The most telling part of this story is when the father of little three year old Adolf Hitler, recounted,
“he was raised not to avoid people of other races but not to mix with them socially or romantically. But he said he would try to raise his children differently.”
To me, this story demonstrates, cleary, how mistrust of others is passed on through generations. If this dad really watned to have an open circle of friends for his children, he would not have named them “pariah” names.
EASTON, Pa. – The father of 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell, denied a birthday cake with the child’s full name on it by one New Jersey supermarket, is asking for a little tolerance. Heath Campbell and his wife, Deborah, are upset not only with the decision made by the Greenwich ShopRite, but with an outpouring of angry Internet postings in response to a local newspaper article over the weekend on their flare-up over frosting.
Deborah Campbell, 25, said she phoned in her order last week to the ShopRite. When she told the bakery department she wanted her son’s name spelled out, she was told to talk to a supervisor, who denied the request.
Karen Meleta, a spokeswoman for ShopRite, defended the supermarket. She said the Campbells had similar requests denied at the same store the last two years and said Heath Campbell previously had asked for a swastika to be included in the decoration.
“We reserve the right not to print anything on the cake that we deem to be inappropriate,” Meleta said. “We considered this inappropriate.”
The Campbells ultimately got their cake decorated at a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania, Deborah Campbell said.
The Campbells’ other two children also have unusual names: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell turns 2 in a few months and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell will be 1 in April.
Years ago my sister investigated an abuse case here in Northern Virginia. That the child was named Adolf (and I believe Hitler as well but am no longer 100% sure of that) was only part of the abuse he suffered. There seems to be no shortage of looney parents out there.
Good work to Shop Rite for declining to put the name on the cake. Very bad to Wal-Mart, but typical of them, for going along with this. People like this should not be allowed to have children if they are going to use names like that. It is hard to think of the abuse and teasing the children will suffer at school and other places with names like those. The girls should just change their names to the acceptable parts of their names, but for the boy he needs to pick a completely new name, as long as his parents don’t indoctrinate him into their way of thinking before he grows up.
Why on earth would anyone do that to a kid? No end to stupidity. More attention seeking behavior out of people who ought to just walk along and hope no one notices them.
With the names chosen for the Campbell children, one can only wonder with what type of values they will be raised.
I remember a customer from about 20 years ago, who legally changed his name to Jesus Christ.
“But he said he would try to raise his children differently.” Yeah…right….
These parents, sorry to have to say it….should be gassed. How could you hate a child, your own baby, so much as to do that to him.
Actually – they should be prevented from having any more children and naming them even more unfortunate names. Did anyone notice both parents aren’t working (both are on disability)? These are the kind of people who shouldn’t be allowed to have children in the first place.
DiversityGal said: “But he said he would try to raise his children differently.” Yeah…right….
His definition of “raising his children differently” might be very different than your or my version….
While I disagree completely with the worldviews of this couple, I think a story like this should also prompt a little self-criticism and humility.
Most parents don’t have any problem with their children being inundated with the war propaganda that is everywhere you look in our society. From their first day of school, they’re intimidated into pledging allegiance to the flag. What a nazi-like exercise! At the beginning, kids even had to give a salute exactly like the nazi salute except that the palm was up.
Everywhere you look you see these ribbons saying ‘I support the troops’. And so few people even remember why the founders abhorred the idea of a standing army. We’ll see how many people continue to ‘support the troops’ when they’re throwing Americans into prisons instead of Iraqis.
We’re taught that the military is defending our freedom. We tell this to our children. Really? Defending our freedom from whom? Where is this great enemy just waiting to invade? We haven’t faced invasion since 1812.
While I think this couple’s views are despicable, they’re not the ones sending kids to kill and die in Iraq. They’re not the ones waging economic war on Cuba, or propping up brutal military dictatorships throughout the middle east in the name of ‘freedom’. These belong to us.
Hold up Mackie. The attack on 9-11 was an attack on our freedom. Our country must be suffering from short-term memory loss on this one. We are all living in a different world where our enemy is not dressed in a single identifiable uniform within a region clearly marked with borders. We are now faced with an idealogy shared by extemists who have opted for a path of warfare that targets non-military personnel such as woman and children. Note, I’m not saying the United States hasn’t inadvertantly killed innocent civilians but we have not identified them as targets.
