[lit-ideas] Re: 21. century European anti-Semitism
- From: John McCreery <mccreery@xxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 16:14:01 +0900
On 2004/04/19, at 15:41, Scribe1865@xxxxxxx wrote:
> But to go back to my original question, which was basically a
> linguistic
> observation regarding hate crimes as anthropological phenomena--these
> are called
> race crimes because the target is often perceived to be of a certain
> race, or
> gay bashing when the target is perceived to be gay, or religious
> persecution
> because a certain religion is targeted--but aren't they all crimes of
> violently
> resisting "cultural invasion"?
At a level of abstraction so high that the claim is essentially
vacuous, of course. The only thing that keeps a psychopath from
claiming that he is only resisting cultural invasion is the need for at
least one other to share his views. Racism and homophobia are now
criminalized because they conflict directly with the proposition that
all human individuals should have equal rights to, in Jefferson's
words, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The terms carry
a specific force in this context and this context only.
John L. McCreery
International Vice Chair, Democrats Abroad
Tel 81-45-314-9324
Email mccreery@xxxxxxx
>>Life isn't fair. Democracy should be. <<
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