The Ugly Wave

Scott Hardie | December 24, 2005
Hottest trend these days among Muslim leaders: Calling the Holocaust a myth. (link) It's been going on for decades of course, but that wild and crazy guy Ahmadinejad is making it hip all over again.

In all my years, I've never understood anti-Semitism – this isn't my first TC discussion trying to get a grip on it – and after this I have to wonder if it's because I'm logical, rational, and intelligent, and certain Muslim leaders aren't. I mean, seriously, if you want to believe in some made-up Jewish conspiracy controlling world affairs (or Hollywood for that matter), that's incredibly outlandish, but at least there's nothing proving otherwise. But the Holocaust? There's an overwhelming amount of photographic proof including film footage, not to mention all the actual sites where it happened, and oh yeah, the survivors who are still alive today who can tell you what happened and show you the permanent effects it had on their bodies. Hate is by nature irrational, but why is it also so stupid?

Amy Austin | December 24, 2005
Not to change the subject or make light of it, but I couldn't help thinking of all those folks in the 60s & 70s (hopefully, not many today!) who believed that the moon-walk was a big government hoax.

I, too, wondered as I read how people can maintain these positions with a straight face in light of so much physical evidence. The scary part is that as long as there will continue to be those willing to make such claims, there will also be people willing to believe them... and the further removed we get from the actual historic events (ie, the death of said survivors, the degradation of said photographic proof, etc.), the easier it may be for them to do so!

Scott Hardie | December 30, 2005
I love how the moon hoax theory caught on after "Capricorn One" came out. Yeah. That was spontaneous and genuine.

Anyway, the moon hoax is a touchy subject for me, because on one occasion I was so fervent in denying it that someone I liked (a hoax believer) more or less stopped speaking to me. There were probably other reasons too, but hey, post hoc ergo propter hoc. I'm still a fan and regular reader of Phil Plait, even helped him correct an error on his site, and I believe that his widely-read debunking of the moon hoax theory (link) is one of the most useful contributions to popular critical thought of this decade. I also enjoy the term "antiscience," which he coined to replace the use of "pseudoscience" because apparently that word was giving people the impression that things like the moon hoax theory are at least partially scientific. He's the web's answer to Carl Sagan. That is, if Flying Spaghetti Monster isn't.