the most part.

Though, I do kind of feel bad for the woman who got court marshaled for the whole "thumbs up" thing. She was given an order to pose like that for a picture because her commanding officer was a sadistic bastard. In the military, you can't exactly just say "no" to an order unless you want to end up immediately court marshaled anyway, with the possibility of losing your "job." But I guess if she had known this would happen, that's what she would have done (said no).

In that case, I don't blame the woman herself, I blame the people running the camp who had the nerve to give her such an order and later blame her for it.
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madfilkentist: My cat Florestan (gray shorthair) (Default)

(no subject)

posted by [personal profile] madfilkentist at 03:09pm on 2004-12-22
Another point: Saying "I'm ashamed that I'm part (ethnicity x)" is just the flip side of saying "I despise people who are (ethnicity y)."
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(no subject)

posted by [identity profile] anniemal.livejournal.com at 05:00am on 2004-12-25
I am sometimes ashamed of what my country or the countries of my ancestors do or did, but take the shame not upon myself. I am ashamed that some people are racist, and know well the advantages conferred upon me by my pale skin. I sorrow for the evil ways people treat each other. I am ashamed when my temper gets the better of me.

Whole cultures have risen and fallen that did things as bad as the 3rd Reich. Maybe as the child learns more of history and human nature's possibilities it will get easier to explain.

Children will simplify complex histories, but will grow to form an understanding with good teaching, experience, and much thought. We hope.
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