It doesn't pay to be honest on a message board

[Radosti]

OK, I frequent a pet message board. Have been on it for at least 6 years. Many of the old-timers got run off by the overly aggressive pack of people who have nothing better to do than rip other people to shreds.

So, today, someone asked if religion belongs on the job - in a professional setting. I said that it doesn't. In fact, if I was interviewing someone and they kept bringing up religion, it would make me doubt their abilities in the job they are applying for and it would be a deal breaker for me.

I understand that many may disagree with my opinion. This is the land of free speech, so disagree away. That's the beauty of it all. However, one person on there kept calling me a Nazi over and over again in post after post. And no-one stopped her. I was away from my computer because I was caring for my family (human and pet alike) and didn't come back to it until DS was in bed.

I am first generation immigrant from Ukraine. Most of my family died at the hands of the Nazis. The horror stories that occured during WWII to my own close relatives are revolting. To call me a Nazi is the worst possible thing anyone can say to me. Call me whatever you want, I might tell you off, but to call me a Nazi makes bile rise in my throat. Same as walking through Treblinka, Babyi Yar and Auschwitz did when I was young. My parents took it very seriously that we know all about the "Ha-Shoa" (the Holocaust), so we travelled to many of the concentration camps. The memory of the smell of death that permeates every cell in Auschwitz still makes me sick.

I keep thinking about walking in a field that on September 16th, 1942 turned into a mass grave for many members of my family along with 1600 other jews of the town. The Nazis were able to quickly cull out the jews because their Ukrainian neighbors gleefully pointed out their houses. My grandfather was at the front of the war at the time. His first daughter survived at 10 months old because her mother (his first wife) took the bullet and covered her up while dying. A kind Ukrainian woman found her 3 days later and the baby was extremely ill from eating mud in the field and crawling among the dead. The woman was worried the child would die before being Baptised, so she brought it to her church. She meant well, but couldn't see past "saving" this child's soul. She was quickly sold out to the Nazis for "aiding a Jew" and both she and the baby were promptly executed.

[egfmba]

I'm so sorry you have to deal with such a thoughtless, crude person. I hope your heart knows that this person is nothing more than an ignorant, stupid creature, and that her lack of education shows in her inability to come up with something actual and real.

I really hope karma kicks this creature's a$$! She deserves to have someone hurt her the way she hurt you so she'll learn to think before she 'speaks'.

eva

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

What she said!

[Melanie]

You know, I just don't understand how people throw around the word, "Nazi," like a careless adjective. Even the infamous "Soup Nazi" Seinfeld episode made me cringe. It's not an adjective and it's not funny.

I'm sorry someone was so thougthless and ignorant. I'd be tempted to retort back to such ignorance with "No, I am not a Genocidal Murderer. Look it up."

[Radosti]

You know, I said the same thing. Told her I hope she burns in h*ll if she ever calls me a Nazi again. I can't believe she'll quote the bible in her signature and spew that crap at me. How very hypocritical. And I also said that people throw around the word Nazi way too easily in the US and my example was also Seinfeld's Soup Nazi. Oy... it's just interesting how religious zealots, like her, b*tch and moan about their right to free speech, but if someone expresses an opinion other than their own, they become very aggressive, hurtful and obnoxious. Free speech goes both ways.

[Sillygirl]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_Law

"Nazi" gets thrown around all the time on the Internet - see the above reference. Your tragic family story is one reason it shouldn't. I'm sorry.

[elizabethkott]

Oy... it's just interesting
>how religious zealots, like her, b*tch and moan about their
>right to free speech, but if someone expresses an opinion
>other than their own, they become very aggressive, hurtful and
>obnoxious. Free speech goes both ways.