In terms of this couple, they are reaping what they sow. I can’t imagine growing-up with wacky parents like that, they should investigated by social services.
Ah, Mackie,
The left-wing wingnut in you must be feeling better! I nominate you spokesperson for anti-bvbl. Can I get a second?
It’s ironic that some folks on here disparage this couple because they named their child Adolf Hitler, yet express sentiments that Hitler himself would have embraced:
Now what’s worse: the vile remarks above, or a father who names his kid Adolf Hitler and yet states that if his kid (Adolf) “grows up and hangs out with black people, that’s fine, I don’t really care. That’s his choice.” ?
Am I to conclude that because JustAnotherPinko and Slowpoke Rodriguez subscribe to evil notions that they are therefore going to commit evil acts as a result?
No.
Nor should we conclude the same about the Campbells.
Let’s shed the fear and exercise a little rationality here, people. Please.
Fine Robb Pearson – let these people go ahead and have more children and name them even more despicable names. It isn’t hard to conclude the facts about the Campbells, but apparently you choose fit to call out those who say they shouldn’t have children. Then again, I don’t agree about the “gassing” comment – I thought that was in poor taste.
And what “evil notions” of mine are you talking about anyway. Some of your “notions” are rather interesting, to say the least.
And finally, how dare you accuse me of “embracing sentiments that Hitler would embrace”. As a Jewish person, I take extreme offense on that one.
As this blog seems to support Robb Pearson and him telling people they think like Hitler, I will no longer be a part of this blog. Some people on this blog are too quick to compare people to HItler or call them Nazis – “Posting as Pinko” being a primary example who has unfairly time over time done it and then no one on this blog called her out. Now Robb Pearson is following her act in her apparent absence. Too bad for this blog – now known as the “Call People You Disagree With Nazis” blog.
And finally, Robb Pearson apparently thinks Mackie’s comments on this and other parts of this blog are just fine… Mackie’s comments are far more racist than anything Robb pointed out here in this thread. So that is very interesting…. Well, not worth staying here and being attacked by people like Robb Pearson – who likes to tell people they think like Hitler when they don’t.
According to the article…”Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because “no one else in the world would have that name.” He sounded surprised by all the controversy the dispute had generated.”
OK, Robb. Granted, there were some statements made that were harsh. Maybe people could have put them a different way. I don’t necessarily think the Campbells are going to commit evil acts, but am I supposed to believe that they just named their son Adolf Hitler because it sounded nice and unique? Am I supposed to take Mr. Campbell’s surprise at the controversy at face value?
The Campbells knew full well what they were doing in naming their son. They have continued this pattern with their other children. It is likely they welcome the controversy as it gives them a very public venue to air their belief system. I do not believe AT ALL that they will encourage their children to make their own decisions about whom to associate with. Repeatedly, they have branded their children with a life-long (that is, if they don’t change their names) reminder of Mommy and Daddy’s way of life.
In any case, just because Mr. Campbell says that he recently allowed people of mixed race to enter his home (how gracious of him), that does not mean he is not a racist. My own grandfather had “friends” and acquaintances of races/ethnicities different than his own, but would turn right around and tell racist jokes, use racial slurs, and espouse racist beliefs. When questioned about how he could feel this way when he had “friends” who were African-American, Latino, etc., he would simply say, “Well, not them, they’re different.”
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell’s racism speaks for itself eternally in the names of their children. Their protests now do not mean a thing to me. I feel sorry that his children have to bear the burden of this ridiculousness. With names like that, Mr. Campbell may not have to worry that children of other races will associate with them…especially as they reach their preteen and teen years. My wish is that his children will be able to somehow find their own path, though they have not been given a very good head start.
Thanks you Diversity Gal for saying it better than I was able to.
And yes, maybe my comments were a bit harsh. Still, to be called out in the manner I was based on a few comments – was definitely uncalled for. And highly insulting being that I happen to be Jewish. I don’t think my comments rose to the level that would qualify them for remarks like what Robb made. As DG pointed out – the Campbell’s obviously knew this would cause controversy, so they should expect comments like those to be made about them! And I do feel genuinely sorry for their children – as it is no fun to be picked on as a child, and these children will obviously endure all kinds of comments from their peers.
And finally, to those other Jewish people out there – as seen on the other thread – hope everyone has a Happy Chanukkah!
