Let me say it clearly -- the Holocaust happened.

Let me be forthright about my belief -- those who deny the Holocaust are intellectually dishonest scum.

But all of that is irrelevant to my next point -- Holocaust-deniers are not criminals.

And that is why I am sorry to see David Irving, one of the more malignant figures in the Holocaust-denial movement, plead guilty to criminal charges related to his expression of that postion in Austria.

A right-wing British historian said Monday he would plead guilty to criminal charges of denying the Holocaust as his trial opened in Vienna.

David Irving, 67, told reporters he now acknowledges that the Nazis systematically slaughtered Jews during World War II. "History is like a constantly changing tree," he said as an eight-member jury and a panel of three judges prepared to hear charges that could put him behind bars for up to 10 years.

Irving has been in custody since his arrest in November on charges stemming from two speeches he gave in Austria in 1989 in which he was accused of denying the Nazis' extermination of 6 million Jews.

A verdict could come later Monday.

Holocaust-denial is a hateful, dishonest intellectual position -- but it is one easily refuted by recourse to the facts. The verdict should come in classrooms, scholarly papers, and books, not in courtrooms.

And as we face demands for censorship of films, books and newspapers that are found to be subjectively wrong and offensive (not objectively wrong and offensive, like Irving's words) by Muslims, we in the West need to be clear on a simple point -- the proper response to evil or offensive words is not censorship or violence, but rather more speech to uplift and instruct in what is right.

Posted by: Greg at 11:42 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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