You bring up a really interesting and valid point about free speech going both ways. During this past school year, my Acting/Directing class was doing a unit on playwrighting where all the students were writing their own one acts and we were then doing staged readings of a selected few in class. This happened to be around the time of year when Don Imus referred to the Rutgers Women's basketball team as "nappy headed hoes". My students engaged *themselves* in a really wonderful discussion about censorship, appropriateness, culture and sensitivity, and the power that comes with free speech. They were very thoughtful, and concluded that free speech, while it is a right, should be used responsibly when in settings where you don't know who your audience is, or what people might find offensive. They pointed out that people can sometimes become 'overly sensitive' and political correctness can go too far, but in general people do need to be more sensitive to the world around them.
It was one of those weeks (because the discussion lasted an entire week in my class!) when I was really proud to be a teacher and hopeful for the future of our country.
Then, of course, they went back to being their old high school selves. :)
But that glimmer of hope was there!!!
Sorry to hijack a bit, but I wanted to let you know that there are people out there who understand that free speech should be used responsibly, and that it's not just a cart blanche to run around shouting whatever you want at the top of your lungs. :)

[cvanbrunt]

Those people are idiots.

I remember the exact moment that I became cognizant of the Holocaust. It was the seventh grade and my social studies teacher, Mr. Barrett, introduced the war with stories about Pearl Harbor. He was stationed there when it happened. I remember the whole class being amused by the idea of men running naked out the showers. Anyway, we were given an assignment to write a research paper about some aspect of the war.

My mom was a young girl in Germany during WWII so I asked her what to write about and she suggested the Holocaust. That's when mom started telling me stories of her childhood. While her family was not Jewish, her father had been an important man in the military and was chief of police at the time. He refused orders and refused to join the party. The whole family paid a price during the war (albeit a tiny one in context).
That little paper I wrote when I was twelve or so became a real turning point in my life. Perhaps not at that moment but realizing that human nature includes the capacity for such horror has really shaped my world view in ways that are not obvious.

Those people are idiots. They have no sense of history. They probably haven't heard of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the killing of 1.2 million Armenians in Turkey, and more recently, Rwanda, Uganda, Liberia, Yugoslavia.....the list goes on and on.

I am always stunned when I hear talk in this country of being "persecuted for their beliefs". Persecuted? Are you kidding me? Because I object to having your beliefs crammed down my throat make you persecuted? Unbelievable.

I find the use of "Nazi" so distasteful that I call people on it. Not in a mean way because I know people are prone to hyperbole and don't always think. I just ask them if they really equate not getting soup (or whatever) with genocide.

I'm sorry this idiot hurt you.

-Carrie

[Radosti]

Wow, I never knew about this. Interesting. Thanks for posting this.

[Radosti]

Thanks! It means a lot to me that you girls understand why this cut so deep. Oy, I should just leave that board too, but I have my rescue and have made many great rescue contacts through that site. It's a shame really.

[gatorsmom]

Your post brought me near tears. My previous boss's family is Polish and was forced to move from their home to a Concentration camp during WW2. Some of the stories she told were horrific. Those are the types of stories that stay with a person. They evoke (at least for me) painfully strong emotions and I can't forget them- even though they happened to other people. I try to rationalize that the types of idiots you are running into have the same reaction to these stories. So to relieve some of the strong emotion they laugh at it and use these words flippantly. They do it to relieve their own pain and fear- not to cut you so deeply. At least, this is what I tell myself (does any of that make sense?).

Of course, some people are just truly ignorant and be reassured that if they feel free to treat you that way, they are not a happy, well-balanced person. Ignore them and their remarks- they don't deserve so much as a glance of attention from you (which is what they are looking for).

Lisa
Mom to Gator July 2003
And Cha-Cha July 2005
and surprise! twins due 11/07!

