My Holocaust
I don’t read many novels but I think I’m going to read this one, which says that Holocaust denial is “the new heresy.” Exactly.
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For 70-431, there are a number of routes. You can either clear 70-297 first and then go for 70-294 or you can directly jump to 70-292 as well.
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:57 am
Uh, of all the various aspects of the book, why did you choose to zero in on that one?
Some heresies are heresies because people in positions of influence are afraid of them being true. Others are so merely because they’re almost solely espoused by the malevolent and/or stupid.
April 3rd, 2007 at 12:18 pm
That particular feature of the book is a neat expression of what I consider a basic but little-remarked truth about human nature: Disagreements have a funny way of being overreacted to. Calling this or that belief you disagree with a “heresy” is an example.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:09 pm
Well, nowadays “heresy” is applied to a thesis primarily by its defenders, when they want to strike an iconoclastic pose.
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Which is not to say the socio-psychological phenomenon isn’t still very much with us, merely that nobody calls it that anymore.
April 3rd, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Seth,
There’s an important distinction between disagreeing with a _belief_ (”heresy”) and disagreeing with a _fact_ (”denial”).
April 3rd, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I think the author of “My Holocaust” is saying that there are also similarities — similarities in how the people who disagree (the minority) are treated (by the majority). And I agree with her: there are similarities.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Seth,
Perhaps it’s the tone of the blog entry that bothered me. I agree with commenter Matt that “heresy” nowadays is a complement (sort of like “delightfully irreverent” or “edgy”)–it brings up images of heretics who were right, like Galileo. So calling something “the new heresy” sounds a lot like a compliment.
I’d probably describe Holocaust denial not as a “heresy” but as a taboo, which is a little different–we all know that some taboos are there for a good reason. Nazi attitudes, Confederate flags, etc., have been “bad boy” accouterments for quite awhile, as a poke in the eye to the “establishment.” And it’s no surprise that most people react negatively to bad-boy types who are trying to rile them up.
Of course, it’s notoriously difficult to read “tone” from written (as compared to spoken) words.
October 20th, 2008 at 2:46 am
You can deny the existence of God, the divinity of Christ, but woe on to you if you deny the sacred mysteries of the holohoax. You will end up in jail in Israel and most European countries for such a transgression.
Jefferson, Thomas (1743-1826), 3rd American President: “It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”