From: roger@crux.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig)
Subject: Re: On Polish Anti-semitism
Originator: news@nimaster
Reply-To: roger@astro.princeton.edu (Roger Lustig)
Organization: Princeton University
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 22:42:53 GMT

In article <1992Oct9.192548.21889@sarah.albany.edu> pawel@tethys.ph.albany.edu writes:
>In article <1992Oct9.163451.18205@Princeton.EDU>, roger@crux.Princeton.EDU (Roger Lustig) writes:
>>In article <1992Oct9.150420.18525@sarah.albany.edu> pawel@tethys.ph.albany.edu writes:
>[...]

>>I don't know what else I can say.  The presence of that book in a 
>>church bookstore is evidence that something is wrong -- not necessarily
>>in Poland, but certainbly in that parish.

>  Have mercy !  I wrote quite openly that I don't want to discuss
>problems with the Catholic Church.  If you believe that there is
>something wrong with this institution feel free to file a complaint
>with Vatican.  I wish you all the luck ...  Hope you'll get an
>explanation in nearest two hundred years.

I don't *want* explanations from the Vatican, except after exhausting
other avenues of investigation.  I want to know about the *local*
situation that makes this thing possible.

>>>  Since you write that you don't suggest the book to be banned I assume
>>>that we basically agree that the very fact of the book being printed
>>>and shown on the display in the bookstore doesn't tell much about
>>>the intentions or personal believes of the bookstore owner or printing
>>>company.

>>No, we do *not* agree.  (Actually, the bookshop owner is the Roman
>>Catholic Church, and we know a good deal about its intentions and
>>the personal beliefs of its current CEO, Mr. Woytyla.  The issue is
>>why one of the branch offices is going against company policy.)

>>But I am at a loss to come up with an explanation, other than anti-semitism,
>>for the display of the book in the church bookstore.  As for the printer,
>>I know of no publishing house other than anti-Semitic ones (e.g., neo-Nazis,
>>Arab governments -- the book is readily available in Syria and even Egypt,
>>I'm told) who publishes or distributes it.

>>Now, try and brainstorm for a moment: why *would* a church bookstore
>>sell this book?  

>   I will try to stay away from the "church bookstore" story and ask you
>one more time: has the book to be banned or not ?

You yourself said, above: no, it should not be banned.  But its
presence is to be questioned wherever it appears.  One must ask
those who sell it: why?

>  How do I now what the intentions of the American bookstore owner
>who sells Mein Kampf are ?  What if he happens to be elderly German
>immigrant ?

Look, even the oldest German immigrant was 47 years younger when
WWII ended, and if he's elderly he's likely to remember what happened
back then.

But even so, _Mein Kampf_ is what it says it is, and anyone can
see that.  Everyone knows who Hitler was, and almost everyone 
knows what he stood for.  The book does not lie about Hitler -- in 
fact, it is chillingly accurate.  I have no objection to M.K. being
sold, because people *should* read it to understand Hitler's mind 
and the minds of those who read and followed him.  

The _Protocols_, on the other hand, is nothing but a vicious fraud,
and no informational service is provided by those who distribute it.

>  If particular book is ofensive for you, for me or for anybody, if
>it is a piece of low propaganda - does it have to be banned in a free
>country ?

No, it does not -- but we weren't talking about a free country.  We 
were talking about a church bookstore.  

And since I'd want to know why *anyone* would sell the book, that must 
go double for an institution as enlightened as the Catholic Church (no
irony intended).

One more time: it should not be banned.  It should be exposed.  And those
who sell it without exposing it for the fraud it is should themselves
be exposed.  But I'm willing to let them explain themselves first.

Roger