DiversityGal, you stated:
Are you kidding? If we are to accept the logic upon which you base your statement, then we are obligated to agree that the converse is equally true, i.e., that it does not mean he is a racist, either.
Do none of you see what the problem is here? Insofar as you disparage Mr. Campbell for whatever wrongs you believe him to have embraced, you actually end up practicing the very things you condemn: judgmentalism and hatred. Judgementalism via the way you have ingraciously labelled Mr. Campbell. Hatred by means of the wall and barrier of “us-them” distinctions you create as a result of your judgements.
All of which, if your assessment of Mr. Campbell is true, makes you in fact no different than Mr. Campbell.
Rightly or wrongly, we don’t get to decide who can or cannot have children. Were it left up to me, the standards would certainly be strict. If that is like Hitler, and it probably is, well…so be it. I am not going to get all in a snit over it.
I would probably have different benchmarks for who can and cannot. I would disallow people who couldn’t afford to provide basic necessities, people with extreme tempers, and people who shoved repressive religions down people’s throats. I would also prevent substance abusers, child molesters and wife-beaters from procreating.
Not Pinko, you might want to note that posting as pinko has not posted here for a while. She does not have time. So let’s not pick on those who are no longer participants on this blog. Also, the blog does not support or not support Robb. The blog is an inanimate object. Many contributers here support him. Some do not. Robb brings some interesting perspectives to the blog and that is his right to do so.
We welcome him, even when we do not agree with him because he always makes us think. Robb is also a person who can admit his faults, which is a rare commodity amongst people these days.
Not Pink, did you ever move out of your hell hole environment you groused about?
M-H
Funny, I saw people picked on here long after they were gone…. So as usual a different set of rules apply.
Also, Robb did not offer any apology in his follow-up note, even after I said I might have worded things a bit strongly. He just continues the tradition of several people on this blog who like to label people as Nazis. And continues in the tradition of never apologizing for calling people names – which is a frequent thing that happens here and often is applauded. Its nice to see after a passage of time that name calling still prevails on this blog and is allowed. (But name calling a regular poster who hasn’t been on for some time – not allowed).
Yes, I moved 2 months ago and am happy I’m out.
Anyway, I give up on this blog. No sense being where I’m not wanted, and name called as usual. Nothing new.
These are my reasons for posting the thread, I found the parents of these children disingenous in their “shocked” reaction to the subsequent comments once the names of their children became known. The article also states, in the previous year, he had been denied a cake request for a swastika. Now, having just read some of the comments, I would not go as far as to say they should be denied parenthood or be “gassed”. However, I have no doubt that the dad was raised to hate people who are not like him. He may say that he is going to be open his children having friends of all kinds, but I find that highly unlikely. Why, if you were serious in that endeavor, would you name your children such highly charged emotional names. Robb, I agree that one should not judge, but this story speaks to a broader dilemna, how do you combat hate when so many children are indoctrinated in their homes?
(rolling eyes) Yes Not Pink. We have continued to mention people who are no longer here. A few moderated people come to mind.
The big difference is, Pinko was not asked nor encouraged to leave, nor was she placed in moderation. That does not mean that she doesn’t give us a glance now and then when she has the time.
Now that you mention it, the administrators here would prefer that no one call anyone names. Does it happen? Sure. But it isn’t something we encourage or reward.
I wouldn’t worry about the Nazi label on this thread. It is about Nazi names. I believe I signed on as a who could have kids nazi. And for the record, I know I have no real say so. It was just conversation.
Why don’t you just engage in healthy debate over topics that are important to you rather than putting on the biggest victim hat? There is a lot of competition around here for that title. I think you would have a better time if you lost that poor me attitude. I think you are a smart guy and you often had some interesting ideas to throw into the mix, when you weren’t trying to do a group beat up.,
Glad you got moved. Did you get your house rented?
Oh Not Pinko….I forgot to tell you, I didn’t not allow you anything. It was simply a suggestion. * I* actually thought perhaps you werent aware that Pinko hasn’t posted for a while.
MH – no, my house is still trying to be rented. The real estate agent claims unless something can be done with the intense noise (nearly constant blasting of stereo during times that anyone would want to look at the house) and trash (on the deck of the house next door and tossed regularly into my backyard) it will be impossible to rent (or sell) my townhouse. So after 4 months of being advertised for rent, still it is unrented… They recently dropped the rent price to $1295/month from $1350/month too… Such is life, thanks to the lousy neighbors (10+ of them) in the townhouse on one side of me. While the townhouse was recently completed renovated – I should have put money into some kind of intense soundproofing, I guess. I pay the penalty in many ways thanks to these neighbors.
