It's not just that their opinions are odious though. They are also very stupid.
"When you come to a place like this, it makes you, quite simply, ridiculous,"
Is how Columbia's President referenced dinner-jacket's Holocaust denial and I agree fully. You're treading very shallow water when you try to pitch alternate history at an institution of higher learning.
I say bring them out on the condition of a Q&A period and let them try to compete with your average history professor. The students will learn more about the pitfalls of irrational hatred from the flailing of a holocaust denier in the face of facts than could ever be taught in class.
Crikey. If it wasn't such a big deal to deny the holocaust these people wouldn't even be on the radar, let alone receiving invitations to speak. Jewish lobby groups are their best friends bringing them public attention and immersing them in controversy. Marxists can speak of the joys of Stalinhood and deny the Ukrainian holocaust and no one pays any attention. Why, then, do deniers of the Jewish holocaust become famous?
Posted at 2007-10-12 11:24:29 [PermaLink]"The students will learn more about the pitfalls of irrational hatred from the flailing of a holocaust denier in the face of facts than could ever be taught in class."
David Irving may be many things, but he is not stupid. Unless the "average history professor" has really boned up on his facts, Irving will run circles around him. Nor does this catering to Holocaust denial occur in a vacuum. As the 2006 All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism Report observed, "Antisemitism on campus is a serious issue." [External Link]
There's a huge leap from Government denying an individual the right to voice an opinion, to (any Public institution) encouraging that individual...let alone offering a venue with an invitation.
Posted at 2007-10-12 13:59:04 [PermaLink]Dara. What Dara said. Ditto, thumbs up, all that.
Posted at 2007-10-12 16:20:33 [PermaLink]