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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 20819
[Civil]
Date Posted:
6/22/2009
12:13:57 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 8,316
RSS: 15,726
Comments: 17
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Road Renamed After Rabbi To Stop Neo-Nazis Picking Up Litter
Author: The Telegraph Source: The Telegraph
Title: ROAD RENAMED AFTER RABBI TO STOP NEO-NAZIS PICKING UP LITTER
Officials in Missouri have renamed a road after a Second World War rabbi in an attempt to dissuade a neo-Nazi group from taking part in a litter-picking scheme.
The move came after the Springfield unit of the National Socialist Movement signed up to clear rubbish from a section of Highway 160 near the city limits.
The state found it had no way to reject the group's application, saying membership in the Adopt-A-Highway program could not be denied because of a group's political beliefs.
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Community Thoughts: There are 17 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| The How & Why | Jun 25th. at 4:43:31 pm EDT
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Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me
It isn't about Nazis. It is about an abuse of government power in a direct effort to silence and run off a group whose speech is unpopular. This is an important issue. We could just as easily be reading about some small town government (or a large one) renaming a street after a prominent Christian in an effort to run off Wiccans who are picking up trash on that highway.
The problem is this isn't the appropriate behavior for government. It is an attempt to use power to run a group off, to censor within the limits of the law. It is certainly legal, but that doesn't make it right. If other people have a problem with the Nazis they should be out there doing a counter protest themselves. That is how our system is supposed to work. It goes entirely against what we are supposed to stand for when people in government use their powers to annoy or attempt to dissuade the activities they don't like.
When the ACLU defends the rights of Nazis (they do it often) they are doing so because they understand it is about a larger issue. They are defending all of us. When we cheer this local government for its inventivness we are shoing ourselves to be no different or better than any other spoiled, self-centered group who feels anything is ok as long as it serves their own ends. It makes us hypocrits. I have no doubt we would have hundreds of comments posted if this situation were simply reversed the way I state with a street renamed to try and run off pagans. If you don't feel it is alright when applied against you, it isn't alright when applied against them.
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| So, Let Me Get This Straight. | Jun 24th. at 8:42:39 am EDT
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Eran Rathan (Old Town, Maine) - Email Me
people (who are, nominally at least, earth worshippers) are getting annoyed because people want to pick up trash? Here's a hint: It doesn't matter who does it, as long as it gets done.
Ask yourself, when was the last time YOU volunteered to go pick up trash on the side of a road? when was the last time YOU went and helped out, cleaned something up, picked up trash, recycled something someone else threw away, or any of it?
If you aren't willing to help, no matter what you believe, you are just as sanctimonious as those you condemn. After all, aren't pagans, the ones who claim to judge by people actions, not their beliefs?
(shrug) in NH, they use minimum security prisoners to pick up trash as part of their sentence - as I said above, it doesn't matter who is doing it or why, as long as it gets done.
Eran Rathan
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| Fairness Is No Fun | Jun 24th. at 4:38:19 am EDT
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Stephen (Burleson, Texas) - Email Me
The Noe-Nazi groups are stuck in a paradigm of hate true, but these laws are here for everyone's protection. When people attempt to circumvent the law and molest the spirit of it, based upon a dislike of the world views of other, we go against the spirit of our cause. we as pagans have been seen as evil, yet we do not see ourselves as such.
I assume that those in the group, although i disagree with them, do not believe themselves evil. for one they are signing up for community service, to get down and dirty with the earth and clean her up! can we not sympathize?? even their hate is rooted in a sense of protecting their way of life from what they see as an attack ("Negros" taking over the block) . stereotypically Neo-Nazi's see this as bringing crime and poverty. they jump in with the natural instinct to protect whats "theirs".
now i assume anyone reading this gets the cringe in their stomach when someone tries to defend this particular group, but this group in particular, the worst they cause is negative energies, and the people getting riled up over letting them CLEAN UP THE TRASH are generating the same energies!
i myself have added to the fire by being appalled that someone would go to so much trouble just to prevent one group who disagrees with them, from helping make the earth a more beautiful and magical place to live! yes my heart goes out to those Neo-Nazi's when they face problems trying to reach out and help their community and the earth!
if you disagree with me, guess what, its OK! we don't have to agree and that is really the point i'm trying to make. blessed be! ^_^
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| Well, | Jun 23rd. at 11:36:53 am EDT
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
I know one road that won't get cleared out.
