Xref: utzoo news.misc:2299 soc.culture.jewish:8609
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!cmcl2!yale!engelson
From: engelson@cs.yale.edu (Sean Philip Engelson)
Newsgroups: news.misc,soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: How Many (x) Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb?
Keywords: sensitivity, sensationalism
Message-ID: <44972@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>
Date: 6 Dec 88 20:21:08 GMT
References: <358@sulaco.Sigma.COM> <494@Aragorn.dde.uucp> <568@redsox.UUCP>
Sender: root@yale.UUCP
Reply-To: engelson@cs.yale.edu (Sean Philip Engelson)
Followup-To: news.misc
Organization: Computer Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Lines: 42
In-reply-to: campbell@redsox.UUCP (Larry Campbell)

In article <568@redsox.UUCP>, campbell@redsox (Larry Campbell) writes:

>The Jews do not have a monopoly on persecution.  They are in the unique
>position, among victims of (attempted) genocide (I say "attempted", because
>if the Nazis were successful, there would be no Jews left), of having been
>persecuted:
>
>    -	Recently
>    -	Somewhat successfully (in central Europe, anyway)
>    -	On a massive scale over a short period of time (modern technology)
>    -	And -- sadly, I think this is very important -- by a regime that
>	provoked a world war and *lost*.
>
>English settlers did much worse to the American Indians.  But it took longer
>(300 years), finished less recently (1880 vs. 1945), and guess what -- we
>*won*.  History is always kind to winners.

True.  But, another difference being that the Amerinds were not
_exterminated_, they were just persecuted.  That is to say, the intent
of the English settlers was to get as much as possible for themselves;
if the persecution of the Amerinds hadn't filled that goal, it never
would have happened.  The attempted genocide by the Nazis was
precisely that--- not persecution incidental to other pursuits.

The truly unique facet of Jewish persecution is the fact that it
ALWAYS happens.  There is no country in history which has had a
significant, sustained Jewish presence which has not had widespread
anti-semitism.  This is not to say that it was always sanctioned by
the government, but that's faint comfort to its victims.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sean Philip Engelson, Gradual Student
Yale Department of Computer Science
51 Prospect St.
New Haven, CT 06520
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G-d, according to Einstein, does not play dice with the world.
Well, maybe; but He sure is into shell games.
		--Jerry Fodor
		in "Modules, Frames, Fridgeons, Sleeping Dogs, and the
		    Music of the Spheres"