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Created: September 21, 2003
Latest Update: September 22, 2003
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

The Holocaust, the Recall, the Jews and Hollywood

Site Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors, September 2003.
"Fair use" encouraged.

Religion and the cultural wars. One of the issues from which we shy away most often is that of religion and democracy. Kind of like body and soul, the duality doesn't work too well, and it may in fact be wrong. That doesn't mean that religion and the nation-state don't need to keep a non-interference perspective with the beliefs of any and all religions.

Because so many of us have learned that knowledge may accrue and change and leave some uncertainty, most of us are certain that our beliefs are correct. The difference between belief and knowledge? Only knowledge is amenable to evidence and the application of reason, as Habermas so insistently urges. Belief is not amenable to such reasoned evidence or argumentation.

That translates in the Bakhtinian sense to monologic non-answerability. A dilemma for the aesthetic production of community.

This file starts a series of lectures and discussions on the Holocaust, its existence, documentation, challenge, and the answerability of beliefs. I've launched the issue because in Arnold Schwarzenegger's embrace of the incumbent Republican powers, there comes an implied embrace of the Christian religious right. Particularly at this crucial time as we fight a quasi-religious war in the Middle East, the embrace at such high governmental levels of Christian beliefs produces direct or indirect conflict with both the Jews and the Muslims, never mind the rest of the world's religions.

The issue is exacerbated by the privilege of wealth. The California recall, seen by mainline Democrats as an indirect means of undermining legitimate Democratic candidates, duly elected, and in combination with the Florida debacle of 2000, brings the issue to our door front here in Los Angeles. That local involvement was funded by a cool million of Republican Issa's private wealth. Millions of Caliifornia's are subjected to the cost of the recall, and will have to live in some way with the results of the recall, despite the fact that a very small right wing group made the call.

The issue is made even more complex by Mel Gibson's pending release of his film on Christ's Passion. High visibility for a Christian perspective in which there is supposition that Christian/Jewish relations will be affected in a time of war. Beliefs play a special part in patriotism at a time of war. So the whole mix is more combustible than it might be in time of peace. The particular beliefs at issue involve the extent to which any one group of people should be held responsible for the crucifixion. High affect all around. And in time of war, we seek someone to blame. (The Japanese internment of World War II).

And so, like it or not, we are going to have to include religion and beliefs and alterity and their role in time of war in our discussions of answerability. Life is complex, folks. Denying that complexity for the sake of superficial peace doesn't cut it in the long run. Please recall that this is an aesthetic process of sharing ideas for the sake of illocutionary understanding. And feelings are real, and are a major part of our communication, often denied. You are welcome to express feelings, beliefs, arguments. We are a small learning community, but the process of our coming to understand one another is an important part of our nation-state's progress towards responsible and legitimate governance. Holocaust The New Yorker. The Friendly Executioner, by Mark SIinger. "How did an electric-chair repairman come to deny the Holocaust? And other odd questions." Backup.

A review by Kenneth Turan of Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1964 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew' sets the bar high for Mel Gibson's 'Passion': A spiritual masterwork from an atheist. Los Angeles Times, Calendar, Sunday, September 21, 2003. P. E 9. You can't access it unless you are a subscriber, which I am, but I got tired of the rigamarole of trying to get all the right passwords and account numbers. Talk about monologic non-answerability! Yuk! jeanne

The Greatest Story Ever Told Frank Rich, NY Times. Backup.