Anyway, on the plus side, the new place is a 10,000% improvement, which is no exaggeration. Finally can get 7+ hours of sleep a night, compared to less than 4 hours of steady sleep at the old place. And no police cars continuously riding by like at the old place, or actually stopping there frequently at the house next door. Quite a pleasure, as well as having neighbors who are actually friendly and greet you – compared to ones who don’t respond to greetings or give you icy stares. A world of difference, to say the least.
OK, you are right you just made a suggestion. But it is interesting that I posted something unrelated to race or ethnicity and still was given the Nazi term. And as usual, no apology by the poster – just more defense of why he thinks it is right to call it as such. I will agree the gassing comment was way over the top, but that was not my comment. Whatever, will let it go but it seems to me like history repeats itself. Not to mention things like one infamous former poster on here who went to great lengths to spoof one IP address I used and make many posts to make me look bad, and succeeded.
And no, I wasn’t really aware that PAP had not posted here in awhile. I wasn’t following threads closely and indeed had not noticed her absence.
I wish the contributors to this blog didn’t have any unneccessary distress over this sad weird story.
I think Pinko and Slowpoke were just repulsed by the news of this, and decided to use strong language to express it. I cringed at Slowpoke’s remark but understood it was hyperbole.
Robb, people are pretty sensitive to attack, and if we are going to be quick to condemn phrases even when we know there was no malicious intent, then there will be a lot of hurt feelings in a community that is trying to recover from a year of ugly partisanship and racial strife.
Maybe cut people some slack? Especially on these “news of the weird” threads?
Yes NGL, repulsed would be a good word for my reaction, and indeed I was just using strong language and hyperbole. You are right about people being sensitive to attack, and being attacked on something like this where everyone would agree it is apparent these people are just not good people, struck me as plain weird. There was indeed no malicious intent on what I said – I never meant to imply I actually advocated starting to go out and forcing people not to have children, or some such thing.
I haven’t followed all the nuances on here. It seems to me that we are just going to have to accept that we are all different. You know, I don’t much care much what people think. I can’t change that, regardless of what I say or do.
Not Pinko, I am glad your new place is working out for you. I too have been in a neighborhood that went to hell in a handbasket, but not recently. It is not fun. And it devalues your house. I would suggest getting another realtor. Try one who deals with investors and your house will get sold.
I am assuming you are using a proxy you share an IP address with someone who is undesirable?
I can’t remember the details there. I do not think it was you who got busted, but someone who was being abusive to you? As I recall, we were concerned that you were being harrassed and bullied? Am I remembering correctly?
I don’t want to rehash the whole thing with the IP address, but many people on this blog falsely accused me of being the abusive poster, when it was someone who intentionally was using the same IP address as me to make it look like me. It was posted as a FACT that I was the one doing it by more than just a few regular posters on this blog. Anyway, enough of that – I’m not terribly interested in rehashing that, other than to say I was very unfairly accused of things I did not do and various people posted that as “facts” when they were misinformed/misled/whatever. Also, my real IP address, which I did post from – was intentionally BLOCKED even from viewing this website – getting a “forbidden access” error – forcing me to use the proxy even just to VIEW this website – but also to post to it – which in turn led to the other poster purposely using the same proxy. Anyway, enough of that – let’s leave that in the past where hopefully it belongs. The frequent poster to this blog who really did it, he does not appear to post here anymore, as best as I can tell.
With the real estate agent – the deal with the new house was a “guaranteed lease” of my old house by a real estate agent and company hired by the builder. I do get paid regardless whether it rents or not, but while not rented still have to foot the bill for the electricity (and water – but no water is being used obviously). Also, the house is unoccupied which is not a great thing in my opinion given the crime situation in the neighborhood (and the fact that my house was broken into roughly a year ago).
So, I’m “stuck” with this real estate agent, but I have to agree with her – who would want to rent the house when EVERY time she has taken someone in there, loud music is blasting from the neighbor’s house – and trash from them is dumped in my back yard, etc. It doesn’t make for a very good situation. However, at least I’m out of there, and it is a night and day difference between the old neighborhood and new neighborhood. I don’t see ANY trash around here at all – not even cigarette buts – which were an annoyance but nothing compared to the broken glass and discarded food items, etc. that were strewn about in the old neighborhood.
