Vocal Voices

Love thy neighbours?

Love thy neighbour? I do sometimes find this a very hard thing to do.
Apparently, however, it now seems to be a legal requirement not to say you dislike anyone, particularly of other nationalities .

(but here goes).

Why am 1 writing this? Because I've just read in a daily paper about the way the Japanese murdered 420 injured British soldiers
in hospitals in Hong Kong and Singapore in World War II. I always knew they treated prisoners of war in most unacceptable ways,
but this made me feel so angry. Furthermore, I cannot understand how we can ever forgive them, and why we ever bothered to
import any of their products since. I won't go so far as to say that perhaps USA should have used a few more atom bombs there,
although some might think that might have been justified. The world will never be a pleasant place to live in unless we get rid
of people like that. Maybe, and hopefully, present-day Japanese are more 'human' than their ancesters were in the 1940s, but I
do feel that we should make it clear that if they are not, then we will not accept that sort of misbehaviour in any future conflict.

I must add that the bad behaviour I refer too was not something new. When Japan previously invaded China, there were many
similar episodes of inhuman behaviour and cruel slaughter on a quite massive scale.

We have to be careful not to confuse "them" then with "them" now, whoever they were or are or when. We certainly can never forgive the perpetrators, but we cannot hold their descendents to blame.

If we do how far do we go back? Atrocities have happened down the ages in recorded history, from the Macedonians, to the Romans right up to the Empires of modern day countries, including us British. If we had not consigned these things to history we would still be fighting over them today.

That's a fair comment, Frank.

But it does seem that certain tendencies go with nationality, don't you think?

Also, one cannot help but be influenced my past actions of a person, or of a country.

Obviously, only recent history is appropriate in this regard.

AliasAggers wrote:... one cannot help but be influenced my past actions of a person, or of a country.

Absolutely true, John, but as time passes those of you personally impacted by the events of WWII will be no more.

Those that follow, who were not even born, will have to learn it from history in an academic way. Let us hope and pray that they understand the horrors.

I worked with a German manager when we were moving a biological test lab from Hamburg to Paris. We were out having a meal and a few beers and I was asking where he would go on holiday.

He said to me "Asia". I said, "I've never been, do you like it there and do you find it easy to be there on holiday".

He said to me "I love it and the great thing is I never have to worry because we never 'did' anything to anyone in Asia".

Germany has a policy of not allowing any child to exit school without having learned about the Holocaust, what happened and who did it. Whilst I laud their conscience, I do wonder if there will ever come a time when the breach is healed and that the memories should be buried in the history books, the sites bulldozed over and turned into recreation parks and we just get on with it.

Britain (and England), has committed some pretty nasty atrocities over the centuries. England has, for nearly a thousand years, been an uninterrupted power in the world and that kind of power leads to excesses. However, being British, we have made a fresh start and moved on.

I do know what you are saying about types and attitudes. I have only recently escaped a pretty nasty situation at work. My immediate manager was failing badly and I was the closest and easiest person to blame. She was trying very hard to blame me for everything, ignoring the fact that everything she was blaming me for, she had previously told everyone was "her" work and I was just "supporting".

My program manager, who is originally from the same place, but extremely British and with an American wife, told me he could not, initially, work it out. Then, he told me, he had a revelation. He put the behaviour in the context of where they both came from. He then said it all made perfect sense and he knew what to do. One week ago her contract ended and the new contract she was trying to get at this place never materialised.

I am very thankful that my program manager has this background. Also I'm very thankful that he trusted me and lifted me right out of the situation.

We are all different. I understand that. However we don't have to tolerate differences when they are destructive. We should be highlighting that they are destructive and calling them out.

Unfortunately we have the issues like Ruth Davidson, today, going on about the Burka and Boris' words. Well Boris was not very wise to say what he did. But she was a complete idiot to say that Burka's are like wearing a crucifix. They are not. They are a total negation of everything this country stands for. They are against everything we believe in, in the way that they segregate and cut off people in a deliberate way and it needs to be dealt with.

Love they neighbour?

Only if they want to be loveable!

My dad was captured in the fall of Singapore and ended up as a Japanese POW. They were treated very badly and for many years afterwards he did hate the Japanese, in particular the commander of his POW camp. I think he forgave them eventually though.

With Germany I think we are seeing indoctrination, making young Germans feel guilty about what their forefathers did. To me it's illogical. Why should a 20 year old German be made to feel guilty about what Adolf Hitler did?

To take Aggers' general point yes, there are people you aren't allowed to say a bad word about, as Boris Johnson just discovered!

cromwell wrote:To take Aggers' general point yes, there are people you aren't allowed to say a bad word about, as Boris Johnson just discovered!

Although there is an Imam who has said he did not go far enough.

it is interesting that it is banned at the Kaaba at mecca, yet nobody in the UK is allowed to question it. Because it might offend someone. Never mind the fact that the idea behind the Burka is, pretty much, offensive to just about every indigenous male in the UK.