A "Review of the Holocaust" conference is being held in Iran right now. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.
As Jaye Ramsey Sutter points out, the real reason for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's interest in twentieth century history is hardly academic: "To deny the Holocaust is to deny the very basis of the existence of Israel. No Holocaust, no need for Israel." These sentiments were expressly announced at the conference itself. Subtlety is clearly not the Iranian regime's strong suit.
Undisguised anti-semitism and odious craziness are the hallmarks of events like this. It's too bad, then, that people like the execrable David Duke have been given a gift by the many European countries that make denying the holocaust a crime. Scott Shackford of the Desert Dispatch puts it well:
Unfortunately, some European nations have chosen to respond in a way that makes the situation worse. As Duke pointed out in an Associated Press story the Desert Dispatch ran Tuesday, "In Europe, you can freely question, ridicule or deny Jesus Christ. The same is true for the Prophet Muhammed, and nothing will happen to you. But offer a single question of the smallest part of the Holocaust, and you face prison."
In Germany, Austria and France it's against the law to deny the existence of the Holocaust, a violation of free speech that wouldn't be permitted in America.
When people are free to say and believe what they choose, they may believe and say stupid things, such as denying the Holocaust. And we are free to respond as we choose, such as calling such beliefs stupid and explaining why. Thus, the open debate assures that arguments are analyzed and picked over and accepted or rejected.
When debate is denied by law, forbidden ideas blossom and grow in dark and disturbing ways, and they aren't countered because they aren't to be discussed. Furthermore, it creates victims and martyrs out of people because of what they choose to say or believe, which defeats the lessons of the Holocaust.
I've said it before in other contexts that the remedy for bad speech is good speech. The antidote to falsehood is truth. Suppression of speech only enhances its credibility.
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