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naraburns  nihil supernum  2yr ago (text post)   33194 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 10, 2022

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Irving is one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial. Familiar with historical evidence, he bends it until it conforms with his ideological leanings and political agenda. A man who is convinced that Britain's great decline was accelerated by its decision to go to war with Germany, he is most facile at taking accurate information and shaping it to confirm his conclusions. A review of his recent book, Churchill's War, which appeared in New York Review of Books, accurately analyzed his practice of applying a double standard of evidence. He demands "absolute documentary proof" when it comes to proving the Germans guilty, but he relies on highly circumstantial evidence to condemn the Allies. This is an accurate description not only of Irving's tactics, but of those of deniers in general.

The first bit was just my choice to show relevance to the OP. She had more scholarly criticism elsewhere.

I don't understand. You said that his suit was shot down because she was able to provide proof of garbage scholarship. Is your assumption then that if Irving had ironclad proof that the Holocaust did not happen he would be considered less of a 'dangerous' holocaust denier?

There was more than one point of contention.

Finding instances where he used fake sources defended her claims that he was bending the truth. Claiming that he was a Hitler fanboy and Holocaust denier was pretty easy. I believe the defense for calling him dangerous was his association with violent neo-Nazi groups.

But I suppose you’re welcome to check the actual judgment. Paragraphs 2.10 and 2.15 had the specific claims.

You're not answering the point relevant to what you yourself wrote. You said that his suit was shot down because she was able to provide proof of garbage scholarship. Is your assumption then that if Irving had ironclad proof that the Holocaust did not happen he would be considered less of a 'dangerous' holocaust denier?

I fail to see what light the court judgment would shed on your own statements.

Ah. I've been laboring under the impression that you were asking about the lawsuit.

I hadn't made such an assumption, one way or the other. He is/was a denier, and he certainly lacked such proof, so why bother with the counterfactual?

But you said that the reason the suit was shut down was because of his garbage scholarship. You could certainly forgive me for not interpreting it any other way than as it is written, can you? And if that was not relevant why write it? If it was relevant then why ask me why I am bothering with it?

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