by rusmeister » July 3rd, 2008, 3:47 am
I wish I could get a hold of it.
I have set myself to reading everything GKC wrote - a considerable task.
One thing I'll say right off the bat is that his "anti-Semitism" is greatly misunderstood, but the knee-jerk view that some have at the sight of his statements in limited context are entirely predictable, given how political correctness works (rhetoric designed to bring about certain reactions without questioning them - example: "discrimination" as something automatically bad, rather than neutral, or "criticism" as being purely negative, or any criticism of what being Jewish in the face of other nationalities means is "anti-Semitism" and therefore bad. (Pavlov's dogs, please pant and drool!")
Not blaming you for it, Karen. Most of us have been conditioned by public schooling and the media. Just remember that you should read for yourself, in full context, what GKC had to say before you say that he was saying something bad. I'll bet dollars to doughnuts GKC's critic in that article did not - at the very least, regarding that question.
His autobiography has the most seemingly "anti-Semitic" statements I have seen thus far (the Marconi scandal, which, among other things, deals with how Jewish brothers in high positions, who should have acted as Englishmen in their positions, acted as brothers instead when the two came into conflict. That sort of thing would only seem anti-Semitic to someone who's not paying attention or who didn't really read the book.
Also, it's pretty odd, then, that this "anti-Semite" condemned Hitler so roundly (for his persecution of Jews, among other things) and supported (for reasons like the one above) a homeland for Jews.
I'm not the most knowledgeable on this topic (yet) - I'm sure Dale Alquist could do better. Why don't you drop him an e-mail? He has responded to me before.
"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest - That Hideous Strength