http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/06/13/hitler.yearbook.ap/index.htmlI was reading CNN.com like I always do and ran across this story. Seems that a couple of boys graduating from high picked some quotes from Hitler as their yearbook quotes. One was, "Strength lies not in defense, but in attack," while the other was "The great masses of people ... will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." The school principal says they have failed miserably (as educators) and they are issuing letters to parents saying tehy're sorry and providing tape to cover up the quotes. It may just be me, but does anyone else see a problem with this?
I think our nation has become so PC that people are really worried about the quote. Adolf Hitler was one of the greatest leaders of our time. I didn't like what he stood for, but I have to respect the fact that he was able to lead thousands for his cause, much like Osama Bin Laden, but at least Hitler did his leadingout in the open and not from a bunker somewhere in a mountain. We are so worried about offending people that we choose not to look at the quotes on their own. The quotes have some truth to them, in my book anyway. Some people do believe that strength lies in attacking (see the Phoenix Suns) and I do believe the masses of people will fall victims of a big lie (see Iraq War). Just because the person who said them was a vile man with hopes of world domination does not make the quotes any more or less truthful. The quotes made no mention of person, creed, color, religion or anything else we get defensive over. These are just two quotes that can be used in everyday thought.
I feel sorry for these two kids. They will now be the butt of jokes and the subject of people's disdain. I feel sorry for the teachers of their high school for having a principal that doesn't respect free thought and probably doesn't know what a true education is. If we look at and study the teachings of people, even bad people, there is still much we can learn. I'm pretty sure the "Shock and Awe" style of the military stemmed from the German Blitzkreig. The blitz in football stems from Blitzkreig. I don't here anyone raising cane about that. But I digress. If these kids were little Neo-Nazi skinheads carrying a burning cross with sheets over their heads, then I'd be singing a different song. Then I 'd say they are using Hitler's message for the same evil purposes he did just like many use religion to go to war. But to my limited knowledge, these are two kids who saw quotes they liked that happen to come from Hitler. Isn't that their right. Political Correctness will be the end of us all.
