
What happened when an anti-Semite found he was Jewish? - anishkothari
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32549099
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mreiland
imo this just screams unintelligent person.

Ok, fine, you hate jews, whatever, that's your opinion.

But then you find out you're atleast partly jewish so you go whole hog into
the jewish culture instead, and we're supposed to celebrate this?

how about thinking for yourself and not basing your thoughts and beliefs on
who you think your ancestors were?

~~~
ZanyProgrammer
Though I suppose if you take your position to its logical extreme, everyone
who is Jewish should question their Judaism, since its dependent on who your
ancestors (specifically your female ancestors) were.

~~~
viraptor
Is this really extreme? Relatively recently we managed to get rid of the idea
that you should be a ruler of a country if your parents were rulers. Slightly
later the idea that you should be stuck in the class you were born with. My
generation got the idea that they don't have to be Christian just because ~99%
of previous generation in the country declared themselves as such.

I'd be very happy if people made such choices on their own and questioned
traditions in a logical and considerate way.

~~~
ZanyProgrammer
The thing is, encouraging people to question their Jewishness just because of
happenstance of who their mom was, is going to be interpreted as anti-semitic.

~~~
viraptor
Sure, but everything can be interpreted as pro/anti-semitic if it happens to
affect Jews. I think this question becomes more logical and less emotional if
you ask this about a made up group:

Joesons say that if your father was named Joe you belong to this group by
default and whatever rules the group has written down apply to you and you
should follow them. You'll be judged by them as a bad person if you don't. If
you question your belonging to Joesons it will be interpreted as anti-
joesonic.

Does it bother you that's you're labeled anti-joesonic in that case? Why would
the situation be different for anti-semitic? Because of current number of
Jews? Their history? Other reasons?

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skj
Members of these hate groups seem to have a profound lack of empathy for
anyone not in whatever division they've decided was important.

I still think this guy lacks empathy. He was just literally put in the shoes
of his targets: something most people can do without quite so big a shove.

------
eranation
Well, intelligent or not, I did like this quote of his: "Anti-Semitism doesn't
need Jews, because its based on false premises. It is the projection of one's
own fears, and lack of self esteem".

Sadly, hate for a group of people is one of the oldest tricks in the book to
get support from people, especially people who are having hard times.

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DiabloD3
Hating others because of what they are or choose to believe is a waste of time
if they are not harming you or others. People who find refuge in hate are
small minded people. They are inefficient with their time and energy, they are
far from rational.

~~~
jwise0
I think the point of this article is precisely the opposite.

Writing off people who "find refuge in hate" as being "small-minded" is an
easy temptation to give into. But, the subject of the article I think provides
a very effective refutation of that. I don't know anything of the article's
subject beyond what is written about him in this very article, but I imagine
that he was raised into anti-Jewish sentiment, or grew up in an environment
filled with it; that's the usual origin story for people who join hate
movements, anyway.

I liken a hate movement as being more akin to a cult. Cult leaders, we can
surely condemn; but is it really reasonable to permanently write someone off
who's been indoctrinated from birth as being "small-minded"? Societal
pressures are very powerful things.

~~~
kefka
That's because cults are this weird thing in that someone has "salvation" or
knows the secrets of "the universe". People get suckered in and empty their
pocketbooks and life into someone/thing they hope is for real.

Hate movements are altogether a different thing. People usually start as
individuals and then coalesce around the existing idea of "hate (insert
unchangeable noun)". And then their meeting then induces even further bouts of
rage with hate feeding on hate.

And yes, it is small mindedness. They can analyze why they hate when they
choose. They do not. Cult group people are victims of extreme deceit, lying,
and eventual control of their livelihood. At the endgame of a cult, the leader
has near full control over everything: family, property, money.

------
a8da6b0c91d
What happened when the Jew found he was an anti-Semite?
[http://brothernathanaelfoundation.org/](http://brothernathanaelfoundation.org/)

