Holocaust and other heresies of our times.

The Spanish Inquisition

The word Heresy comes from the Christian Church history. A heretic is one who claims to be still a Christian and yet deviate in its fundamental principles. The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us that heresy is different from Apostasy. The apostate, in contrast to the heretic is one who has rejected the entire faith, for example, by assuming a different religion. To understand the real meaning of heresy, we have to also understand the historical circumstances where the word held such power.

Justinian, emperor of Rome (483-565 A.D ) equated Heresy with treason and hence it was punishable by the state even to death. Needless to say, Justinian was a Christian Emperor. This laid the foundation for one of the darkest chapters of modern history, the Inquisition. In 1231 A.D., Pope Gregory IX instituted the Inquisition with instructions to the state to sieze convicted heretics and burn them to the stake. Physical torture, like the infamous torture rack, water torture etc. was used to extract "confessions" from people who refused to confess. Witnesses who refused to give "evidence" were also considered accomplices and could be punished.

You can find a list of heresies that were considered punishable by clicking here.

It has been suggested that this was one of the darkest moments of church history. Even though the word heresy comes from the church, there have always been people who use power and persecution to suppress views that may threaten their own. At least one report of the Great European Witch Hunt suggests that it was a result of political forces trying to forcefully suppress opinions that were not in agreement with their own. ( If you are a history nerd, you can find a lot of resources on the Witch Hunt here. )

Senator McCarthy is best known in history for having headed another hunt for heretics. After an unimpressive early history, he won the election in 1946. On his first day in office he proposed an innovative solution to the ongoing coal miner's strike. Enlist all striking workers into the army and send them to war. Anyone who refuses should be courtmartialled and SHOT! McCarthy's heights were reached when he served as the Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, a position he used to launch a witch hunt against those with alleged communist connections. His research wing found out that there were 30,000 books in the Overseas Library Programme were written by"communists, pro-communists, former communists, and anti-anti-communists." These were Banished. In December 1954, the Senate voted to censure him.

So here is my question to you? What are the heresies of our times? What are the things we are AFRAID to speak of because we fear censure? What constitutes the suppressed unconscious mind of modern society? Here is a list I could think of.

1. The Nazi Regime was not as evil as it seems: The IInd World War has many skeletons in its closet. Some of them have to do with concentration camps and the Holocaust. Any critical mention of it is considered criminal in many countries. BUT It is ok to hunt down old men for their role in assisting their govt and country. The Nuremberg Trials highlighted war crimes done by the Axis Forces but apparently the Allied Forces could do no wrong.

2. The situation in Afghanistan and Iraq is enough for an indictment of "Crimes against Humanity"

3. Children are human beings too: While older people have the right to consume alcohol, vote for their country and have fundamental rights. Children do not. The argument is that "CHILDREN ARE NOT LITTLE PEOPLE".

• Children should not work: While child labour has been exploited by capitalists and industrialists where children were forced to work an adults quota for lesser pay, the vast majority of situations, children are actually treated humanely, often by their own parents. This is the way apprenticeship teaches children useful skills. The vast majority of students who go to school do not learn useful life skills.
• Children can be sexually active: In the early 1900's Freud was shocked to see that children had sexual fantasies and that too involving incestuous thoughts (not surprising since parents are the first people a child gets to know). But today how many people would want to attend the PNVD party convention? Pedophiles (etymologically - those who love children) are hunted down and the hunt against Pedophiles (And terrorists) can justify any incursion into privacy.

4. Failure: This is more subtle... but that makes it all the more powerful. The failure myth says that it heresy to be not successful. At interviews I often ask people to describe their failures. The answer I most often get is....."I can't think of any". Everyone knows that one cant succeed without failing. But it seems like its heretic to be anything other than "Successful".

Now its your turn. What are the heresies that YOU can think of? Stuff that almost EVERYONE seems to think is WRONG?