HatEmail.
Forstly, it is important to state that the purported author, Emanuel Tanay, M.D had nothing to do with the article. Indeed he has expressed strong disagreement with both the content and tone of the writing.
The article was written by second generation Canadian Paul E. Marek and was first published in a right-wing Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva, Israel National News. One of many such articles designed to appeal to an audience with hatred, bigotry and xenophobia carried proudly as part of their very soul.
If we take apart the original article:
- The rise of Nazi Germany was due to the huge inferiority complex the German masses felt brought about by their defeat in the First World War and the great depression and resulting disastrous economy. These combined to make people crave for self-respect. At such times, the message "You are the best. Its not your fault. Its the fault of the blacks, gypsies, Jews, homosexuals" was guaranteed to be well-received. The message allowed people to free themselves of self-doubt, self-loss, fear of failure, of inferiority by externalizing those fears and projecting them elsewhere outside into enemies that could be fought and possibly overcome. Their highly charismatic leader used every trick in the book to work his supporters into a frenzy, with the result that normal, thinking people were cowed into submission and he seized power.
- There is absolutely no comparison to be drawn between the huge, violent mass Nazi rallies of the 1930s and Islam of today. Even fanatical Islamists meet secretly in small groups.
- Again, there is no comparison between the ravages of the communist parties, who held absolute power in the Soviet Union and China, and Islam of today.
- The Japanese culture of the 1930s can not be compared to Islam or Christian Evangelism of today. The Japanese were very strictly regulated and regarded failure as a mortal sin. Much of their brutality stemmed out of their belief that failure made them, or their defeated enemy into a kind of non-person.
- Comparison with Rwanda would be farcical if it were not so tragic. In Rwanda there were two African tribes, The Tutsi and the Hutu who had been at loggerheads for generations. If a majority is held in positions of impotence for an extended period, the stress alone plus a small spark will set off a rampage.
I just received a rather offensive and insensitive e-mail which cited an article purportedly written by Dr Emanual Tanay, which I understand was in fact authored by one Paul E. Marek Saskatoon Canada.
I note the obvious omissions on the gross abuses of fundamentalist Christianity and democracy and the human rights record of the 21st century crusaders of democracy - USA - a country with one of the worst human rights records of the century, that has not signed many of the Geneva conventions, does not recognise and actively lobbies against the international criminal court of justice and war crimes commissions.
Christianity was responsible for some of the worst excesses of the last 2000 years including huge loses from Calvinist conflicts in Germany, and Catholic / Protestant conflicts in Ireland, not to mention the genocides of the crusades.
More recently democracy as well as various religions have been responsible for terrible excesses against international and human rights law - including but not limited to "Laissez faire" of Genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda and Balkans, abuses in Al Ghrab prison, Guantanamo Bay and massive reduction of civil and human rights in western developed countries.
One sided arguments and diatribes do not solve or heal, they inflame and aggravate. I could never condone 9/11, but it was not an isolated incident it was the culmination of years of abuse and insensitivity.
You can keep whipping the most loyal and docile dog - eventually it will bite
It is interesting that Rwanda was mentioned - this is the greatest shame on the international community's partisan views and complacency - hence the formation of Sphere and similar initiatives
I could go through the lists of expendable societies disjointed, destroyed and abused by superpowers and western arrogance .. inspired, inflamed, aggravated even supported .. and then abandoned by their superpower "agitators" and "provokers" .. but it would solve nothing and only raise xenophobic debates that aggravate often oversensitive, highly uninformed and over vocal individuals, and nationalities
Resolutions come from attempting understanding, earning respect - not one sided propaganda
I am very sad to read the like of what is written by Paul E. Marek
Eur Ing Christopher Nixon BE, CEng, CMarEng, FIMarEST, MIPENZ, MNZNDTA
for those that really want to count letters and academic qualifications:
Resident of Cambodia 15 years, husband of genocide refugee, and natural disaster IDP .. Humanitarian aid worker 15 years
But I personally think your personal attributes, personal commitment and personal contribution is more important. Criticism is easy, understanding and constructive engagement is much harder.
I really hope this could go to the same circulation as Paul E. Marek very destructive and biased comments.
Chris Nixon
(I for one do not need to hide behind other peoples names or dissociate myself from my views feel free contact me on phoenix@online.com.kh . But please be rational in what you say - so much of these types of debate break down into red-neck hate mail. I will answer any reasoned and considered factual response.)
_________________________________________________________________________
The following is rather more demonstrative of the feelings of the gentleman erroneously charged with disseminating this hateful claptrap:
Letter to the Editor of New York Times by Emanuel Tanay, M.D.
