It’s Still Censorship, Even if Hate Is Involved
Re: “Is Hate for Sale?” (Jan. 5). Back in 1939 Germany, there were some people who didn’t want others to read certain books--including the Talmud, which was considered to be a hate book because it refers to non-Jews in disparaging terms. These books were banned and in some cases burned.
Now in 2000 Germany, there are some people who don’t want others to read certain books--including “Mein Kampf,” which is considered to be a hate book because it refers to Jews in disparaging terms. These books are banned, in some cases burned.
Is that about it? Can anyone see some basic principle of free expression that might be violated in both cases, or is it OK to first demonize books and then ban them if this or that group doesn’t like the message?
For me, I’ll take freedom and I’ll read both the Talmud and “Mein Kampf” if I so choose. If that group says I shouldn’t read the Talmud because it’s a hate book, I’ll tell them to take a hike, and if this group says I shouldn’t read “Mein Kampf” because it’s a hate book, I’ll tell them to take a hike also.
--H. MILLARD
Costa Mesa
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“Is Hate for Sale?” recalled an incident I once witnessed at the Farmers Market Antique Mall. Seeing a Nazi-era Iron Cross with a swastika on it in one of the display cases, a customer became irate and demanded that it be removed from view. Although I did not intervene, I wanted to tell the irate woman that she was making a mistake, that relics of the Nazi era were valuable reminders of the Holocaust, that if we banish them from view, we become accomplices of those who would rather sweep the memory of those terrible events under the rug.
As a collector of medals and decorations, I avoid Nazi items as a personal choice, but I believe that collectors play an important and often underappreciated role in the preservation of history. While the manufacture and sale of fake Nazi “collectibles” is repugnant, collecting authentic Nazi relics serves a purpose. Hatred and intolerance are not bred by artifacts of history, but by ignorance of history. Perhaps EBay and other Internet auction sites should reconsider how they handle these items, and perhaps they should prohibit the sale of reproductions. Under no circumstances, however, should the sale of authentic Nazi relics be prohibited.
--TIM TEZER
Los Angeles
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With the free access of ideas the Internet brings to people heretofore kept ignorant of all “non-approved” thought, there will be a lot of garbage intertwined with a lot of good. The only way to change this is by censorship. And this is the greatest threat to free thought known to mankind.
The basic fear implied in this article is that the unsupervised reading of books like “Mein Kampf,” “The Communist Manifesto” and the like may sway young minds to acts of evil. If so, why do we have libraries? All of these books and more are accessible with no librarian review. Is this truly different from the Internet? I think not. Has the availability of these drafts caused a great increase in the attitudes of the young worldwide? I think not. I have little faith that the skinheads of our local beach communities read such work. They are just kids following the crowd. Is this in itself a problem? Maybe, maybe not.
Before we as a society go about half-cocked, limiting the freedoms of others, let us take a good, hard look at the overall consequences of these actions. The world is a big place; it can tolerate a lot of ideas.
--MICHAEL J. CAPOCCIA
Huntington Beach
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I can easily understand and empathize with Rabbi Abraham Cooper getting upset that “Mein Kampf” is being sold on the Web, since many of his kinfolk were murdered by the Nazis. However, trying to prevent the sale, purchase and reading of this book conjures up newspaper pictures of Nazis burning books in the 1930s, books that were upsetting to them.
--GEORGE V. KENT
Via e-mail