Reply #13: the West uses the holocaust... [View All]

Here's a really good commentary on the way the west uses the holocaust:

-snip-

This ritualized narrative is, arguably, composed of the following key characteristics: The Holocaust was a life-changing event in the history of mankind; nothing like it has happened before or since. The event itself was one of unspeakable and monstrous evil; those who perpetrated it were "evil." Britain and the United States, however, were not tarnished but strove to defeat the evil -- they were the "liberators." Jews -- victims and survivors -- are identifiable with the liberators, and, hence, with "ourselves." "Never again" must an atrocity of this sort be allowed to take place. The guarantee of our freedom against tyranny and atrocity lies with Western states whose value-system is built upon this fundamental principle.

The West had found its "right" atrocity for the contemporary age. One which, on the one hand, was safe because it was contained within a concretized and politically defused past. And, on the other hand, could be selectively wheeled out every time the government -- when taking on a Saddam Hussein, for instance -- wanted to have its actions on the world stage given a legitimating imprimatur.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/209312_holocaust.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=2