South Pacific and the terrorist threat

"At the heart of racism is the religious assertion that God made a creative mistake when He brought some people into being" ~ Friedrich Otto Hertz 1878-1964

Last week I went to a lively, enjoyable and well-played amateur performance of South Pacific. When Lt. Cable was asked to marry his Polynesian girlfriend, Liat, he replied that he could not. And when my wife quietly asked why not, I whispered the N word in her ear.

Later Lt. Cable launched into what must be one of the shortest songs in the American musical. I had completely forgotten it.

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

Let us not forget that the legacy of this attitude lives on in the land which boasts in its founding documents that all men are created equal and have a right to the pursuit of happiness. Rodgers and Hammerstein felt so strongly about the message of this song that they were willing to risk the entire show when faced with opposition (including a law introduced in Georgia outlawing entertainment containing "an underlying philosophy inspired by Moscow.")

Despite the progress made by the Civil Rights Movement, the chances of a black man going to prison are still massively higher than the chances of a white man doing so. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, by the end of 2005 there were 3,145 black male prison inmates per 100,000 blacks in the United States compared to 471 white male inmates per 100,000 whites. And according to the Death Penalty Information Center in Philadelphia, the chances of a black man being executed are 38% higher than for a white man. Clearly, the lesson has been very carefully taught; forty or fifty years of efforts to eradicate this teaching have barely scratched the surface.

Last week I also heard a programme on the BBC World Service about the origins of the Jihad. It included the following extract from a text book for thirteen-year-old boys currently in use in Saudi schools:

There should be total enmity between believers and polytheists. Believers are not allowed to love polytheists or support them, even if they are close to them. Religiously sanctioned love is only allowed towards Muslims. As for the polytheist he should be hated for his unbelief even if he is close to you.

Polytheists include Sufis and Shiites, whom the Wahabis (the dominant clerical group of Saudi Arabia) accuse of idolatry.

It is frightening to think what effect this teaching is having on young Muslims. It is frightening to think what effect it had on previous generations, many of whom are now engaged in "charitable" programmes to fund Muslim schools across the world. It is important to make a distinction between ordinary Muslims and Muslim fundamentalists, but if this is the kind of material that is being offered in general education in an important Muslim state, we should be very worried indeed.

After all the Nazis succeeded in turning much of the German population into a group willing to tolerate mass murder of the disabled, the gypsies, homosexuals, and notoriously, the Jews and others that they considered to be inferior races.

They invoked what they called "Holy Hate"

Now there is war! The Jews forced us into a struggle for life and death ... It has also forced us to give up the "politeness" that in reality is a weakness ... We as a people will survive this war only if we eliminate weakness and "politeness" and respond to the Jews with an equal hatred ... If we do not oppose the Jews with the entire energy of our people, we are lost... Our holy hate will bring us victory and save all of mankind.

Bigotry is everywhere. It is only by recognizing it and rejecting it in our own sphere of influence that we can succeed in fighting it in countries and communities where it is threatening to become mainstream. The teaching of hatred is a danger to the world and must be resisted at all costs.

Comments

[hiptocode]

yeah, i think i get your hint. clearly, you misunderstand.

[paulus]

You need to be clearer - what have I misunderstood? I'm always ready to learn.