Anyway, it is not the worst thing that the house isn’t being rented, but it does make me worry long term about unloading the place when I hope to sell it in a couple of years. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the idiots next door will finally move out (actually the idiot who owns the house and is renting it out to these 10+ other idiots). One can only hope…
Back to the topic at hand – I do think these people deserve any negative comments they get – they definitely are seeking attention. For one thing, they apparently went to the newspaper with this story, and for another – who asks for a swastika to be put on a birthday cake (or any cake). I went to college in Pennsylvania, and experienced people like these first hand. During my sophomore year, in my dorm was a guy who had a huge swastika hung up in his room, along with a picture of Hitler. In the common room when watching TV he’d constantly make negative remarks about Jews laced with expletives. I was too afraid to speak up and say anything, and he either did not know I was Jewish, or did not care. Actually, there was a fairly good percentage of Jewish people at this college (maybe 10%) so more than likely other Jewish people were present some of the time too. It is too bad someone didn’t speak up, but this guy was fairly intimidating looking as he was a big guy. So these people also being from Pennsylvania, near where this guy from college was also from, is somewhat interesting to me. Perhaps he is a relative of theirs? Anyway, having experienced this kind of person firsthand, I have a feeling they aren’t going to be teaching their children to be openminded, as they sort of try and claim. They are clearly racists, and highly deserving of any harsh comments that come their way. Unfortunately for their children, who don’t deserve this – they too will have to endure harsh comments if people know their full names. My thinking was these people don’t deserve to have children if they are going to saddle their children with names like those – and that’s what led to my comment that these people should not be allowed to have children. Anyway, that’s what I have to say about the whole “parents giving their children Nazi names” stuff.
Allana, I applauad every thing you said about 9-11, except one thing.
A message to All:
I do not think it was an attack on our “freedom”, as we are not under immediate invasion, and our freedom in every way you can define freedom is not going to disappear unless we are invaded and our government is overthrown, but the 9-11 attack was an attack on our nation’s leadership as a result of radical element’ political “vengeance” brought about by years of anger at the political manipulation of the Arab nations, by US political and economic interests, and our in-difference to their “grievances”. Those root causes of anger at the dominant world power have come back to haunt us (even though the American people believe we have never been anything but “just” and moral and lawful” in everything we have ever done to another nation or its people.) In truth (on occassion) our leaders of the past have been exploitive, arrogant and indifferent to the misery of others under political oppression, from either and both sides of the political viewpoint. We have also been just, moral and non-oppressive in other actions, only accountability for ritht and wrong and “truth” can make that proper assessment of leadership behaviors.
Politcal and social oppression, regardless of the source creates anger and hostility, that regardless of the overall morality of who is “most” moral, still creates wars and conflict from those hurt or negatively affected. Our reaction to 9-11 is just and necessary, but only if we target the people who are behind it, and the people who harm others, not the innocents who are also harmed as a result of warfare between nations.
We cannot solve this until we target only the “bad” people, NEVER harm the “good” people (innocent civilians) and consistantly and consistantly take actions that rarely harm “good individuals” in a nation. Unfortunately some of the bad people became bad, because of the way our nation’s armed forces treated them, and invaded their country without declaration of war, or without them attacking us first (the injustice of the pre-emptive strike). WE lost the doctrine of “speak softly and carry a big stick”, and morfed it into “hit anyone who MIGHT POSSIBLY hit you, even if they don’t, don’t plan to,or never did hit you first”. When you do that (pre-emptive strike) you go down the slippery slope of “crimes against humanity” without provocation or justice, if you harm anyone not associated with the 9-11 attack. Our modern political system cannot yet stop oppression and lawlessness (from any and all sources regardless of race, gender, religion or ethnic group), and we will as a result always find radicals and extremists willing to hurt us. It is the extremists we need to target, not the nations or the race, religion, gender or ethnicity. And we must hold individuals accountable (like Saddam) , rather than the entire nation of Iraq, or any other Arab nation, unless the leadership is corrupt and oppressive, then we target them and not the innocents. Often our economic interests are at odds with our moral and ethical interests and that is when our leaders make drastic strategic and political mistakes and blunders, that result in horrible and unjustifiable reactions like 9-11. If we want to have peace, we must solve the core “injustice” and hold the “individuals” responsible for this injustice (including presidents and dictators) accountable for the outcomes.