[katydid1971]

I am so sorry for what that person said to you. Quite honestly my answer would have been the same to that question, agreeing with you I mean. I am so sorry this person said these things to you. Your story was so moving, the part about the baby in among the bodies brought me to tears. That is a terrible time in our history and saying someone who has a different idea is a Nazi just diminishes the losses of so many people. I would love for this person to go to the Simon Wiesenthal Center and find out what a Nazi truly is. Again I am so sorry. Hope this board can fill the void of that one.
Hugs,
Sarah

[Melanie]

>Some of the stories she told
>were horrific. Those are the types of stories that stay with
>a person. They evoke (at least for me) painfully strong
>emotions and I can't forget them- even though they happened to
>other people.

You put that well, I was trying to think of a way to say this last night. One of my best college courses asked a Holocaust survivor to come and speak each year. It was a life-changing morning for me. She was at Auschweitz as well. I remember her saying how she & her sister envied the people in the block next to them, as they were Little People and got to stay together as a family. While her family was split apart between the young and old; men & women, and only she & her sister were near eachother and would visit daily over the fence, until one day her sister was not there. One day the bodies of all of the Little People were stacked outside of their building. When they got to Auschweitz, they were told to neatly remove their clothing and shoes and stack them and remember which were theirs so they could put them back on when they came out of the showers, only they never came back out that way, they went the other and most never left again. They thought they were going to work there. That alone means a lot to me; these people thought they were essentially going into slavery and wouldn't that have been bad enough, but no, they were not just going to work. I could go on and on. It was such a moving morning and I'm forever grateful to this woman to share her painful history with a bunch of college students.

That is what Nazi Really means. We should never forget what the word "Nazi," really means. I hope that she is just one of those who are thoughtlessly throwing the word around and just need a wake up call to change her ways.

[DrSally]

O.M.G. The horror. It is so heartbreaking. I'm sorry this person was beyond insensitive. People throw around the word Nazi, trivalizing what others have really experienced.

[hellbennt]

I totally agree that too many words/phrases are just thrown around like nothing!!
I absolutely abhor when people use the word Nazi!

I also hate it when the word 'retarded' is used in a joking manner!!!

~laura in miami~
ds1 7/03
ds2 7/06

[MamaMolly]

What an ignorant, cruel, fool!

I also have to say I never really gave a lot of thought to tossing around 'Nazi' this or that until I was nearly 30. I said something to one of my Orthodox friends and she gently, pointedly, called me on it. I will never forget her looking me right in the eye and quietly saying saying Nazi? Nazi? ...and just looking at me. It was the first time I actually thought about what I was saying. I was so ashamed. Lesson learned, and now try and pass it on.

Maybe this person just isn't really aware of what the word means, to you, to so many people. Maybe this person could really use your help to understand. One can hope.

[Lovingliv]

Rada,

I know you already dealt with her, but I would have told her the story you told us.

I am so sorry...........

[Lovingliv]

Rada,

I know you already dealt with her, but I would have told her the story you told us.

I am so sorry...........

[maestramommy]

I totally agree with your stance. Unless you're working for a religious organization, I don't think religion belongs on the job, and I am Christian. I'm so sorry about the way your family suffered, and what you are suffering. That person who insulted you is going to get it in the butt one day.

[maestramommy]

I totally agree with your stance. Unless you're working for a religious organization, I don't think religion belongs on the job, and I am Christian. I'm so sorry about the way your family suffered, and what you are suffering. That person who insulted you is going to get it in the butt one day.

[denna]

Your story brought me to tears. That person was so insensitive and just stupid. To use such a term is just ridiculous. My Uncle was in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, he had the tattoos and everything when I was growing up. It was such a horrible time and not something to be used as a comeback or retort.

Im sorry this woman was so rude to you on multiple occasions. I think you handle this situation very well.

(Hugs)

[denna]

Your story brought me to tears. That person was so insensitive and just stupid. To use such a term is just ridiculous. My Uncle was in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, he had the tattoos and everything when I was growing up. It was such a horrible time and not something to be used as a comeback or retort.

Im sorry this woman was so rude to you on multiple occasions. I think you handle this situation very well.

(Hugs)