aric
demi-admin
I drink your milkshake!
Posts: 989
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Post by aric on Jun 3, 2009 1:31:36 GMT -5
The United States was fairly lucky (see the quote from Otto von Bismarck in my sig) in its development. The US has generally been safe from invasion from the outside so for a good part of our history we could afford for isolationism to be popular. Well, there's that, but it's not even about isolationism. It's about the American inability to understand or admit that words can compel vicious and stupid people to commit acts of violence. Take a look at the recent murder of an abortion doctor in Kansas. Anti-abortion groups like Operation Rescue have put out constant rhetoric against him and others of his profession, calling them mass-murderers. Then one day someone finally acts on that sentiment. Of course, these groups will (sometimes) try to mitigate their own responsibility in that man's death by saying that they didn't intend for this to happen, but frankly murder is the logical extension of their incessantly provocative rhetoric. They have Tiller's blood on their hands. We've seen this before in history. The Nazis did it to the Jews, and the Hutus did it to the Tutsis. Propaganda inspired people into acts of violence against other people of different groups. It happens to a lesser degree today in America against gays, hispanics, muslims, etc. The fact of the matter is, words have power, and there should be penalties on those words proportionate to the social harm they create. But, you're generally not going to see the American media or Christians in general push this responsibility angle with regards to Tiller's assassination. 1) People think the Freedom of Speech is sacrosanct, as I said above, and 2) Americans think it's the muslims who deserve to be painted as violent animals, not Christians. - Aric
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Post by jewelspike on Aug 3, 2009 0:32:46 GMT -5
I found out the U.S. is extremely loose and nonchalant on context less use of it. So... I would love to hear some cultural perspective, it'd really help me understand things better. What does Nazi symbology mean in the US? Why this difference, I know where the Dutch mentality came from, the question is mainly about the American one. How can an offensive gesture associated with a very dark page in history become part of popular culture? (Will it be the same with Osama Bin laden in 60 years?) Do Americans even get anything about WWII in Europe and how Nazi propaganda worked, how they ever contrived to pull off the Holocaust without anyone stopping them? Vorch, I agree with the others in this thread that there are some crazy right wingers here. Recently, someone painted a swastika on the walls at some school to attack a Jewish teacher. (Of course, I don't know why they did it during summer vacation.) Actually, the swastika is an ancient symbol dating back several millennia in many cultures, including India. It's just the way that the Germans did it, rotating it 45 degrees from the original symbol, that is repulsive. Still, many people have an aversion to all swastikas, even those that aren't Nazi. As for U.S. history, the others are right in that WWII didn't affect us directly, but the American Civil War did. Many people especially in the South feel the same way about the Civil War that you do about WWII. I was watching a television documentary about Abraham Lincoln, which aired last February for his 200th birthday. It's told from many perspectives, including historians, African-Americans, and even Southerners. Many people interviewed in the South think of Lincoln as a terrorist or war criminal. Aric, in regards to the murder of Dr. Tiller, Charlie Rose was doing an episode about both this incident and a similar one last year in which a murderer attacked the members of a more liberal church that is open to gays in their congregation. The episode discusses how hate propaganda affects people's actions.
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aric
demi-admin
I drink your milkshake!
Posts: 989
|
Post by aric on Aug 13, 2009 23:56:47 GMT -5
Aric, in regards to the murder of Dr. Tiller, Charlie Rose was doing an episode about both this incident and a similar one last year in which a murderer attacked the members of a more liberal church that is open to gays in their congregation. The episode discusses how hate propaganda affects people's actions. I can't seem to find it by Google. Would it be at the PBS site? - Aric
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Post by jewelspike on Aug 15, 2009 23:27:19 GMT -5
Sorry, I wouldn't know where to find it online. I watched it live on one of the digital subchannels for PBS. Maybe I got the name of the interviewer wrong -- isn't Charlie Rose the one with the white hair and glasses? If not, I'm sorry -- I'm never good with names.
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