Over 5 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. This number never ceases to be staggering. How could something like this happen in a fairly modern and so-called civilized world? How could any human being, with the ability to not only feel but understand love and compassion, ever consent and condone the murder and attempted genocide of men, women and children because of their religion? And yet, this type of bigoted attitude still thrives in our world today. There are many reasons why Hitler's Jewish hatred and distorted viewpoints spread like a highly contagious virus. Too many. Jealousy. Fear. Biases. The list could continue, but today I want to address the one reason that, I feel, encompasses them all: Ignorance. Ignorance is defined as "the lack of knowledge or information". Synonyms include: incomprehension of, unawareness of, unconsciousness of, unfamiliarity with, inexperience with...and so on and so on.
How could Hitler gain so many followers? He fed them his deluded ideas and their egos
feasted. But it was ignorance about the
Jewish people that led to nefarious and disastrous events. What would have happened if people, upon
hearing Hitler’s views, cross-checked the “facts” being presented? What if they had taken the time to get to
know a Jewish neighbor, asked a Jewish person about their faith, observed
Jewish traditions? Now let me be clear. There were non-ignorant people who did
exactly this. Some already had Jewish
friends or had educated themselves and couldn’t be swayed by the popular and
mainstream views. But what is so
disturbing to me is the fact that over 5 million Jews were murdered. It wasn’t just a few followers. It was many.
You can’t have these kind of detrimental and genocidal effects with a
handful of people. If Hitler’s views
had been discredited early on and no one acted on them out of ignorance- nothing
would have happened. He would have
disappeared into nothingness. No one
would remember his name, or at least, no one would care.
Let me state here that what follows is not meant to insult
anyone’s intelligence. Intelligent and
well-educated people do and say ignorant things just as often as the
un-intelligent and uneducated people.
I can willingly admit to having had my share of ignorance and I hope I
have learned and continue to learn from my mistakes. The point of this blog is meant to change the
heart and help us all realize our mistakes and help us rectify them.
So why is this subject current? I witness the same ignorance daily. And sometimes, to the extreme of Hitler’s
regime. Ignorance has fueled
racism. Ignorance rules politics. Ignorance breeds hatred between varying
religions.
One of the biggest instigator of all things ignorant is the
news media. Let me explain how news
works. People of varying biases
segregate themselves into specific news providers and networks. Then they proceed to present recent history
as irrefutable truth. Here is a
fact: the moment history is put down
from one viewpoint it becomes a work of fiction. I can hear each political side chiming in here. “The Democrats slant news to their biased and
wrong opinions and I only trust Republican news”. “Oh, no!
It’s the Republicans who broadcast falsified facts and the Democrats get
it right!” But here is another
fact: both sides are the authors and
both sides slant it their way. It is
part of human nature to see things from what our experience has taught us. This is why it is so important to cross-check
“facts”.
So many times I see on Facebook a news article posted that
declares So and So as a tyrant because they said this absolutely
horrible thing during an interview or a public speech. And the responses go something like this…”How
could they say that?” “How completely
un-American.” Etc. Etc. Blah. Blah.
Blah. Oftentimes, I witness name calling
and derelict language. Apparently on
the internet, you’re guilty until proven innocent. Ignorance.
But what happens when you actually read the accused tyrant’s words
in context and not through the already biased eyes of some reporter? All
of a sudden, their words take on whole new meanings. And usually those meanings were not what was
reported. Usually they are harmless and
referring to something completely unrelated to what they were being accused of
saying.
Now the first crime of ignorance was indeed brought forth by
the news reporter. They ignorantly thought that their negative opinions of a
fellow human were worth sharing as truth (In the world of political talk-show
hosts, they’re actually paid to present antagonistic and inflammatory opinions). Then these biases are readily eaten up by the ignorant because people willingly believe everything at face value. Then it is posted for all your friends to add
their own uniformed and fallacy ridden opinions. And within seconds, the victim of news has
had their reputation bespattered all over social media.
