And Some Unholy Museums

How about a Perpetual Wars Museum in Washington D.C.,  a Torture Museum in Crawford, and a False Flag Operations Museum in New York city? Our children may need to know the Thuth.

by ramsheyi (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 523 comments) on Monday, December 24, 2007 at 9:20:31 AM
 

Holocaust Museums (A cautionary note)

I suspect it would be easy to turn peace museums into Holocaust museums which seem to encourage a sense of righteous victimization, paranoia, etc.  Those are precisely the emotions which lead to more and more wars.  Even the Nazis thought they were being "attacked" when they started killing the Jews and so many others.  People do the worst things for the "right" reasons, and everything is justified by fear and anger.  A lot of crooks have a stake in this type of process.  Look at what happened when they tried to introduce some balance into the B-29 exhibit at the Smithsonian.

by John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1376 comments) on Monday, December 24, 2007 at 11:36:28 AM
 

I'll pass that along

It's so true that people can easily get into the pose of "righteous victims," who then consider themselves entitled to do whatever they want.  Look at our own country after 9/11--it can become nauseating sometimes, and I say that as a New Yorker who was a couple of blocks away when the towers fell.  Look at the broken record "if-you-criticize-Israeli-settlements-you're-a-Nazi."

I'm very worried that the emphasis in Iran on Iran having been attacked ("the imposed war"), combined with the presence of war victims among us everywhere, can lead some people to this sense of holy victimhood.  In my own involvement with the peace museum, etc., I've been stressing the notion of survivor over victim, of peace activist over chronicler of past injustices. 

Part of preventing future wars is holding accountable those who committed war crimes in the past.  But our having been the victims of war crimes doesn't make us into saints.  Wiser, kinder people, hopefully.  People who know how important peace is and are willing to dedicate ourselves to the struggle for world peace, hopefully.

Thanks for your comment.  I'll pass it on.

by Ruth Wangerin (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 10 comments) on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 5:51:23 AM
 

I'll pass that along

Thanks for your comment.  I'll pass it on. 

It's so true that people can easily get into the pose of "righteous victims," who then consider themselves entitled to do whatever they want.  Look at our own country after 9/11--the "poor little us" tune can become nauseating sometimes, and I say that as a New Yorker who was a couple of blocks away when the towers fell.  Or look at that other unhelpful golden oldie, "if-you-criticize-Israeli-settlements-you're-a-Nazi."

I'm very worried that the emphasis in Iran on Iran having been attacked ("the imposed war"), combined with the presence of so many war victims among us everywhere, can lead some people to wallow in this sense of holy victimhood.  In my own involvement with the peace museum, etc., I've been stressing the notion of survivor over victim, of peace activist over chronicler of past injustices. 

Part of preventing future wars is holding accountable those who committed war crimes in the past.  But having been the victims of war crimes doesn't make people into saints.  Wiser, kinder people, hopefully.  People who know how important peace is and are willing to dedicate themselves to the struggle for world peace, hopefully.  I feel like I've met such people in Iran, as I have in my own country. 

You might like this article by another American who visited the Tehran Peace Museum: http://papillonweb.net/wordpress/?p=65

by Ruth Wangerin (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 3 diaries, 10 comments) on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 5:57:57 AM