American Memory of the Second World War Versus American's Experience Essay

American Memory of the Second World War Versus American's Experience of the Second World War - Essay Example Yet the fact remains that the liberation of Jews and other such interests where not America’s primary concern in entering World War II. Despite the fact that we knew the extermination of Jews was ongoing, we largely stayed aloof from the conflict for some time, only entering reluctantly when attacked by Japan in 1941. Much of our national memory remembers the European front of the Second World War more than the Pacific front – this is where the liberation of concentration camps happened, and where the war’s principle villain, Adolf Hitler, lived and was slain. But the fact is, most of the Second World War was the Pacific front for America. We entered the Second World War on December 8th, 1941, after the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor (Roosevelt 187). From this point until D-Day in 1944, America fought exclusively a battle of self-defense turned offense against the Japanese in the Pacific, island hopping towards the eventual goal of reclaiming the Philippines and defeating the Japanese. We only entered into war with Germany because of an entanglement of alliances, where the Germans and Japanese had a mutual defense pact. This is not to say that Roosevelt was not eager to enter the Second World War, but rather than the American people were very reticent, and only entered due to an unprovoked attack, not out of some kind of humanitarian gesture. Some argue that we had only an incomplete understanding of the extermination happening in Germany, and that if we had known more fully action would have been swifter. But as of December 28, 1942, reporters already had firm numbers about the millions who were being slaughtered or shipped to concentration camps (Fry 194). The numbers reported were entirely insufficient to explore the horror being exacted: â€Å"In the city of Riga, Latvia, 8,000 Jews were killed in a single night† or â€Å"in the ghetto of Warsaw, in which 550,000 Jews once dwelt, there are today fewer than 50,000† (Fry 194). And reporters also knew that this massacre, or at least a pattern of violence, murder and intimidation, was ongoing for years before this. The reporter Varian Fry indicating that he learned as of â€Å"1938† that â€Å"the Nazi leaders openly encouraged burning of synagogues, the pillage of Jewish homes, and the murder of their inhabitants† (Fry 194). So either reporters were doing a miserable job communicating their knowledge to the public, or else the American public was simply not overly concerned with the wholesale massacre of the Jews in Europe. America did play an important role in World War II – but it was a reluctant one – the war America fought was mostly in the pacific, with only a year of combat actually on European soil. And though the heroism of American soldiers who risked their lives in the freeing of concentration camps must be commended, it is important to record documents such as these, and remember what actually occurred during t he Second World War – America stayed neutral far after most of the world had entered the fray, and far after it had become apparent

Inerrancy and Infallibility of the Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Inerrancy and Infallibility of the Bible - Essay Example Also, there are some who are only nominally members of these faiths, and although they may or may not have a faith in God, their belief in the truth of the scriptures may be incomplete or absent. Others are prepared to accept general truths such as that Jesus was a good man, but would find it much more difficult to accept that he was the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world. There are many misapprehensions. Many people believe that the Bible was written in a chronological way, but upon examination, this assumption falls flat. The epistles, especially those of Paul, for instance, were written down before the dates of the Gospels, yet follow them in modern Bibles. The minor prophets such as Malachi and Zephaniah are simply gathered together in order of size, rather than any chronological order. 1 When it comes to early books of the Bible it must be remembered that stories would have in the first instance been passed on by oral tradition i.e. passed on a word by word down the gene rations. Abraham did not carry stone tablets out of Ur. His story was written down much later. This does not take away or add to their validity as historical documents. According to the introduction to the Book of Genesis by Youngblood2, within the last 200 years Bible scholars have managed to distinguish 4 different threads within Genesis i.e. document U which include Yahweh , the personal name of God; E, Elohim , a generic name for god, D for a Deuteronomic source, and P for a priestly source. These scholars believe that the documents date from the 10th to the 5th century BC. So some later writer has brought together many different sources into a coherent whole. Thesis The Bible is not a history or scientific text and does not claim to be so. It is inspired by an infallible God, ( 2 Timothy 3 v 16)3 but put together by man, who is fallible. But because it is said to be inspired by God, as far as points necessary for salvation and man’s relationship with God the Bible is inf allible. Method This thesis will be explored by considering various Biblical passages as well as certain historical instances. The Bible Record. On this topic, Paul, writing in Ist Corinthians, one of the earlier New Testament documents, said:- We have not received the spirit of the World but the Spirit which is from God, that we may understand what God has given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.4 Not all the words in the Bible were recorded in written form immediately after the events they record. For instance Matthew 28 v 12 and 13 record how the Sanhedrin paid off the guard, instructing them to say that the disciples had stolen the body. The evangelist then adds in v 15 ‘This story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.’5 i.e. thus indicating a passage of sometime before the story was recorded. Nor was everything known recorded in the books now contained within the canon of scripture. After describing himself as an eye-witness to events by saying that he testifies to the things recorded John goes on to say:- Jesus did many other things as well.