God Damn it, I Don't Even Know

[attackfish]

I swear, the next time a Christian tries to compare the Holocaust to the death of Jesus, I may just start screaming.  I mean what the hell?  How is that even a thing you say to someone?  And yes, this is not the first time I have heard this one.   God fucking damn.

Comments

[ljlee.livejournal.com]

What what? I mean... what?

Sorry, can't get more coherent than that. How does such a thought ever cross anyone's mind? Holy fuck, what is the matter with people?

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

I know. And every time somebody tells me this, I have to look at them, and not hit them and say calmly that I don't think its the same thing at all, and then they get all offended. This is why I can't take living in the South much longer. Look up the definition of microaggression, and you see a picture of a sweet Southern churchgoer telling a Jewish person that the Holocaust is like the death of Jesus.

[ljlee.livejournal.com]

Well, drawing from your explanation of their thinking in response to floranna, maybe it's a clumsy attempt ("clumsy" as in "unimaginably offensive") to imbue the senseless deaths of so many with some kind of meaning so it wouldn't all be for naught. Of course that just adds another level of offensiveness, sigh.

While you're waiting to get out of there, and fast, maybe you could find some way to microagress them back. Compare your skipping lunch to Civil War-era deprivations or something. But aw hell, we take the high road, right. And it's not like the minority is ever allowed to feel safe making totally off-color remarks.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Exactly, they're trying, they're really trying to be empathetic, which is why when instead of giving them a pat on the back, I point out that what they said is actually really horrible, even when I'm really nice about it, they get angry with me, because they're trying to be good people.

I have noticed lately that when someone says something like this to me, I get a particular smile on my face, that means "You just said something unspeakable to me, and you have no idea, and I would tell you, but you would get mad, and nice Jewish/disabled/queer/female kids grow up learning never to make Gentiles/non-disabled people/straight people/men mad."