Freedom is the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the right to not live in fear of being oppressed. If you say that we feared being attacked again, then if that is your definition of “freedom” I can agree somewhat, but the main concept of freedom is the right to self govern, the right of the people to govern themselves and the right to speak out and stand up against oppressive governments. I saw less of this in 9-11, and more simply organized and criminal mafia-like vengeance in the name of a religion or “minority” religious belief that not everyone of the same religion shares.
Robb, even though you think it rare, I agree with you. We must look at the greater “immorality”. The greater and lessor harmed. Naming your children bad names though crazy, and lousy parenting is not as immoral as heinous acts of cruelty. In my opinion that is why we have law, to hold each “individual” accountable for “their” relative actions to harm others as you are pointing out about others even more hateful comments. Neither of these comparative acts is “good”, but they are also not the same “bad” as you clearly point out.
I also agree with “pinko’s” perspective, as it is very easy to twist another’s words into justifying your own viewpoint which many of you do very emotionally and will little regard for how your distortions affect the person who commented.
There can be “two” bads, not just good and bad, right and wrong, there can be lessor wrongs and greater wrongs, thus causing the emotional “side-taking” we see so commonly here.
That is the root of “illegal” and “legal” immigration distortion of people’s ords and points of view here. Some “illegals” are “lessor” bads, and some “illegals” are “greater” bads, but both are lawless. Neither are lawful or “legal”.
Not pinko. Well, your abuser was either at your office, in your home, or on a proxy. I can’t think of any other way an IP address could turn up on the same people. Also, we have no one under ‘blocked’ nor have we so that forbidden signal could not fro here. Maybe you have us confused with another blog.
The issue did come up though because someone who had the same IP address as you did was abusing you. Hopefully you will not have any more problems. Let me know if you do and I will research it again.
Now tell us, are you in PWC or did you go further away than that?
Alanna,
I think I know where you’re coming from. I’ve been there before. Or at least a place very similar.
I don’t agree 9-11 was an attack on our freedom. It was an attack on us, which isn’t really the same thing.
It was a precise and surgical strike meant to scar us psychologically and emotionally. It was also meant to provoke a reaction, but I’ll get to that later. Al Queda understands the power of symbols. Human beings invest emotionally and psychologically in their symbols and Al Queda wisely chose to use that ever so human trait against us. They identified three symbols in our country that most of us perceived to be indestructible. Shattering this perception magnified the effect of attacking these symbols. The symbols were:
1.The World Trade Center as a symbol of our economic power.
2.The Pentagon as a symbol of our military power.
3.The Capitol building as a symbol of our political power.
Al Queda would have gotten all 3 if not for the 30 minute takeoff delay on United Flight 93 and the heroism of those poor people who waged their desperate, lonely battle in the skies over Pennsylvania. May they rest in peace.
As devastating and as skillfully executed as the September 11th attacks were, Al Queda’s greatest genius was not in the actual attack itself. The genius was in the fact that Al Queda wanted us to react by invading and occupying Afghanistan, and we did exactly what they wanted. Osama Bin Laden also thought maybe we would invade and occupy Iraq. But he thought the odds were pretty long we would be that foolish. But, have mercy on us, we were that foolish, and handed them a staggering gift that they never dared even to hope for: an invasion of an Islamic country that meets the textbook requirement for a mandatory Jihad.
This is the genius sneering at us through the rubble on 9-11. This is why we should be afraid.
We have been led around by the nose into a ditch. And those who are led around by the nose, can just as easily be led off of a cliff as led into a ditch.
Why are we so easily led around? Perhaps because we’re convinced that we can’t be. But overconfidence is a surplus.
There are also deficits. We need to kneel down, and run our hands through the soil again. We’ve forgotten that we are of this earth. That pain is universal. That words, without blood, mean nothing.
This is an enemy that sees us (for the most part) much more clearly than we see them.
They will not have any mercy on us. And, God help us, we actually believe we don’t need any.
This isn’t about rules of engagement, geneva conventions, or who targets civilians. This is about survival. We don’t realize it yet.
Robb,
OK. So, in your eyes, I am guilty of being judgmental. Are you telling us that no one is ever allowed to say that someone else has made racist statements or committed racist acts? If we are never allowed to say the taboo word “racist” for fear of judging someone, than can we ever really have a conversation on the topic of racism?
