Hebrew Atheist Billboard Finds a New Home

[AnimatedDirt]

Exactly how many times does someone need to tread the line between stating an opinion and acting like a bigot before a mod steps in to say that this kind of hateful speech is not okay?

Not sure.

[Asmodean]

Exactly how many times does someone need to tread the line between stating an opinion and acting like a bigot before a mod steps in to say that this kind of hateful speech is not okay?

Not sure.

Not a mod, so don't know, and they are all different. However, I see no problem with walking the line indefinitely as long as you do not cross it more than on rare occasion.

[Tank]

Don't mess with the jews. They pull the holocaust card as much as the blacks do with the slave one. 

Except Holocaust survivors, in some cases, are still living in today's society.  And remarkably, having two Jewish best friends neither one of them has ever brought up the Holocaust in a 'woe is me' context.  As it is though, this is another racially insensitive non-sequitor from you.  Quelle Surprise! 

Exactly how many times does someone need to tread the line between stating an opinion and acting like a bigot before a mod steps in to say that this kind of hateful speech is not okay?

Moding is a fine line. It is always a great help if members use the report button. Sweetdeath is thoughtless and immature at times. I think your illustration of your friends is better than a straight warning. Having worked at the Holocaust centre I felt her comments were mostly thoughtless and ignorant.

[Asmodean]

I think that if some people didn't insist on using holocaust as their martyr card, other people would be less inclined to mock it and them for using it in that manner.

Personally, I wouldn't take the experiences of a concentration camp survivor too lightly in a conversation, but when people start playing the victim card because a great grandfather they never knew died in the name of a popularly disliked cause, they are fair game in my book.

Let the survivors and those close to them who might be interested keep the memory alive - let the rest of us put it in a history book and move on.

[AnimatedDirt]

I think that if some people didn't insist on using holocaust as their martyr card, other people would be less inclined to mock it and them for using it in that manner.

Personally, I wouldn't take the experiences of a concentration camp survivor too lightly in a conversation, but when people start playing the victim card because a great grandfather they never knew died in the name of a popularly disliked cause, they are fair game in my book.

Let the survivors and those close to them who might be interested keep the memory alive - let the rest of us put it in a history book and move on.

Wow. 

[Tank]

I think that if some people didn't insist on using holocaust as their martyr card, other people would be less inclined to mock it and them for using it in that manner.

Personally, I wouldn't take the experiences of a concentration camp survivor too lightly in a conversation, but when people start playing the victim card because a great grandfather they never knew died in the name of a popularly disliked cause, they are fair game in my book.

Let the survivors and those close to them who might be interested keep the memory alive - let the rest of us put it in a history book and move on.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana That's not to say there are not unscrupulous Jews who will play the 'Holocaust card', but to say 'all' or 'none' is equally disingenuous. However it is a fact that the Jewish people/race have been subject to continuous persecution for millennia.

[Asmodean]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana

...while those who can are just likely to.

but to say 'all' or 'none' is equally disingenuous.

Of course. Those are loosely-defined amounts.

However it is a fact that the Jewish people/race have been subject to continuous persecution for millennia.

Yes, right behind gays and the deviant from whatever is the dominant religion in a given society on the persecution scale, I suspect.

I think it is well within my right not to give a damn about how jews - or any ethnic, religious or other groups have been treated in the past. My reality is today. Yes, it came from before and will disappear into after, but by virtue of immediacy, it is of highest priority. By virtue of past being past, it is of the lowest priority as we have yet to disover a way to bring back yesterday.

[Tank]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana

...while those who can are just likely to.

but to say 'all' or 'none' is equally disingenuous.

Of course. Those are loosely-defined amounts.

However it is a fact that the Jewish people/race have been subject to continuous persecution for millennia.

Yes, right behind gays and the deviant from whatever is the dominant religion in a given society on the persecution scale, I suspect.

I think it is well within my right not to give a damn about how jews - or any ethnic, religious or other groups have been treated in the past. My reality is today. Yes, it came from before and will disappear into after, but by virtue of immediacy, it is of highest priority. By virtue of past being past, it is of the lowest priority as we have yet to disover a way to bring back yesterday.

What you choose to do, or not do, is up to you. But I have discovered that experience is usually very expensive while history is free. I personally think it's very useful to be able to learn from previous mistakes. Effectively history is recorded experience, an almost priceless commodity.

[DeterminedJuliet]

I'm not even remotely Jewish, but the holocaust is definitely something worth keeping in mind.

When I did my history undergrad I did a senior year seminar course on the Holocaust. Four solid months of studying the Holocaust from every angle. It honestly changed me and it is a large part of the reason that I became an atheist. Forgetting or belittling our ability as humans for true inhumanity doesn't do any of us any good, I don't think. I can definitely see why something of that magnitude can scar a collective identity.

I mean, Geez, Westerners starting taking over North America over 500 years ago, but if I was Aboriginal, I think I'd still be pissed. People care about who they are and where they came from (and what people did to their relatives).

[DeterminedJuliet]

Edit: I also agree, you aren't obligated to give a damn about anything. But I wouldn't chose to live my life as though the world started when I was born and will end when I die. But that's just me.

[Tank]

I'm not even remotely Jewish, but the holocaust is definitely something worth keeping in mind.

When I did my history undergrad I did a senior year seminar course on the Holocaust. Four solid months of studying the Holocaust from every angle. It honestly changed me and it is a large part of the reason that I became an atheist. Forgetting or belittling our ability as humans for true inhumanity doesn't do any of us any good, I don't think. I can definitely see why something of that magnitude can scar a collective identity.

I mean, Geez, Westerners starting taking over North America over 500 years ago, but if I was Aboriginal, I think I'd still be pissed. People care about who they are and where they came from (and what people did to their relatives).

Because what can be done to ones relatives can possibly be done to one.

[AnimatedDirt]

I think it is well within my right not to give a damn about how jews - or any ethnic, religious or other groups have been treated in the past.

Of course...unless it was your relatives or people of same thought.

[Tank]

I think it is well within my right not to give a damn about how jews - or any ethnic, religious or other groups have been treated in the past.

Of course...unless it was your relatives or people of same thought.

Why are you presuming Asmo's position? Why don't you ask him how he would feel?

[AnimatedDirt]

Why are you presuming Asmo's position? Why don't you ask him how he would feel?

I apologize for presuming a position, Tank.  

[DeterminedJuliet]

I'm not even remotely Jewish, but the holocaust is definitely something worth keeping in mind.

When I did my history undergrad I did a senior year seminar course on the Holocaust. Four solid months of studying the Holocaust from every angle. It honestly changed me and it is a large part of the reason that I became an atheist. Forgetting or belittling our ability as humans for true inhumanity doesn't do any of us any good, I don't think. I can definitely see why something of that magnitude can scar a collective identity.

I mean, Geez, Westerners starting taking over North America over 500 years ago, but if I was Aboriginal, I think I'd still be pissed. People care about who they are and where they came from (and what people did to their relatives).

Because what can be done to ones relatives can possibly be done to one.

Exactly, Canada (and I'm sure the US, though I'm not as familiar) has a very ugly tradition of letting Native groups down. The Inuit have (I think) the highest suicide rates in the world and addiction in their communities runs rampant. They've been royally fucked over as a people and it continues to this day. Not to mention the countless other aboriginal groups across Canada.

But it's really, really easy to not care or not notice if you're white and have never looked into the history and have never set foot on a Reserve.