The Promise and Politics

Normally, I would have just ranted about this on Facebook but things have changed. It's more important than ever to be political on LiveJournal.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Never have these words rang so true until I saw The Promise.

The film is about a government carrying out genocide through destroying businesses and homes, rounding up the intellectuals first before the women and children, then forcing the able-bodied men into forced labor while using marches or trains to have the rest taken to a more secure spot where they would be massacred.

It's not the Jews. The film begins in 1915. They were Armenians (almost entirely Christian) living under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The extreme number of deaths, 1.5 million, inspired Raphael Lemkin to create the word "genocide". I don't know if Hitler studied what had been done to the Armenians, plus 300,000 Assyrians and 750,000 Greeks, but it certainly looks like a swell How To manual for what he did.

What's even worse is that, unlike Germany, Turkey won't admit to the genocide. They prefer that the whole affair be referred to as "events" or "relocation" than genocide. It still believes any deaths were either unintentional or because they were traitors. The problem is that Turkey STILL does this shit! They are currently in a Purge RIGHT NOW! Since July 135,000 Turks have been suspended from their jobs and over 20,000 have been arrested. 11,500 were teachers! The secrecy has meant that there are no numbers on how many have been slaughtered this time.

Yet the United States deems Turkey an "ally" and for that, no sitting president has referred to the Armenian atrocities as genocide! None! The federal government won't even recognize Armenian Remembrance Day. It's only officially recognized in California. Was this or The Promise in wider release this week the real reason Turkey barely gave the US enough time to get our Forces to safety in Iraq before bombing?

Then again, has our government ever fully admitted that it has also committed genocide in the past?

Even now, we let ourselves be convinced that hatred is the answer. Because of anti-immigrant views, over a thousand Jews were murdered in the Holocaust after trying to come to the United States. 935 were on one ship that was turned away. Between 2012 and 2015, the United States sent back more than 171,000 children to the home countries they were so desperate to escape. There have been confirmed deaths from those deported. How many in Aleppo could have been saved if we had let them come?

The United States is a nation founded by those who were outcasts, thieves, felons, heretics, victims and dreamers in their home countries. Who are we to suddenly shut the gate because we're afraid of what may come? That they may in fact...be just like our forefathers?

Plus, if this is truly a Christian nation...because in the US, my fellow Christians are sadly the most bigoted people I have met -not all of them but enough to be ashamed by it...if this is a Christian nation, should we not abide by this passage?

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Or in simpler terms, there is Cher Horowitz from Clueless:

So like, right now for example. The Haitians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources?" Well it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I put R.S.V.P. 'cause it was a sit-down dinner. But some people came that like did not R.S.V.P. I was like totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier. And so if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you very much.

The Promise and Politics

Normally, I would have just ranted about this on Facebook but things have changed. It's more important than ever to be political on LiveJournal.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Never have these words rang so true until I saw The Promise.

The film is about a government carrying out genocide through destroying businesses and homes, rounding up the intellectuals first before the women and children, then forcing the able-bodied men into forced labor while using marches or trains to have the rest taken to a more secure spot where they would be massacred.

It's not the Jews. The film begins in 1915. They were Armenians (almost entirely Christian) living under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The extreme number of deaths, 1.5 million, inspired Raphael Lemkin to create the word "genocide". I don't know if Hitler studied what had been done to the Armenians, plus 300,000 Assyrians and 750,000 Greeks, but it certainly looks like a swell How To manual for what he did.

What's even worse is that, unlike Germany, Turkey won't admit to the genocide. They prefer that the whole affair be referred to as "events" or "relocation" than genocide. It still believes any deaths were either unintentional or because they were traitors. The problem is that Turkey STILL does this shit! They are currently in a Purge RIGHT NOW! Since July 135,000 Turks have been suspended from their jobs and over 20,000 have been arrested. 11,500 were teachers! The secrecy has meant that there are no numbers on how many have been slaughtered this time.

Yet the United States deems Turkey an "ally" and for that, no sitting president has referred to the Armenian atrocities as genocide! None! The federal government won't even recognize Armenian Remembrance Day. It's only officially recognized in California. Was this or The Promise in wider release this week the real reason Turkey barely gave the US enough time to get our Forces to safety in Iraq before bombing?

Then again, has our government ever fully admitted that it has also committed genocide in the past?

Even now, we let ourselves be convinced that hatred is the answer. Because of anti-immigrant views, over a thousand Jews were murdered in the Holocaust after trying to come to the United States. 935 were on one ship that was turned away. Between 2012 and 2015, the United States sent back more than 171,000 children to the home countries they were so desperate to escape. There have been confirmed deaths from those deported. How many in Aleppo could have been saved if we had let them come?

The United States is a nation founded by those who were outcasts, thieves, felons, heretics, victims and dreamers in their home countries. Who are we to suddenly shut the gate because we're afraid of what may come? That they may in fact...be just like our forefathers?

Plus, if this is truly a Christian nation...because in the US, my fellow Christians are sadly the most bigoted people I have met -not all of them but enough to be ashamed by it...if this is a Christian nation, should we not abide by this passage?

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Or in simpler terms, there is Cher Horowitz from Clueless:

So like, right now for example. The Haitians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources?" Well it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I put R.S.V.P. 'cause it was a sit-down dinner. But some people came that like did not R.S.V.P. I was like totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier. And so if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you very much.