Robb, if I remember your story correctly, it seems that you have made some radical changes in your own beliefs and/or actions. You seem to be proof that people can change. However, I do not think that everybody who says they are open to change really means it. While it is important to respect the capability for change, I do not think that we should be naive either.
I would like to hear your honest opinion of the Campbells and their beliefs after reading this article (and I am not suggesting that you believe everything you read). Do you feel that naming a child Adolf Hitler, in conjunction with naming another child Aryan Nation and asking for swastikas on cake, is an act of racism? Also, I would like to hear your suggestions for meaningful discussions of racism (I guess, minus the term) in the future.
MH – I can tell you that after some time on the blog, at my old house, which had a fixed IP address (Verizon FIOS) it started getting the “forbidden access” message when I went to http://www.antibvbl.net . The only way I COULD get to it from my old house (after some time, not at first) was via the proxy. That’s why I started to use the proxy, actually! I tried repeatedly to get to http://www.antibvbl.net and could not – even up until mid October right before I moved. No, I do NOT have you confused with another blog. Anyway, don’t care about that anymore. The other person figured out I was using the proxy, and then proceeded to use it too and then other regular posters accused me (and even recently one of them claimed it was me) who was making all these crazy posts to this blog. Anyway, that is history, but it is a true fact that if I were to go back to my old house, and connect to my FIOS account (if it were still active) I could not directly view this website. In any event, I’m not using the proxy anymore (as I don’t have to at the new house) and I doubt anyone could spoof this IP address (I hope).
Anyway, enough of all of that, but thank you for your concern about what happened on here earlier this year.
As to where I am, I’m a bit leery of giving out too much info after what happened. Before, for anyone reading my posts, I had exactly pinpointed where I was based on my talking about the old neighborhood and naming it, and also indicating where my house was physically located in it and giving a description of my neighbor’s deck which was (and still is) loaded up with old furniture they had no room for in their house.
However, I will say I’m somewhere in Gainesville, in a newer neighborhood there, and leave it at that. I actually already gave out enough info that someone clever could figure things out, because I listed the rental price of my old house, and someone clever could find it online for rent and still find me out. As someone pointed out just yesterday in another thread (twinad) it is very dangerous to do this on a blog. After what happened to me online here, I’m especially leery.
I actually would have liked to have moved to Loudon County or Fairfax County and be a bit closer to where I work – instead I actually extended my commute yet another 4 miles in each direction. But my wife wanted a large single family house and out here in Gainesville was the only place I could afford – especially given that I would have to rent out the townhouse and not be able to sell right away (at the time I bought there were two foreclosures – former flophouses – directly across the street from me going for $150K each).
Anyway, Gainesville is a world of difference from being within the city limits of Manassas in the old neighborhood, so like a 1000% improvement.
Getting back to the topic at hand: the Campbells – I am waiting for someone (not here on this blog specifically but anywhere) to suggest that them asking for swastikas on the cake was just asking for some kind of artwork. After all, the swastika symbol existed centuries before Hitler appropriated it and turned it into a symbol of hate. But in my opinion – they WERE asking to put a symbol of hate on their cake. Again, I would ask – why would ANYONE want a swastika on a birthday cake? Who would they invite to the birthday party? Did they think people invited to the party would like to eat a cake decorated with a swastika? What kind of friends do these people have (if they have any)? Actually, the swastika on the cake is mild compared to the names they picked for their children – if for the only reason they have saddled their children with names that will cause them to be ridiculed at school and other places as they grow up. It also strikes me as an act of defiance – that is they purposely give their children these names and are basically putting their beliefs “in your face” as it were. And their children were innocents in all of this, but now are going to be pulled in even more than they would have been to their parents’ crazy ideas. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they kept asking the store year after year for these cakes, with the idea that eventually they’d go for some crazy lawsuit saying the store discriminated against them. It is people like these who cause a lot of problems in our society – who want to seek attention and also are the cause of a lot of problems with our legal system (frivolous lawsuits).
MH: I’ll leave you with this other thought about the person using the same proxy as mine – he actually mentioned it specifically on this blog and identified it as the proxy I was using, so he sort of “outed” himself. Either that, or someone else figured it out too, but I think it was this particular person who no longer (it appears) posts here. Anyway, again I’m not really interested in rehashing this thing. It was made clear though that the other person was using the same proxy as me – so obviously not spoofing my home or work IP address.
