RESPECTFUL INSOLENCE

"A statement of fact cannot be insolent." The miscellaneous ramblings of a surgeon/scientist on medicine, quackery, science, and pseudoscience (and anything else that interests him).

Anti-Semitism History Holocaust Holocaust denial

Fisking the pompously ignorant

Post author By Orac
Post date November 29, 2006

Andrew Mathis over at Flavor Country does it well. Indeed, his demolition of Holocaust deniers on Usenet on the newsgroup alt,revisionism undoubtedly had an influence on what later became my special brand of Respectful Insolenceâ¢.

So, sit back and enjoy as he thoroughly fisks an article by Mark Glenn, the webmaster of the Crescent and Cross (WARNING: Glenn likes to post extremely gory pictures), a website that is, as Andrew puts it, dedicated to “uniting Christians and Muslims against Jews.”

Here’s a little taste of Andrew’s response to one of Glenn’s claims that Jews are “exploiting in a parasitical way the goodwill of American Christianity and its willingness to make reparations for the suffering of Hitler’s victims”:

“Parasitical”? This is one of the oldest tropes in anti-Semitism and here it is in an article that presents itself as academic and detached. One of the more famous utterances of the “Jews as parasites” trope is by Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels after Reichskristallnacht: “The German people is anti-Semitic. It has no desire to have its rights restricted or to be provoked in the future by parasites of the Jewish race.”

Now we can add Mark Glenn to the chorus.

(Read the rest.)

Too bad I don’t have any popcorn.

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By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]