A mind perforated by bigotry

[walksalone11]

A mind perforated by bigotry has no place in Pope's posse

Richard Cohen

Monday, February 9th 2009, 7:40 PM

    * Bishop to examine evidence before recanting Holocaust denial

Shush. Do not call. Do not e-mail. I am on pins and needles. The newly reinstated Catholic bishop who has been ordered by the Pope to recant his statements denying the Holocaust now concedes that "many honest and intelligent people" disagree with him so he's going to look into the matter and see if he has been wrong. With virtually unbearable anticipation, I await his findings.

Bishop Richard Williamson, installed in the schismatic Society of St. Pius X and invited back into the church by Pope Benedict just last month, said his examination of the evidence will have its limits. "I will not go to Auschwitz," he told the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel via e-mail. No matter. People with his mind-set have already been there.

Holocaust denial suggests a mind perforated by anti-Semitism, a bigotry so extreme that it blinds the bigot to mounds of shoes and hair and eyeglasses, all of these exhibited at various Holocaust museums. To be a denier, it is necessary to believe that all the survivors - Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel and all the others - staggered out of the camps, got together and agreed to fabricate a story.

Williamson's lawyer confirmed the authenticity of the e-mails to Der Spiegel. It is possible, though, that the Pope has not yet seen the article. He sees so little. Astoundingly, the Pope says he was unaware that Williamson is a Holocaust denier. He did not know that Williamson said that only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews were killed during World War II and none was gassed. Williamson said that he once reviewed the physical evidence. This, of course, is the telltale twitch of the really obsessed anti-Semite, an architectural deconstruction of the ovens and the chimneys to conclude that the whole thing was impossible - a yarn, a myth concocted by those diabolically clever Jews to win sympathy, reparations and, of course, Israel itself.

It's clear the Pope doesn't only travel in a bubble, he lives in one. But that is no concern of mine - or yours. What should concern us more is the charade that continues. A Holocaust denier now pretends to sift through the evidence to see if such a thing happened. What shall we do with the results? What if Williamson says the Holocaust occurred, the ovens worked, the chimneys were big enough? Who cares? Should he be considered sincere? Can this graduate of Cambridge University suddenly be exonerated of his patent anti-Semitism? How can you doubt the Holocaust and not be a raving Jew hater?

Still, the Pope mulls the matter over. What should he, a German, do about this Holocaust denier? (The Pope has dismayed much of Germany.) What should he, the Pope, do after eons of Vatican anti-Semitism culminating in a supine silence during the Holocaust itself? He dithers. He did not know. He demanded a retraction. He is waiting. He is being played for a fool.

Benedict is a traditionalist, an organization man, and so he worries about a schism in the church - the Pius X Society representing ultraconservatives who reject the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which pertinently included a strong repudiation of anti-Semitism. Never mind that the schism has existed since 1969 and does not matter much anyway. With his overture to Williamson and his subsequent dithering, Benedict has opened a much more consequential schism - between the church he heads and a worldwide community of appalled onlookers. It is one thing to deny the Holocaust. It is somehow worse to deny that doing so is anything other than an irreversible and disqualifying confession of anti-Semitism. No matter what he may come to say, Williamson must not be accepted by the Pope. History forbids it.

cohenr@washpost.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/02/10/2009-02-10_a_mind_perforated_by_bigotry_has_no_plac.html#ixzz1HFPFm6RV

[amyrouse]

I want to reply to this to acknowledge that I've read it, and I'm at a loss for words.  I agree wholeheartedly in the appraisal of the author of the article: this is Antisemitism, plain and simple.

[DarkMistress]

I want to reply to this to acknowledge that I've read it, and I'm at a loss for words.  I agree wholeheartedly in the appraisal of the author of the article: this is Antisemitism, plain and simple.

I agree. Thank you for posting this, as I was not aware this was even going on.

[shernajwine]

My dad being born and raised in Iran, an antisemitic nation, once told me that the holocaust was a myth and I really couldn't believe he was serious. I was a child at the time, probably in junior high I think, so I couldn't effectively argue with him. So my statements of....but it's in my history book?? I saw a survivor on a documentary??? It's documented recorded history, how can it be a myth?? were brushed off as----all lies. He didn't really answer my question of WHY would so many people make up such a story and HOW could they make up such a story?

I went to my mother and she said that that is what my dad was taught in his school as a young child, because muslims hate jews. And no child was allowed to question what they were taught in his country and so you believed it or you were in big trouble. It is a brainwashed mindset of MANY people and it boggles my mind that such a position could be held by anyone even if they do hate jews! I really truly can't fathom their reasoning. 

My dad has since converted to Christianity but some of his mindsets are still entrenched, that's why I really believe it is brainwashing. I don't really know if he still thinks the holocaust was a myth but I know he is still homophobic, superstitious and has a problem with jews, for no other reason than, that's what he grew up being told to think. It is truly exasperating! 

[vicogden]

Unfortunately Bishop Williamson is rethinking his position due to what I would call the "Mel Gibson Virus", i.e. his statements were caught and made public, so it's time to recant.  I honestly don't know if I would blame the Pope for not knowing since the Catholic Church is one of the largest "corporations" in the world and you can't know the secrets of all your Bishops.  However, there is not doubt the Bishop in question is either anti-semetic or just plain ignorant.