Correction.

Submitted by Michael S. (United States), Nov 4, 2014 at 23:52

Hello, Dhimmino

By your remarks, one might get the impression that you don't like me. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and simply think of you as a fellow countryman divided from me by a common language.

No, I haven't called the barbarism to and by the Armenians and Greeks as "boloney". I have called them "barbarism". You have chosen to call some of these events "genocide", a term which I reserve for REAL genocides such as the Holocaust.

You've been using semantics, to try to score points against people: In the case of the Armenians and Greeks, your target seems to be the Turks. I am well aware of many of the episodes of the Turks and their neighbors, in their long history of dealing with one another. The fact that those countries and peoples are all still on the map, though, argues against the accusations that they have committed "genocide" (an attempt to completely wipe them out) against one another. The Armenians are not a numerous people; and a great number of them live abroad -- like, for instance, the Jews and the Irish. All three have been victims, at times, of atrocities; yet nobody has wiped them out -- and the Armenians, in particular, have been living in or near where they do today for over 2,800 years: speaking the same language they do today and, for the past 1700 years or so, using the same unique alphabet and practicing the same unique religion.

Though the Jews share with the Armenians a common longevity, their situation throughout history has been more precarious. They were deprived of a recognized homeland, for instance, not for hundreds of years, but for thousands, with meager remnants, at times, living as aliens in their own land. The Bible speaks of an attempted genocide against them during the time of Artaxerxes, when they were largely in captivity in Babylon; and the Germans made a deliberate attempt, during WWII, to completely destroy them as a people.

Unlike the fortunate Armenians, the Jews had noplace to run to. Thousands were allowed by Hitler to flee to France, after taking from them all they had; but they were kept from leaving France by deliberate bureaucratic hurdles erected by the Americans, British and others. Finally, when the Germans occupied France, the French rounded them up and practically forced them on the Germans, insisting that they get rid of them. Some tried to escape on ships. One such ship, the St. Louis, even docked in New York harbor, and relatives passed sandwiches to them. They were required to return to Germany, however; and for many, to certain death. Comparing what the Armenians went through to this, is a slap in the face to those who truly suffered genocide.

Though Hitler desired to eliminate the Jews from the planet, he was only able to destroy a third of them. Another third were safely in the US; and another third were scattered in the Soviet Union, Morocco, and other places. Today, most of those places have few Jews left; and some are completely "Judenrein", of "rid of Jews". How do your cherished Armenians, much less the Greeks, stand up to that by comparison?

The Germans killed a third of the Jews, through deliberate effort and ultra-efficient execution. Did you know, though, that there was a people that suffered even more at the hands of the Germans? It was the Germans themselves, about half of whom were killed by the other half during the Thirty Years' War. Was that genocide? Were the Germans trying to wipe out the Germans? By some modern definitions, such as yours, it would be called that; but the idea is completely preposterous.

You've used the word "genocide" in a misleading way, as have many others. In your post above, though, you've done more than mislead: You've lied. I did not call what happened to the Armenians and Greeks "baloney". I noted that the indiscriminate use of the word "genocide" is baloney -- something I had thought you yourself were doing. I was mistaken, and you went beyond that.

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