And I’m going to change my userid on here to this one, now that I think about it.
DiversityGal . . . and to everyone . . . this is somewhat of a long post, but I hope you read it in its entirety.
You stated:
I would say you engaged in a moment of judgmentalism, inasmuch as you beheld Mr. Campbell through the terribly narrow lens of a newspaper article and disparaged his entire personage by labelling him a racist and inferring he was a liar. When we do such things we diminish our fellow human being, which ultimately diminishes us all. BUT, we have all been guilty of casting judgments (I myself was at one time hideously judgemental). The important thing is not to become angry or defensive when we are called out on it, but to seek to improve our course. That means we have to first and foremost embrace humility.
You further stated:
We absolutely can. Racism, as I’m sure you would agree, can be likened to an illness. We want to treat the illness and its cause, not beat and/or kill the patient for being sick. This means we have to embrace compassion, and wisdom.
You went on to state:
Yes, unfortunately there are those who are not genuine or truthful in their desire to change. However, I think it’s important that we not surrender too quickly to that fact, and instead be steadfast in our conviction that people have the will and the power to choose to transform. And then we must magnify that power in people, doing so not only in words but with our actions, and in the way we live our lives daily.
We are all noble creatures by virtue of the fact that we are all made “in the image of God” (to use a familiar religious metaphor). But when we give up too easily by grasping to the notion that it is naive to believe too much in people’s ability to change, then we fail our fellow man miserably. We must have faith, DiversityGal. And that faith requires that we embody the change we want to see in others.
Finally, you stated:
I’ll put it this way: I would never name my child Adolf Hitler or Aryan Nation. But then I wouldn’t name my kid Abraham Lincoln either.
But my honest opinion about the Campbell’s is this: they’d have done their children a far greater justice by giving them names that weren’t so historically charged with such dreadful connotation. I think it reflects very selfish decision-making on the part of the Campbells who seem to have an unhealthy interest in generating controversy.
As for their beliefs, I honestly cannot say because I do not know. There are perhaps a number of things that can be inferred from the article about the Campbell’s beliefs, however I never fully believe newspaper articles for one fundamental reason: they never tell the whole story, and even when they tell a part of the story they too frequently get it wrong and end up misleading. I know. I have quite a number of times been a victim of incomplete and poorly written newspaper articles which ended up getting my entire story all wrong.
But I’ll tell you what. One thing in the article stuck out to me, and it was this line: “[Mr. Campbell] said he was raised not to avoid people of other races but not to mix with them socially or romantically.”
That one line alone tells Mr. Campbell’s entire story where this issue of his purported racism is concerned.
And here’s why . . .
Everyone who has read the story of Mr. Campbell’s little boy being given the name of “Adolf Hitler Campbell” feels deep compassion for the little boy. Because we foresee the potential harm being done to the boy in social circles, and we fear the potential “racist” he could become as a result.
This means we recognize young Adolf Campbell was not born with the desire to engage in racism. It is something taught.
In the same way, we must likewise see the father, Heath Campbell, as the little boy he once was. Not born with racism in his heart, but (if assumptions are true) learning racism from those who raised and influenced him from childhood.
And we must ultimately regard him with the same compassion that we feel for his boy.
And that, DiversityGal, is the answer to how we have a meaningful discussion on racism.
It’s Christmas, and it’s Hannukah. For Christians, this season is the celebration of the expression of God’s grace toward a sinful and evil word which didn’t deserve grace. For Jews, this season celebrates the historical moment in the second century BCE where God’s temple was restored in Jerusalem after it was desecrated by foreign pagans.
There’s a simple lesson we can take from both holidays: let’s practice extraordinary grace toward others, especially toward those whom we may despise or not feel deserve our grace. And let’s root out those things which desecrate our own “inner temples”, and rededicate ourselves to healthier and holier ways of living.
To everyone, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hannukah.
Happy Holidays to you, too, Robb. Thanks for your post:)
Wonderful Post Robb, that is truly the deeper meaning behind this article, that racism is taught and that in order to help people move beyond division, we should show them compassion. Thanks for reminding us.
My FIRST and final impression of this situation was, the kid(s) is the one who is suffering (without a Birthday cake by trying to punish the parents).