Nihil Obstat: Insidious Reductionism

Buckeye Surgeon sounded the familiar call to "never forget," all the while recognizing that there must be an active, real undercurrent to keep that directive meaningful and alive.

He writes: "... Nazi atrocities have been documented ad nauseum to the point where one would think that in this day and age, the historical factuality of the Holocaust would be considered an incontrovertible truth by men and women of rational mind. But we can never stop being vigilant, lest a bit of "Holocaust fatigue" starts to creep into our collective consciousness. As the video [below] of the Bishop Richard Williamson painfully illustrates, 'never again' is an empty phrase without constant re-affirmation and a perpetual struggle to remind new generations of the horrors of the past."




What is almost as frightening as Williamson's "rehabilitation" are the comments appearing after the video at its YouTube site. The rabid comments that are full of palpable hate? I can deal with them, and easily. What scares me is something like this, posted 9 hours ago (at this writing):

"The reactions to this interview are ridiculous. Look, in the first place, whether there were gas chambers, or whether 200K or 6M Jews were killed does not change the fact it was a crime. But no one said it did! And the fact that everyone's so upset AT THE POPE for lifting this man's excommunication is unbelievable! Clearly he's got his historical facts wrong and his "antisemitism" bit was very carelessly spoken, but I see nothing in this interview to warrant rage against the church or the pope."

Smooth, careful, calm -- chipping away at the truth and at citations of the truth -- this scares me, no end. My fear of this kind of person trumps what I feel in response to someone who says this, for example:

"jews are the biggest liars in history ! Bishop Williamson is a hero for daring to expose the holohoax.The jewish owned media will crucify the Bishop.Freedom of speech must be protected!"

The first quote came from YouTube user tuneman144, a self-reported 23 year old American man. No other information is provided. He has no YouTube friends, no YouTube subscribers.

The second quote is the work of HenryFordRules who provides quite the explanation for his choice of screen name:

"Henry Ford risked his business and reputation to stop WW1 and WW2.He exposed the international jewish bankers who started both wars.In 1920 he published a newspaper called The Dearborn Independent,which was dedicated to the education of the American people about the International Jewish bankers who controlled the US and European economy,government and media.He also wrote the classic book,The International Jew:The World's Foremost Problem,and he was the first American to publish copies of The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion,the zionist plan to rule the world.Even with all his money and power he was no match for the International bankers.90 years later nothing has changed."

HenryFordRules has 20 subscribers and 47 friends.

A few hours ago, AP Press reported:

BERLIN (AP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Pope Benedict XVI to
make a "very clear" rejection of Holocaust denials after a former bishop was
rehabilitated by the Vatican.

Her rare and public demand came amid increasing outrage among Germany's Roman Catholic leaders over the pope's decision to lift the excommunication of British-born Richard Williamson, who questioned whether 6 million Jews were gassed during the Nazi Holocaust.

Merkel said she "does not believe" there has been adequate clarification
of the Vatican's position on the Holocaust amid the firestorm of controversy
that broke out after Williamson's rehabilitation by the German-born pope.

Benedict last week expressed "full and indisputable solidarity" with
Jews and warned against any denial of the horror of the Holocaust, but several
leading German bishops have decried the German-born pope's decision and called
for Williamson's rehabilitation to be revoked.

"I do not believe that sufficient clarification has been made," Merkel said.

The Vatican moved quickly to counter Merkel's suggestion.

"The pope's thinking on the subject of the Holocaust has been expressed very clearly," said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi.

He cited Benedict's visit to a synagogue during his first visit to Germany as pope in 2005, a visit to Auschwitz in 2006 and his remarks during last week's general audience.

Lombardi quoted from what he called the pope's "unequivocal words" at
that public audience. "I hope that the memory of the Shoah leads humanity to
reflect on the unpredictable power of evil when it conquers the heart of men,"
he quoted the pope as saying. "May the Shoah be a warning for all against
oblivion, against denial or reductionism."

Lombardi said that during the audience "the pope himself clearly explained the purpose of lifting the excommunication, which has nothing to do with any legitimization of positions denying the Holocaust, which were clearly condemned" by Benedict.

Merkel's stand was out of the ordinary, said Elan Steinberg, vice president of the New York-based American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants.

"When the German Chancellor admonishes a German-born Pope it is an extraordinary message," Steinberg said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"Together with the expressions of outrage emanating from German and Austrian bishops, these developments have ironically strengthened relations between Germany and the world Jewish community."

The issue is particularly sensitive in Germany, where denial of the Holocaust is a crime and Roman Catholic leaders have worked hard to restore relations with the Jewish community.

As a young man in Germany, Benedict, then called Joseph Ratzinger, served briefly in the Hitler Youth corps.

Earlier Tuesday, Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the bishop of Mainz, called for an apology from "a high level."

"There must also be consequences for those who are responsible for this," Lehmann said in an interview with broadcaster Suedwestfunk of the decision to rehabilitate Williamson.

Williamson was consecrated by the late ultraconservative Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without papal consent. The Holy See has said that removing the excommunication did not imply the Vatican shared his views.

Williamson, in an interview broadcast last month on Swedish state TV,
said that historical evidence "is hugely against 6 million Jews having been
deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler."

He cited what he called the estimates of the "most serious" revisionists
that "between 200,000 and 300,000 perished in Nazi concentration camps, but not one of them by gassing in a gas chamber."

There are sufficient eyes and ears on Williamson and his cohorts and followers. HenryFordRules is so outrageous that some will follow him for easy sport. But who will watch and listen for tuneman144, who has no friends, no subscribers?

(Thank you, Buckeye Surgeon.)