Thursday, May 28, 2009

More intellectual dishonesty from the Cohen Center at Keene State College


Readers of this Blog will recall how the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College has engaged in revisionist history with regard to the Catholic Church and the Holocaust. See my previous posts here, here and here. The Cohen Center is at it again, posting an article which unfairly criticizes Pope Benedict XVI over the Bishop Williamson affair. See here.

Driven by what is obviously an anti-Catholic agenda, the Cohen Center is anxious to portray the Holy Father as hard-hearted and callous. But as Catholic League president Bill Donohue explained in a statement which may be found here: "This is a man who as Cardinal Ratzinger unequivocally condemned the Holocaust at a Jerusalem conference in 1994 and wrote a book about it, Many Religions, One Covenant: Israel, the Church and the World."

In the same statement, Bill Donohue noted how, "..the Vatican announced that Williamson must 'unequivocally and publicly distance himself from his positions on the Shoah' if he is to be reinstated (he is still not in full communion with the Church, and may never be). The pope, the Vatican statement said, was unaware of this bishop's views when he lifted his excommunication." This shouldn't come as a total surprise since there are roughly 3,500 Bishops throughout the world.

If the Cohen Center for Holocaust Studies at Keene State College really wants to contribute something positive to Catholic-Jewish relations, it must refrain from engaging in historical revisionism and from politicizing the Holocaust to advance an anti-Catholic agenda.

7 comments:

Alzina said...

I couldn't help but notice that Mr. Tom White posted that hideous article. This comes as no surprise. He is the very same intellectually dishonest individual who suggested that the wartime record of Pope Pius XII is still in question.

The Cohen Center is engaging in anti-Catholic bigotry again.

Marie Tremblay said...

Speaking to delegates from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Pope Benedict XVI said clearly that, "The hatred and contempt for men, women and children that was manifested in the Shoah [Holocaust] was a crime against God and against humanity..This should be clear to everyone, especially to those standing in the tradition of the Holy Scriptures."

For the Cohen Center to publish such an attack on the Holy Father is simply reprehensible. The Holy Father doesn't have a "tin ear." He isn't the one who has trouble listening. It is the Cohen Center, with its radical anti-Catholic agenda, which refuses to hear others.

Duncan said...

It's really ironic how much the gate to Keene State College resembles the gate to Aushwitz. The inscription on the gate to the death camp read "Arbeit Macht Frei" - Work makes one free.

Perhaps the gate to Keene State College should read "Propaganda makes one a slave."

Michael Cole said...

I think the Cohen Center engages in this sort of anti-Catholicism because it creates controversy and may be used to justify its budget before Keene State College administrators. Sort of like the Pentagon exaggerating Soviet military strength during the Cold War in order to justify its budgetary requests before the U.S. Congress.

We have a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum which does a good job of educating people about the horrors of the Holocaust without engaging in such silliness. The Cohen Center is making itself irrelevant.

Stewart said...

The article posted by the Cohen Center asserts that, "The pope also showed his tin ear last year when pressure mounted from supporters within the church for him to accelerate the cause of sainthood for Pope Pius XII. Opponents to the canonization believe Pope Pius XII should have been more outspoken during the Holocaust. Jewish leaders have lobbied Benedict to open Vatican archives for scholars to examine the church’s record and find out once and for all. Benedict has not agreed to that.."

As you've made clear in the past Mr. Melanson, the wartime record of Pope Pius XII has been firmly established. And this heroic Pontiff spoke out bravely and consistently against National Socialism and Nazi atrocities.

Tom White and his associates at the Cohen Center ignore those historical facts which they deem "inconvenient." For example, Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog's praise for Pius XII: "The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion which form the very foundations of true civilization, are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history, which is living proof of divine Providence in this world." Or Golda Meir's cable to the Vatican expressing condolences at the death of this great Pontiff: "When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the Pope was raised for the victims. The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out on the great moral truths."

No, these historical facts (and many others like them) are deemed "inconvenient" by an anti-Catholic agenda which once again has reared its ugly head at Keene State College.

Alan said...

Keene State College is ultra-liberal and cannot be trusted to examine the Shoah with anything even remotely resembling objectivity. If there is an opportunity to bash the Church or the Pope, I have no doubt that the institution will take advantage of it. Catholic parents should keep this in mind when considering a college for their children.

Michelle said...

I think it's sad that there is so much hatred for the Church which is Christ's Mystical Body. Don't these people know that they are attacking Christ when they attack the Church?

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