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Great reminder. It's easy to give deniers credibility by arguing with them. They know the proof is out there, but want to disbelieve it. Why?
I can give you one answer...
To quote Deborah Lipstadt, one of my personal heros and the one who most influenced my own Holocaust studies, "And therein is a lesson that can be learned by all who fight the purveyors of hatred and lies. Though the battle against our opponents is exceptionally important, the opponents themselves are not. Their arguments make as much sense as flat-earth theory. However, in dramatic contrast to flat-earthers, they can cause tremendous pain and damage. Some of them use violence. Others, as Hajo Funke said in Berlin as we sat in the shadow of the Reichstag, use words that, in turn, encourage others to do harm. It was words that motivated those who blew up the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, dragged an African-American down a logging road to his death, tortured a young homosexual in Wyoming, stabbed a Jewish student to death on the streets of Crown Heights, blew up Israeli families about to celebrate the Passover Seder, and flew planes into the World Trade Center. We must conduct an unrelenting fight against those who encourage—directly or indirectly—others to do these things. But, even as we fight, we must not imbue our opponents with a primordial significance. We certainly must never attribute our existence to their attacks on us or let our battle against them become our raison d’etre. And as we fight them, we must dress them—or force them to dress themselves—in the jester’s costume. Ultimately, our victory comes when, even as we defeat them, we demonstrate not only how irrational, but how absolutely pathetic, they are."
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Originally Posted by Dane_in_LA
First, excellent username and post combo. Second: You're right, there's no debating with people who think "Are you Jewish?" has any bearing on reality. Such people should be spoken of, not to.
But I like to think that other people may read these exchanges and perhaps one or two may walk away without thinking that Holocaust denial is a valid point of view.
I didn't write my post aimlessly. It was well thought out. I think it addressed both of your concerns while being subtle enough to avoid giving any credence to the counter argument. Thank you for laying the groundwork.
When someone believes something in the face of insurmountable evidence to the contrary, they clearly believe it because they WANT to believe it.
If that insurmountable evidence is not enough for them, nothing you can say or do will be enough for them. They want to believe that the holocaust didn’t exist. Just like flat earth people want to believe the earth is flat.
Rather than try to argue with them, the question that we should be asking is WHY do they want to believe these things?
I don't believe in flat earth, but I know why some people have those ideas.
For thousands of years it was believed the earth was the center of the universe and everything revolved around it.
Then about 500 years ago people realized that is not the case, people started to believe the earth goes around the sun. But most people misinterpreted the discovery, and didn't understand for a long time that the sun is also moving through space. This correction was only recently made.
Now the most important question: Who is to say this won't change in the future? Any one who says this is not the whole truth is taken as a fool. Yet the theory has changed AT LEAST THREE TIMES. Let me give some news, IT WILL CHANGE AGAIN, just not in our life time.
To answer your question Why? People have the feeling something is not quite right; Admittedly they can't get to the right view either.
In this case the subject is highly politicized, just like climate change. People rightfully feel there is more to it than what we are told.
Or you can say it is "well studied" on one side, guided by one principle.
Ignorance is not a viewpoint and has no call on equal time. If your "side" is the one backing "the Holocaust didn't happen",it is getting the attention it deserves - scorn. And that's probably a mistake, as it feeds the craving for attention.
We don't give equal credence to people who argue Gibraltar doesn't exist. Gibraltar denialism is not a viewpoint of any merit. There are no two sides to the Gibraltar debate. And you're not a persecuted free thinker when people ask you to kindly shut up with your alternate, non-Gibraltar version of geography. You're simply a boor.
When someone believes something in the face of insurmountable evidence to the contrary, they clearly believe it because they WANT to believe it.
If that insurmountable evidence is not enough for them, nothing you can say or do will be enough for them. They want to believe that the holocaust didn’t exist. Just like flat earth people want to believe the earth is flat.
Rather than try to argue with them, the question that we should be asking is WHY do they want to believe these things?
True, but I wasn't planning on arguing. The "period" at the end of my post was me being done because there's nothing more to say considering the mountain of evidence out there that the Holocaust is real. I'm not about to go over it, there's no need to. Conspiracy theorists can remain in la la land, I like the real world.
I agree that there is much evidence supporting the holocaust. I do, however, find it strange that a bunch of people with second-hand knowledge of an event want to lock up one of the few remaining people with first-hand knowledge of the event because she disagrees with them. I also agree that you can't really research a topic if it's illegal to discuss.
On the contrary, you are the one who 100% believe what is fed to you on this subject. Any educated person will have readonable doubt on anything presented to him. Only those who have religion-style faith get irritated for a slight suggestion of alternative.
Believe those who seek the truth; doubt those who find it.
Ignorance is not a viewpoint and has no call on equal time. If your "side" is the one backing "the Holocaust didn't happen",it is getting the attention it deserves - scorn. And that's probably a mistake, as it feeds the craving for attention.
We don't give equal credence to people who argue Gibraltar doesn't exist. Gibraltar denialism is not a viewpoint of any merit. There are no two sides to the Gibraltar debate. And you're not a persecuted free thinker when people ask you to kindly shut up with your alternate, non-Gibraltar version of geography. You're simply a boor.
Name calling suggests frustration and irrationality.
I'm neither Jewish nor Christian, and can understand why some people get emotional on this issue.
Your analogy makes no sense at all. Science is ALWAYS open for falsification. In fact, it is in the definition of science. If Newton's law provided no route to falsifying it, it is then not a scientific theory.
Would you support equal time to Gibraltar denialists? I mean, have you seen Gibraltar? Aren't you just blindly trusting those who further a pro-Gibraltar existence agenda? Why are non-Gibraltarianists overlooked when geography research grants are handed out?
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If Newton's law provided no route to falsifying it, it is then not a scientific theory.
That's - natural science. Christ.
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