History – Page 6 – Doug's Views

July 28, 2013April 18, 2020

The Worse Atheist On Display? The One Who Doesn’t Do Their Homework

This past week a quasi government committee here in Ohio voted to accept the design for a Holocaust memorial that included a large Star of David. A memorial to honor the victims of that horrific event seems appropriate but including a religious symbol as a large focus of the installation seems crossing the line between church and state. However it seems some atheists jumped the gun and likened concern over the religious symbol to being a Holocaust denier. Those atheists should do their homework before being ‘outraged’.

The Star of David, a symbol of the Jewish religion, has a place in the history of the Holocaust because it was used by the Nazis to “mark” Jews before they were shipped off to the death camps during World War II. However the Holocaust didn’t only affect Jewish people.

July 16, 2013April 18, 2020

White Supremacists Don’t Always Wear Hoods

created image of a guy in suit wearing a Klan hood

The Supreme Court overturned part of the Voting Rights Act, overturned DOMA based on a ‘state’s rights’ claim, and a jury in Florida found nothing criminal when George Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed black teenager. Why does this trouble me in the so-called ‘post-racial’ United States? Paul Rosenberg over at Crooks and Liars has the answer. In 2013, white supremacy is alive and well and it isn’t always burning crosses or wearing hoods.

Rosenburg makes a point that we shouldn’t call what is going on racism because it lets white supremacists off the hook. That’s how we get four frames of colorblind racism:

July 7, 2013April 18, 2020

Why Do We Have To Choose Between Privacy Or Security?

created image of guy looking in a window with POLICE on shirt

If you aren’t doing anything wrong then this should not be a problem, right?

The media coverage over what National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden did, by publicly revealing the large surveillance program conducted by the NSA, included ridiculously breathless stories about his whereabouts, if the guy is a traitor (he’s not), and if Glenn Greenwald should be jailed for doing his job of reporting the story. What still isn’t being discussed is the reasons and methods behind the program Snowden exposed and why there isn’t much discussion about the accountability of the program. We have been given a false choice between privacy or security.

Bob Sullivan, on the NBC News website wrote a good essay about the problem of having the false choice of privacy or security:

April 21, 2013April 18, 2020

Separating fact from fiction for the Boston and Texas tragedies

famous image of Police going into action after Boston Marathon bombing

Police go into action after Boston Marathon bombing

It was a rough week for a lot people last week. Two bombs were set off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. A fertilizer plant blew up in Texas on Wednesday. The manhunt for the Boston bombing suspects heated up early Friday morning then concluded with the final suspect captured Friday evening. It is still early in these events and we don’t have all the information but I wanted to share some thoughts on the week where the known facts don’t match what is being said by other people.

April 8, 2013April 18, 2020

Holocaust Remembrance Day: Heeding The Warning Signs

Eternal flame at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum

April 8th 2013 is Holocaust Remembrance Day (aka Yom HaShoah) and begins the ‘The Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust’ here in the United States. This year’s theme is Never Again: Heeding The Warning Signs which is a good idea no matter the reasons. Just as humans are capable of great kindness, we are also capable of great evil. We all need to heed the warning signs to try to prevent an immense evil like the Holocaust from happening again.