On the denial of man's inhumanity to man

Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!
Robert Burns

A potential Off Broadway production of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," an acclaimed solo show about an American demonstrator killed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to stop the destruction of a Palestinian home, has been postponed because of concerns about the show's political content.

The production, a hit at the Royal Court Theater in London last year, had been tentatively scheduled to start performances at the New York Theater Workshop in the East Village on March 22. But yesterday, James C. Nicola, the artistic director of the workshop, said he had decided to postpone the show after polling local Jewish religious and community leaders as to their feelings about the work.

"The uniform answer we got was that the fantasy that we could present the work of this writer simply as a work of art without appearing to take a position was just that, a fantasy," he said.
New York Times

I have a dream. One day the world won't need laws against Holocaust denial because the story of man's inhumanity to man, all of it, for no culture is without guilt, will be deemed vital in order that man reduces the frequency of repetition of this most heinous of sins.

• Let us not forget the murder of Rachel Corrie.
• Let us not forget the murder, torture and displacement of the Jews under National Socialism.
• Let us not forget the murder, torture and displacement of all the other "undesirables" under National Socialism.
• Let us not forget the murder, torture and displacement of "undesirables" in Stalin's Russia.
• Let us not forget the starvation in Mao's China.
• Let us not forget the murder, torture and displacement of Armenian Christians under Ottoman Rule.
• Let us not forget the murder, torture and displacement of native Americans under American rule.
• Let us not forget the bombing of London during World War II.
• Let us not forget the bombing of Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
• Let us not forget the murder and torture of Christians by pagans under the rule of many Roman Emperors.
• Let us not forget the murder and torture of pagans by Christians under the rule of many Roman Emperors.
• Let me not forget my own sins.

Guilt is a solid rock upon which morality can be built, but awareness of sin must come first.

Look not alone on youthful prime,
Or manhood's active might;
Man then is useful to his kind,
Supported is his right:
But see him on the edge of life,
With cares and sorrows worn;
Then Age and Want - O ill match'd pair! --
Shew Man was made to mourn.

'A few seem favourites of Fate,
In Pleasure's lap carest;
Yet think not all the rich and great
Are likewise truly blest:
But oh! what crowds in ev'ry land,
All wretched and forlorn,
Thro' weary life this lesson learn,
That Man was made to mourn.

'Many and sharp the num'rous ills
Inwoven with our frame!
More pointed still we make ourselves
Regret, remorse, and shame!
And Man, whose heav'n-erected face
The smiles of love adorn,--
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn!

Robert Burns