I think no subject should be off-limits, and I regard the laws in many Continental countries criminalizing Holocaust denial as philosophically repugnant and practically useless – in that they confirm to Jew-haters that the Jews control everything (otherwise why aren’t we allowed to talk about it?) and they enable Muslims and other groups to go around arguing that, if you’re prepared to pass restrictions on free speech protecting Jewish sensitivities, why can’t we have some, too?
But my main objection to the National Review post is that it’s a debater’s point. And in that sense it has no more impact upon what’s really happening in our world than Michelle Obama’s hashtag. I am always astonished at how little American middle school students know, or are required to know. The idea that, in an educational culture that barely teaches the history that actually happened, there should be room to teach Holocaust denial as an intellectual exercise is ridiculous.
Secondly, Charlie seems unaware of what’s going on in schools around the world…
