Silencing von Brunn
On Wednesday, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier - an 88-year-old man filled with hate - walked into the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC with a rifle and killed a courageous security guard, Officer Stephen Johns. If not for the quick actions of a heroic few, more chaos and tragedy would likely have ensued.
Yesterday I was in DC. As I stood in our nation's capital - the city which represents the American values of democracy, freedom and, increasingly, hope - I wondered how this atrocity could have happened. The man charged in the attack, James Wenneker von Brunn, has been on the radar of the federal authorities for some time for his anti-Semitic and racist commentary online and erratic outbursts in the community.
But we know it is nearly impossible to tell when extremist ideology will lead to extremist violence. All we know is that extremists - whether they call themselves Christian or Muslim or neo-Nazi - belong to the same tradition: the tradition of extremism.
A few months ago, I spoke at the new Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie. The center was later graced by former President Bill Clinton, and Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. This museum, and Holocaust memorials around the world, are not only places to honor and remember the six million Jews who lost their lives in the Shoah. Each one of these sites educates the next generation about the horrors of the 20th century so they are never repeated.
In light of the critical role these institutions play in shaping the young people - make that all people - who walk through them, I won't repeat the horrifying things that von Brunn has said and written about Jews and other minorities. I won't give another extremist another forum to spread hate, fear and violence.
Instead of focusing on the life and times of the killer, let us rather pour our energy into how we can honor the victim's life. Let us build bridges of understanding in his honor.
By
Eboo Patel
|
June 12, 2009; 10:00 AM ET
| Category:
Morality
,
Personal Religion
,
Religious Conflict
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Posted by: ccnl1 | June 14, 2009 8:32 AM
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Hmmmm....Evidently, CCNL has not read Stevens-Arryo's essay, "The New Muslim-Catholic Coalition."
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 14, 2009 7:22 AM
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Hmmm, one wonders how many pagans, aka followers of the Horned God and/or the triple goddess, there are in virulent, anti-Semitic, Islamic Iran??
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 14, 2009 5:42 AM
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"You can see 'who started it' by reading down a little."
Err...point?
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 14, 2009 5:00 AM
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Err, CCNL. (Congratulations on the new account. Too bad it didn't come with a new attitude.)
It's a short thread. You can see 'who started it' by reading down a little.
Athena's right, though. No one's in the mood.
There's a 'flaw' in *your* religion-of-one, CCNL. No humanity in it. Not a whit of capacity for human respect or comprehension that *someone has died.* Cause someone of a trollish bent *thought everyone else in the world was 'flawed' for being Jewish, and decided, vainly, that he'd try and terrorize part of our nation.... And in so doing, *all* of our nation.
All he ended up doing was shooting an American who held a door open for him.
Pathetic.
Posted by: Paganplace | June 14, 2009 12:35 AM
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Athena, Athena, Athena,
Hmmm, you started the discussion. Next time you give it a rest!!!
And once again, Islam cannot be trusted as long as Muslims follow the dictates of the koran.
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 13, 2009 11:51 PM
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Give it a rest, CCNL. Nobody's in the mood for it.
Posted by: Athena4 | June 13, 2009 4:24 PM
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Athena, Athena, Athena,
We are trying to wake people up to the flaws and errors in their religions!!! Eliminate these flaws and errors and the world will be a better place!!!
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 13, 2009 3:15 PM
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Because he's a human being, CCNL. Moslems have hearts and show compassion, too, you know. At a time when followers of ALL religions should band together to collectively say that "this shall not stand", you're trying to divide people.
Posted by: Athena4 | June 13, 2009 1:47 PM
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How can one express "heart-felt" words when said person follows the dictates of a warmongering, womanizing, illiterate, greed-driven hallucinator!!!!
Some of the grievances against koranic driven Islam:
1a) 179 killed in Mumbai/Bombay, 290 injured
1b) Assassination of Benazir Bhutto and Theo Van Gogh
2) 9/11, 3000 mostly US citizens, 1000’s injured
3) The 24/7 Sunni-Shiite centuries-old blood feud currently being carried out in Iraq, US Troops, 3,440 KIA, 846 non-hostile) and 91,843 – 100,263 Iraqi civilians killed, http://www.iraqbodycount.org/ and
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
4) Kenya- In Nairobi, about 212 people were killed and an estimated 4000 injured; in Dar es Salaam, the attack killed at least 11 and wounded 85.[2]
5) Bali-in 2002-killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 209 people were injured.
6) Bali in 2005- Twenty people were killed, and 129 people were injured by three bombers who killed themselves in the attacks.
7) Spain in 2004- killing 191 people and wounding 2,050.
8) UK in 2005- The bombings killed 52 commuters and the four radical Islamic suicide bombers, injured 700.
9) The execution of an eloping couple in Afghanistan on 04/15/2009 by the Taliban.
10) the 24/7 bloodbath in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 12, 2009 11:41 PM
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As usual, CCNL jumps in to derail a heartfelt message of universal brotherhood by a Moslem to flog his petty grievances. Stay classy there, CCNL.
Eboo, thank you for your heartfelt words. It's times like this that the best and worst of humanity are brought out. As for honoring Officer Johns, I keep thinking that he should be named a "Righteous Gentile" (or whatever honor the Jewish people gave to Oskar Schindler) for his sacrifice. After all, he was committing an act of kindness in opening a door for a senior citizen, just like any other day that he worked.
Posted by: Athena4 | June 12, 2009 6:16 PM
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And let us also focus on removing all the warmongering, anti-female, polygamy, virginal heaven, "death to all infidel", passages in the koran!!!!!
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 12, 2009 3:26 PM
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And let also focus on removing all the warmongering, anti-female, polygamy, virginal heaven, "death to all infidel", passages in the koran!!!!!
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 12, 2009 3:25 PM
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Better, Eboo, it really is.
Posted by: Farnaz1Mansouri1 | June 12, 2009 11:43 AM
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What should we call a coalition of Muslims and Catholics?? Hmmm, two very flawed religions with respect to history and theology can only be called,
"Double Flawed" !!!!
Posted by: ccnl1 | June 8, 2009 4:57 PM