A spiritual question about Holocaust Deniers and the outrage they cause??

How come so many people loudly voice their outrage when nutcases like Amahdinejad deny the holocaust...





BUT...





those same people seem to take quite nonchalantly things like the blankets with smallpox that white people gave to American Indians or the sheer incarceration they suffered when their lands were seized and they were put in reservations?





Prior to the arrival of Europeans, various sources estimate native population in North and South America at ninety to one hundred million. In the fifteen hundreds, the American Indian population in North America has been estimated at approximately twelve million, but by the early 1900's, the population had been reduced to roughly 474,000. It is impossible to arrive at a number for the millions of American Indians killed during this period by European diseases with smallpox the deadliest by far.





Compared to this, the Holocaust is a child's play...





Why doesn't this cause so much outrage among people??

A spiritual question about Holocaust Deniers and the outrage they cause??
I will echo Plushy. For those who are aware, it does. And add... The Settler culture is in denial.





Glorious is only partly correct. In some cases the introduction of smallpox infected blankets was deliberate. There was an officer named Amhurst, the very one after whom Amhurst college is named. Use a search on Amhurst and smallpox and see what you get.





Anyone who wants to learn more should read "The State of Native America" ed. Annette Jaimes.





For Aviator: When Gandhi was leading the protests against British rule an exasperated British representative went to him at the height of the tension and asked Gandhi what it was he wanted the English to do. Gandhi's answer: "Leave." Aviator asks: "And what was supposed to happen? the Europeans should have never gone to the Americas?" That's a good thought for starters. Here's some more: How about paying the rent. Most of the land this country's cities are built on was stolen from the only people who had a moral claim to it. Here's another: Don't pollute our territories. (Uranium mining pollutes the land of the people in the southwest; most of it is Native American territory. In upstate NY, the Onandaga territory as well as that of the other surviving people of the Long House, is being polluted or is threatened with pollution. Here is an even more radical idea: Apply the Golden Rule for once. Want to learn more? Again, read Jaimes.





For Lighting Up Time: There are plenty of IDNs who remember what happened, or who remember what their parents told them about. It is the Settler culture (our culture) that has forgotten. Understandable, since our culture is the guilty one.





For genessa: "...excuse for deniers of the holocaust..." That's not the point. Do you have any idea what Thanksgiving celebrations or Columbus Day seem like to Native Americans? How do you think the Jewish community would feel if the US celebrated Krystal Nocht? How about on Thanksgiving, devoting a few minutes of silence (hopefully prayerful silence) to express regret for how this land was usurped and its rightful proprietors murdered, displaced, etc.





For paper back writer: Just remember, when you point with your index finger there are three other fingers pointing back at you..


I'd say you are unqualified to compare what the Nazis did with what George Washington, Andrew Jackson, and countless others did.


Some people theorize that Hitler borrowed Jackson's policies and tactics to destroy the Jews. (I think I recall reading somewhere that Hitler's notes show that he studied the removal practices of the US, but my recall isn't very clear, hence "some theorize.") If the US hadn't done those things, maybe Hitler wouldn't have been able to move as quickly and maybe fewer would have died.


As far as children being murdered and worse, it was all done here in North America, and it was done first. An entire village was wiped out by Chivington, an officer in the army, even though the people had agreed to a treaty with the US. That includes women and children and old men as well as those who might have put up any resistance. At Wounded Knee the US soldiers played games with the body parts they had amputated (mutilating the bodies of other humans in ways I don't think even the Nazis had done.)


You are right about one thing. It isn't really a question of who suffered the most. Its a question of what those who benefited from these atrocities have the moral courage to do to make amends. At least Volkswagen apologized for using slave labor. The German government, on Holocaust Memorial Day, expressed shame and sorrow. No one in Government in Canada or US has ever done anything remotely similar.





Here is the R%26amp;S connection: Canada %26amp; US are predominantly Christian countries. The US founders prayed frequently to the Almighty. They declared offciial days of fasting. (It's hard to believe given the attitude today towards religion.) In Christianity, as well as Judaism BTW, when you have wronged someone, you are obliged to make amends. So, citizens of US %26amp; Canada, what do you do to make up for the theft and usurpation of those things that now benefit you?
Reply:I'd say the difference lies in proximity (the Holocaust happened in the lifetimes of people yet living), organization (the Nazis were meticulous, organized, unsparing, unstinting in their genocide), availability of information (the deaths of American Indians happened 'off-screen', as it were) and the fact that the Holocaust was done by the 'bad guys'.





Not to diminish the scale of the extermination of the Native American, but there are several reasons why the Holocaust occupies the foremost place in the halls of man's inhumanity to man.
Reply:It wasn't a systematic plan to eliminate all the Native Americans. And what was supposed to happen? the Europeans should have never gone to the Americas? It was inevitable that the diseases would eventually find their way to the Americas, and once they show up, it is too late.





I am not saying Europeans didn't do horrible things to Native Americans. And I know they didn't do anything to help them. But the disease thing probably would have eventually happened. The actual killing and occupying was much worse from the Europeans. But they didn't do it as an act of genocide, which is why the holocaust is so bad.
Reply:I'm not justifying it, but it wasn't on purpose. (at least not the smallpox) the persecution of Indians still horrifies me though.


Now the killing of Aborigines in Australia, that was legal as they weren't considered human.


It could be a living memory thing also. My Nana remembers her sister and family 'disappearing' during the holocaust.
Reply:For those who are aware, it does.


However, the sheer viciousness of the medical experiments and the fact that it was not all that long ago (in comparison) weighs heavily on people.





Folks have short memories, sometimes.


If we do not remember history, we are doomed to repeat it, yes?
Reply:The holacaust is much more immediate and was documented in great detail. It cannot be denied and it will not be allowed to be forgotten.





The other tragedies you mention just didn't have the same coverage and are outside living memory.
Reply:I did not know that, although that explains that one joke in South Park...





It's a horrific occurrence that people did that willingly. Sickening.
Reply:I agree that those other atrocities were terrible and should never be overlooked.





But your remark about the Holocaust being 'child's play' just shows that you don't know the details of what the Jews suffered in those camps.





I take it you've never read of the 'experiments' performed on Jewish children by Mengele, for instance?





Because if you did know even a bit about that, you would not have made such a foolish and insensitive remark.





I would also like to remind you that it's not a contest as to which group has suffered the most. The fact remains that the Jews are the only religion that have experienced an attempted genocide that came so close to being successful. HALF the Jews on the planet were exterminated in the Holocaust.