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| The Whole Story | Jun 23rd. at 11:28:14 am EDT
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Panthea Ge (T-Town, Michigan) - Email Me
This little article is a mere blurb. As for my opinion, it is a rural stretch. No synagogue, no black church, nothing. The funny thing is, these people are in this group so they can feel a sense of belonging, and this type of treatment makes the group more appetizing for newbies who feel they've been treated the same way.
It actually makes the problem worse by reinforcing the reason they were drawn to the organization in the first place.
This link explains it in much better detail:
Find More info -- HERE
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| Mitzvah | Jun 23rd. at 11:14:33 am EDT
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Ahr-Ohn (Bridgeport, Connecticut) - Email Me
Obviously, the Missouri Legislature does not support The Resurrection.
Rabbi Herschel, otoh, would have been cognizant of Mitzvah, which is rather akin the the Christian concept of Karma Yoga.
The Neo-Nazi Philosophy might be insane, or that might just be old propaganda, but picking up the trash sends a message, that Someone can be responsible.
Best move for the Nationalist Socialists, at this point, is to pick up the trash on the Herschel Memorial Highway, and let the Kraut Hating Caucus show what they can do.
The Nationalist Socialist Working People's Party wasn't such a bad bunch, until it rose to prominance under the direction of someone who wanted to make a visigothic answer to Zionism, so Rabbi Herschel may or may not want a place in this fight.
Let's import an opinion... Five of Standards and Six of Acounting waved at me, in the fourth shuffle but drawn is... King of Wands Invart: Severity; Austerity; Somewhat excessive and exaggerated ideas; Dogmatic; Deliberate... That's what I didn't mention; the Legislature is just as nuts as the Nazis are.
Arawn Graalrd
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| Eris Is Chuckling... | Jun 23rd. at 11:02:22 am EDT
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Pinky McFatfat, High Shamrock Shake (Dublin) (Northumberland, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
So am I for that matter.
Free speach? You can also argue that those who renamed the stretch of road also excersised their right of free speach...except they did it with a wry sense of humor and a touch of irony.
Humor and irony are under-rated as weapons against stupidity, and is this case, bigotry.
As for the Jerry Falwell highway comment, irony and wit work BOTH ways. I would totally sign up to work that stretch of highway.
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| Foolish Behavior | Jun 23rd. at 9:58:08 am EDT
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Finn (San Marcos, Texas) - Email Me
I don't care for Nazis. I have been to six counter protests against them over the years, and a few against the spawn (various other supremist groups) . However, that doesn't mean I think the government (local or otherwise) should be trying to stifle their free speech. They have the right to believe in whatever nonsense they like and say so. I in turn have the right (obligation really) to call it nonsense and offer an opposing view.
The "correct" response by those who dislike Nazis would be to adopt a road too, or throw their lot in and go out and pick up trash with their own shirts. That would be a win-win scenario. Everyone gets their say and the roads get more people cleaning them. There is no downside to it. It is democracy in action. The route the government chose is childish, petty, and lose-lose. Allow me to explain:
1. It is an attempt to toss away free charity work. Whatever their motivations, if the Nazis are out their picking up litter, the litter gets picked up. Let them. Encourage them.
2. It makes people opposed to the Nazis seem like idiots and makes martyrs of the people it is an attempt to stifle. Here they are trying to do a good deed and the "man" comes along and tries to run them off. People like this thrive on conflict. Don't give them any.
3. It undermines the whole system of free speech and democracy to attempt (by any means) to run people out of the public discourse. It is the kind of tactic actual Nazis used. How does that taste?