I am apprehensive when government has the right to kill citizens who are or are believed to be evil. I have good reasons to be fearful of a state that has the right to kill evil people. For five long years I was on a death row. I was one of the bad people that was State sentenced to death by a civilized State. I am a Holocaust survivor from Poland. In spite of this fact I was opposed the execution of Adolph Eichman in Israel and I am alarmed by the power of American Government to impose the death penalty.
Death penalty does not deter homicide. I am no stranger to murder. I am a forensic psychiatrist who has examined hundreds of homicide perpetrators. Among them were Jack Ruby, Ted Bundy and the Cincinnati Angel of Death who killed more than 50 helpless patients. In that case I testified for the prosecution because a wise prosecutor decided not to seek the death penalty but accepted a guilty plea to life sentence without parole. This was accomplished with the cost of few thousand dollars. The federal government spent millions to execute Timothy McVeigh. What did we gain? Some talk about closure for the families. The execution of the Nazi leadership did not bring closure to the Holocaust survivors. My father, Bronislaw Tenenwurzel, was tortured and killed in front of the entire camp Plaszow by Amon Goeth, the anti-hero of Schindlers List. Goeth was sentenced by a Polish court to death and hanged. The execution of Amon Goeth did not bring closure to me. Killing the killers validates the belief that killing solves real or imaginary problems. The arguments against death penalty as racist and discriminatory against the poor are self-defeating. They imply that there is a humane and fair way for the state to kill its citizens. The right to kill bad people is a dangerous concession to the totalitarian conception of a government.
It is bizarre that a country that does not trust the government to regulate health care is willing to entrust it with the right to kill.
Emanuel Tanay MD.
Professor of Psychiatry
I am apprehensive when government has the right to kill citizens who are or are believed to be evil. I have good reasons to be fearful of a state that has the right to kill evil people. For five long years I was on a death row. I was one of the bad people that was State sentenced to death by a civilized State. I am a Holocaust survivor from Poland. In spite of this fact I was opposed the execution of Adolph Eichman in Israel and I am alarmed by the power of American Government to impose the death penalty.
Death penalty does not deter homicide. I am no stranger to murder. I am a forensic psychiatrist who has examined hundreds of homicide perpetrators. Among them were Jack Ruby, Ted Bundy and the Cincinnati Angel of Death who killed more than 50 helpless patients. In that case I testified for the prosecution because a wise prosecutor decided not to seek the death penalty but accepted a guilty plea to life sentence without parole. This was accomplished with the cost of few thousand dollars. The federal government spent millions to execute Timothy McVeigh. What did we gain? Some talk about closure for the families. The execution of the Nazi leadership did not bring closure to the Holocaust survivors. My father, Bronislaw Tenenwurzel, was tortured and killed in front of the entire camp Plaszow by Amon Goeth, the anti-hero of Schindlers List. Goeth was sentenced by a Polish court to death and hanged. The execution of Amon Goeth did not bring closure to me. Killing the killers validates the belief that killing solves real or imaginary problems. The arguments against death penalty as racist and discriminatory against the poor are self-defeating. They imply that there is a humane and fair way for the state to kill its citizens. The right to kill bad people is a dangerous concession to the totalitarian conception of a government.
It is bizarre that a country that does not trust the government to regulate health care is willing to entrust it with the right to kill.
Emanuel Tanay MD.
Professor of Psychiatry
___________________________________________________
Here follows the original viral email:
Subject: A German's View on Islam.
Whatever this writer's credentials might or might not be, what is written here is the way it is. No-one can afford to remain silent.
Subject: A German's View on Islam
This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is purported to be Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a well known and well respected psychiatrist.
I could find no affirmation nor denial of the validity of the letter in Snopes.com.
A German's View on Islam
A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. "Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."
We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.
The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the "silent majority," is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority was irrelevant.
China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.
The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And, who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
Peace-lovinGermans,Japanese,Chinese,Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.
As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passivity that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this and think about it, and send it on - before it's too late.
Emanuel Tanay, M.D.
2980 Provincial St. Ann Arbor , MI 48104
Whatever this writer's credentials might or might not be, what is written here is the way it is. No-one can afford to remain silent.
Subject: A German's View on Islam
This is by far the best explanation of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is purported to be Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a well known and well respected psychiatrist.
I could find no affirmation nor denial of the validity of the letter in Snopes.com.
A German's View on Islam
A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. "Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."
We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam.
The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers.
The hard quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the "silent majority," is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority was irrelevant.
China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.
The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And, who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were "peace loving"?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
Peace-lovinGermans,Japanese,Chinese,Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.
As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passivity that allows the problems to expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this and think about it, and send it on - before it's too late.
Emanuel Tanay, M.D.
2980 Provincial St. Ann Arbor , MI 48104
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