Letters: Marjorie Greene, “divisive” education

Greene’s apology for Holocaust comparison rings hollow

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), after visiting the US Holocaust Museum, reportedly said: “I am so sorry that I offended people with remarks about the Holocaust.”

Her remarks came three weeks after she compared the actions of Democratic House leaders demanding COVID-19 protocols in the House to those when people were tagged and “put on trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany “. His comments were condemned at the time.

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Using this comparison, she confused life-saving health protocols with the Holocaust, a government operation to kill those believed to be unworthy of living in her society. While the majority (6 million) were Jews, others considered enemies of the state and sent to chambers included political opponents, religious leaders, gays, ethnic groups and anyone else deemed inferior.

His visit to the Auschwitz concentration camp and its educational strands as a teenager do not seem to impress him about the impact of the Holocaust and the hatred that sparked it. The lesson of the Holocaust is the ultimate horror of what hatred used as a political tool does to the soul of humanity, its community and the body politic.

This lesson applies to those of all political specters and ideologies. Holocaust museums attempt to remind us of this lesson, which is particularly important today.

Greene’s “apologies” still do not reflect a meaningful apology. She apologizes for offending people as if the offended one caused the problem. We apologize by admitting that we did something wrong, we regret it and we actively change our behavior. For Greene, to change his behavior is to stop believing and supporting lies and demonizing “the other” in the pursuit of political power.

TJ Feldman, Columbus

After:How to Submit a Letter to the Editor of The Columbus Dispatch

Bills restricting concepts of “division” in education would include Christian music

Mark Hiser’s June 16 letter “Two Bills in Ohio House Would Limit Critical Thinking in Schools” informed me about Bill 327. I had no idea it generically prohibited. ” ‘teaching, defense or promotion of concepts that divide “.

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An unintended consequence of the passage of this bill will hopefully be lawsuits attacking concepts of division already taught, advocated and promoted. At the top of this list is religion.

It was only in the past 20 years that Columbus was forced to tackle and stop the almost exclusive use of Christian music in schools. House Bill 327 would bite those of us who see the use of religious music, especially evangelical religious music, as advocating and promoting “concepts of division.” Since almost every Christian song urges praise of their God, the division inherent in this would eliminate the teaching. There is nothing more confrontational than forcing non-Christian students to sing Christian music, otherwise they will be excluded.

I’m sure a cursory examination of the Ohio textbooks would uncover many more divisive issues. For example, any indication that the civil war involved state rights is quite controversial. Teaching “Gone with the Wind” in English class would be divisive. I can find many examples like this that could and should be argued if HB 327 is adopted.

Be careful what you vote for. It will be used in a way that you didn’t expect.

Michael Vander Does, Columbus