Why were they so few? In a 1965 speech, Martin Luther King, Jr., called the greatest tragedy of this periodnot the vitriolic words and other violent actions of the bad people but the appalling silence and indifference of the good people.. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Better an unjust God than an indifferent one. Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment.\Elie Wiesel, 1999. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. Its like a cancer which attacks the soul. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Over there, behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the "Muselmanner," as they were called. And the prosecutors at his trial recognized that it was his indifference, not just his cruelty, that was a big part of why Floyd died. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another persons pain and despair. (81-85). abandon We felt that to be abandoned by God was worse than to be punished by Him. What is indifference? Indifference is not a response. Martin Luther King Jr. the most. Sixty years ago, its human cargonearly 1,000 Jewswas turned back to Nazi Germany. Reflections on Indifference and Human Rights - O'Neill As a result, apathy is always the enemy's buddy, because it helps the aggressor rather than his victim, whose grief is amplified when he or she feels forgotten. You're affirming their belief that no one gives a fig about themand as a result, you end up helping the bad guys. You denounce it. There was no superhuman strength that day. But when the Americans liberated Buchenwald in 1945, Wiesel could see their horror as they realized the rumors were true, as they realized just how many millions of people had suffered and died. And the illustrious occupant of the White House then, who was a great leader -- and I say it with some anguish and pain, because, today is exactly 54 years marking his death -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April the 12th, 1945. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were, strangers to their surroundings. Indifference elicits no response. Or, is itsimply the plague of indifference? Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Anger can at times be creative. I NEEDDD HELP LIKE RIGHT NOW ITS SIMPLE And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler's armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies. Phone: (202) 662-9203 | Fax: (202) 662-4045, All Content Copyright ONeill Institute for National and Global Health Law or Georgetown University. Even under a human rights approach, our solutions will be imperfect, and difficult questions such as these will persist. Is it a philosophy? All of us did. Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. And so many of the young people fell in battle. And what it represents could pose the biggest challenge to broader police reforms ahead. Sharon\s new book,Ceramic to Clay,seeks toencouragepeople to understand trauma, to learn aboutauthentic healing, to empower people toembrace their journeys and to understand their calling at a deeper level. Racism needs indifference like a plant needs water and sunlight. People who are indifferent can be seen as cold, aloof, disinterested, unmotivated, and lacking in passion. The same is true for hatred, since people will rise up and combat it. One day, when he refused to bow down to a Nazi dictator, he was arrested and imprisoned for three months. Elie Wiesel was a Holocaust survivor and writer who fought against indifference. My friends are funny. However, it does allow the evil to flourish by simply doing nothing. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. Of course, indifference can be tempting more than that, seductive. Aremy expectations unrealistic or hasty? What he does know is how many people suffered and died throughout the 20th century, and he also knows that a lot of the bad stuff seems to still be happening all around the world. It has been suggested, and it was documented, that the Wehrmacht could not have conducted its invasion of France without oil obtained from American sources. Does this mean we have learned from the past? th a focus on the Essential Question for this unit: What does our response to the conflict say about us? Use evidence from the text to support your response. Photos of indifference dont go viral. Human indifference is a plague. Why was there a greater effort to save SS murderers after the war than to save their victims during the war? But this time, the world was not silent. Over there, behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the "Muselmanner," as they were called. You can be indifferent to someone or something without actually hating them. His sunglasses are perched on his head and his hands rest in his pocket. ', Illustrator of the Year, British Book Awards - 2018, Tina Fey: 'Only in comedy is an obedient white girl from the suburbs a diversity candidate', Kennedy Center Mark Twain Award - 2010, Sacha Baron Cohen: 'Just think what Goebbels might have done with Facebook', Anti Defamation League Leadership Award - 2019, Greta Thunberg: 'How dare you', UN Climate Action Summit - 2019, Charlie Munger: 'The Psychology of Human Misjudgment', Harvard University - 1995, Lawrence O'Donnell: 'The original sin of this country is that we invaders shot and murdered our way across the land killing every Native American that we could', The Last Word, 'Dakota' - 2016. A Warner Bros. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. This means not acting like monsters toward others. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler's armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies. The Psychology of Ignorance What causes "indifference" as a psychological condition? The pastor that night discussed what it means to be a community, and what it means to love. Multiple factors contributed to the Holocaustincluding mass indifference to the suffering and the killing simply because it was easier to feign ignorance than to fight against atrocity. Indifference can also harm society as a whole because people stop trying to improve themselves and their situation. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were -- strangers to their surroundings. Indifference reduces the other to a concept. having a low probability, unique, In The Alchemist, which word is used "The Perils of Indifference" Speech Summary, Text, & Analysis Banishing indifference requires, I believe, recognizing that beyond being troublesometo be involved in another persons pain and despair, it is also beyond our capacity to give all the worlds ills, all people who suffer avoidable pain and despair, due attention. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own. Indifference is not a response." (64-65). Can you give 3 things about what to write in each paragraph? Finally, Elie asserts that caring means taking responsibility for other people. Indifference is a conclusion, not a beginning. ", 5. A society that grounds its actions in human rights will be a society of love. [3] Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction. The snarling faces of White students who surrounded a young Black woman who tried to integrate an Arkansas high school. Part 2: The Spirit of the World, To Surrender Oneself : A Brief Introduction to Saint Thrse Couderc, Marian Consecration is Not a Nice Thing to Do, Misunderstanding Those Who Seem Different, How to Know if You Are Under a Spiritual Attack. And throughout it all, they believed the rest of the world had no idea what was going on. A grown man, crying out for his mother.. Millions of people, including Elie Wiesel, were forced to endure hellish, inhumane treatment at the hands of the Nazis. But plenty of people saw that image of Chauvin looking bored as a Black mans life ebbed away beneath him. Better an unjust God than an indifferent one. "Am I My Brother's Keeper?": Indifference & Human Dignity "Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. What is the best way to stop the carnage in Syria? Indifference Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster (123-125). At least the racists recognize that they exist they see them, even if their vision is clouded by hate. In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. And, on a different level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. benefit When he was 12 years old andat a summer camp,he was under water for twenty-five minutes which eventually resulted in a disabled body but produced an indomitable spirit and brilliant soul. In many respects, apathy is worse than rage and hatred because when people are furious, they take action to address the issue. He feels that neglecting a person's suffering makes it easy to dismiss that person as less than human. For example, someone may be indifferent to your pain because they do not care whether you live or die. Anger can at times be creative. Are we less insensitive to the plight of victims of ethnic cleansing and other forms of injustices in places near and far? Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. Never, ever make a promise because it\s momentarily appropriate and then run from the promise. Indifference not hate may be the biggest obstacle to police reform. But the most pervasive forms of racism take root when White judges, cops, politicians and ordinary people look the other way to not see what is happening right in front of their faces. A Study of Reality: Mans Finite Response to Gods Infinite Revelation. Wiesel believes that indifference is on par with what the Nazis didsure, the bystanders might not have killed anyone, but they also didn't try and stop it. Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, members of Congress, Ambassador Holbrooke, Excellencies, friends: Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe's beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. Do we hear their pleas? And so, once again, I think of the young Jewish boy from the Carpathian Mountains. But Wiesel does give a shout-out to the Righteous Gentiles, non-Jews who saw what was happening around them and took a stand against it. And maybe in that moment, as he was handcuffed and led away, he got a glimpse of the terror that so many Black and brown men have felt. We should also try not to cause others to be indifferent to us. Why have American presidents refused for decades to use the term genocide in describing the atrocities committed against Armenians by the Ottoman E (28-35) You disarm it. Learn how your comment data is processed. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were--strangers to their surroundings . It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. They feared nothing. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Over there, behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the "Muselmanner," as they were called. They're unbelievably difficult to look at, and the part of your brain designed to protect you from unpleasant things probably has you wondering if the pictures could really be real. (28-35). Elie Wiesel is talking about FDR's response to the St. Louis (which we discuss in the "Timeline" section). At its root, indifference is failing to show concern for others. We have no value as human other than as much as we are true to our word. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. But that doesn't mean we have to let it get away with doing damage to others. Is it a philosophy? It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person\s pain and despair. People become objects when the subject of the connection decides to objectify them on purpose. It can be inferred that what Elie Wiesel meant by the above statement is that", "being indifferent or showing no empathy or care towards another warps a person's view of others and the self-respect and care that is due to them.". The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. . Millions of innocent people died in concentration camps throughout Europe, but genocides were occurring in Rwanda and Kosovo. They were dead and did not know it. Why did some of America's largest corporations continue to do business with Hitler's Germany until 1942? However, due to the rise of Nazism in Europe, many Jews were arrested and held without trial or charge. And just as there are different types of diseases, so too are there different kinds of indifference. The indifference that makes a difference: Why unconcern for minorities They said Chauvin and other officers at the scene talked about the smell of Floyds feet and idly picked stones from a vehicles tire while Floyd died in front of them. Indifference is when solicitude is missing which indicates that there is a lack of awareness. D. Only Elie Wiesel: 'And now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the I was here and I will never forget it. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Indifference reduces the Other to an abstraction. How can it, if you're pretending what's going on simply isn't happening? Our emails and calls will make a difference only if our elected officials respond. We are on the threshold of a new century, a new millennium.

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