What is the point of this diatribe? Please.
Please! Do your research before posting anything. Cross-check your “facts” (this is my 3rd
time mentioning this thought). Stop
using only one source of information. Broaden
your viewpoint by educating your mind with multiple viewpoints.
What?!! Listen to
what the opposing side has to say? From
their own lips? Actually listen to why
they believe what they believe? Are you
serious? That’s like blasphemy and
punishable by death, isn’t it? How
far-fetched an idea? Insane! Witchcraft!
Burn her at the stake!
I admit this idea does seem novel and perhaps too hard for
the hard-headed. But maybe if this
happens we might actually get more unbiased information, instead of the
inflated news that is currently predominant.
What would result from not distorting the facts because all the
viewers were informed and not easily finagled into believing anything they
hear? I’ll tell you. World peace. You laugh and scoff, but what causes war is
the inability for humans to put ignorance aside and try to understand each
other’s viewpoints. I don’t mean that
everyone should have the same viewpoints, or to accept other’s opinions as your
own—just because. It is important and a
part of what makes us individuals to have our own beliefs and opinions. But it is also more humane and compassionate
to listen and accept that not everyone thinks the same as you. And to respect those opinions. Now if those opinions are not in keeping with
basic human laws….like cheating, stealing, murder, etc…feel free to be 100%
against those opinions and fight them both tooth and nail.
In a world of varying viewpoints, religion seems to be one
of the most ignorantly approached subjects in existence. I was raised in a religion that was
misrepresented and continues to be misrepresented by those who don’t believe as
I do. Those ignorant views in earlier
times led to fear and deep-rooted hatred which in turn led to persecution and
murders…nothing like the holocaust, but just as wrong. Nowadays I don’t have to worry about my
family’s safety, but I can still sometimes feel the effects of long-standing
ignorance causing hostility. And because
of this personal experience, nothing puts me into a passionate tirade faster
than hearing other religions besmirched, including my own.
The largest world religions have the same basic messages. And the biggest one is loving one another. No one religion has the market on love and
kindness. Now there are definitely
groups of evil people who take their religion and drag it through the mud,
while professing their actions to be sanctioned by their beliefs—when in truth,
they are acting against the core values they are misrepresenting. These groups of people are extremists, or
radicals. Sometimes they refer to
themselves (and sometimes misguided others refer to them) as
fundamentalist. But these groups have twisted
the very values of their religion, such that they are as far from fundamental
as you can get. However, they still
manage to dupe the ignorant masses into believing everyone with the same
religious name is one and the same. What
annoys me is how the few are so easily grouped with the majority. I have witnessed in my own Faith people doing
things that are not in keeping with our beliefs (a lot of times they are some
off-shoot religion, but not always), and immediately the populace is pointing
their grimy and accusatory fingers at everyone within my Faith. Stop judging by the minority. And remember, don’t trust the news to give
you a crystal clear viewpoint either.
Here comes my next request.
Do your research. Look at the
numbers. How many people actually follow
extremist views as opposed to the number of members who follow the actual
religion? Learn about many diverse religions
and their beliefs. Get to know people of
other Faiths. Each religion has its
own beauties and some pretty incredible people.
Don’t repeat history. Instead let’s
envision and create a world where religion is no longer a reason to fight or
kill our neighbors.
There is a trend in social media of putting a prominent
figure in society’s picture next to Hitler’s and saying that the two are one
and the same. Usually the biggest crime
the person committed is being a Republican or Democrat. Bush was compared to Hitler. Obama is compared to Hitler. Ignorance.
The true Hitler’s and Hitler’s eager followers of the world today are
not politicians. They are regular Joes
who spread ignorance and accept slanderous views ignorantly. And if these trending habits don’t cease and
desist, the damaging consequences will be unsurpassable. I pray the
consequences will not be millions of extinguished innocent lives. One holocaust is enough to taint humanity
through the eternities.