Let me reiterate. If you think it sends the wrong message to have some group (doesn't matter which one) out doing good works, then you form your own group and go out and do more. More people picking up trash means cleaner roads. More groups running soup kitchens means fewer people go hungry. I'm all for Christian good works. Does it irk me that they give a bible to everyone who comes in and gets a hot meal? No. It doesn't bother me at all. If it bothers you, why aren't you out giving out feeding the homeless to give them another option? Do you get my point? Ethical, honest people don't just try to bring other people (good or bad) down. They offer solutions and alternatives.
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| The Irony... | Jun 23rd. at 9:45:31 am EDT
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Batman (Madison, Wisconsin) - Email Me
It would be like trash picking up trash, would it not?
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| Ah... | Jun 22nd. at 9:45:00 pm EDT
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Gray Fox (Albuquerque, New Mexico) - Email Me
I get it now. Only if you are in the right group with the right frame of mind and the right ideas are you allowed to pick up trash from the highway. Thanks for clearing that up for all of us....yes...sarcasm is one of my many services....
This only stops people (even if they do have a vile way of looking at things) from doing what is right in regards to cleaning up a road that many of them probably use everyday. What a bunch of hooey!
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| Anyone Got Thought-Police? | Jun 22nd. at 9:42:16 pm EDT
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WitchPoet (Claremont, California) - Email Me - Web
The reason groups put in for highway sponsorship rather than other charity work is to have their groups name placed prominently on that very piece of highway. Many of them are by business owners looking for cheap c=goodwill advertising. THAT is the reason the Klan and Neos want to do it. In the case of a religious or political group it is the political dog peeing on the lampost to ensure every passing mutt knows it is their territory.
If a group with a message of hate does not want to celan a highway named for someone who lived for love and life that is their problem. Frankly any truly "religious" person or grop that had this "done to them" would just clean up the road and do the best they could anyway.
It might even be good to make it a policy to have all religious or political groups get roads named for opposition figures to test their sincerity. We KNOW the business owner wants good PR for their stretch. The Klan types just want PR, good, Bad or ugly.
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| Is There A Thought-Policeman In The House? | Jun 22nd. at 6:43:41 pm EDT
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Andrew the Troubadour (London, England) - Email Me
This is just too damned weird for words. Really - there's a great difference between picking up litter and spraying hateful graffiti, isn't there? And it's not as if preventing people who have distasteful views from doing some good on the basis that they "might" do something nasty is all that far removed from the ideas promulgated by the Nazis themselves. After all, both can be called discrimination and, though history has taught us that Nazism is a morally disgusting concept, at the time of its inception it was thought to be as benign as the foregoing ruling is no doubt thought; indeed, after the disaster of Hindenberg and the Weimar republic, and the spiralling hyper-inflation exacerbated by the Versaille treaty, it was seen as a saviour.
It seems to me these legislators have too much time on their hands...
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| It's Still Discrimination.... | Jun 22nd. at 6:43:28 pm EDT
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Faolan Iolachtir (Statesboro, Georgia) - Email Me
As reprehensible as I find their beliefs, these folks have as much right to pick up trash on the side of the road as anyone else. I am absolutely certain that if this story was about a Pagan group and the road was renamed to Jerry Falwell Boulevard, our community would be crying Foul until we were all collectively hoase. What makes this any different, other than the fact that it's "them" instead of "us" getting harassed?
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| Hmm... | Jun 22nd. at 5:23:52 pm EDT
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ToraTenshi (Anchorage, Alaska) - Email Me
I don't agree with the Neo-Nazi party, or any other hate mongering organization. But I can't help but feel that they are being wronged here. All they want is to clean up a highway, and yet they are being discriminated against. It's kinda sad.
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| Silly People That Daughter | Jun 22nd. at 3:50:19 pm EDT
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WitchPoet (Claremont, California) - Email Me
I don't think she gets it at all. The idea is that the group will not want to meet their commitments for cealing that section and default. Then they will be removed from the register and someone else will get the section. Her fathers meorial section will be cleaned by someone. And if the group decides to meet the letter of the commitment isn't that a sweet victory? Neo-Nzis making sure her fathers hghway is up to par!
Find More info -- HERE
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