The current government of Turkey is not to blame for the Armenian genocide. In fact, Turkey is a whole different country from what it was then. And how many Turks who may have been involved in it are still alive? It would hardly make sense to try to start something like the Nuremberg war crimes trials, now would it?

Yes. The Armenian genocide happened. It is a black spot on Turkey's history and always will be. So is the Holocaust a black spot in Germany's history. Slavery is a blot on the history of the United States and the history of a whole bunch of other countries. The Inquisition in many European countries, particularly Spain and Italy. The wiping out of the entire Aztec and Mayan civilizations by European invaders. Not to mention the other native peoples in the Americas. The atrocities the Roman Empire visited on the rest of Europe and the Mid-East. How many civilizations did Alexander the Great crush?

If a person is leading a perfectly normal, productive life, gets along well with his or her neighbors, has many friends, and is generally regarded as a good citizen, would you condemn and vilify them because their grandfather was found to have been guilty of war crimes in a conflict that occurred nearly a century ago?

These things happened. They're horrible. They are a blot on the history of the human species and they should be remembered to remind us of the lengths we are capable of going if we let our reptilian brains take over and rule our behavior. Or if the reptilian brains of our national leaders take over and we allow them to push us into following them in their murderous insanity. Or if we fail to stop them.

The educational system of all countries should teach their students all of their history, the good, the bad, and the ugly, so they can be proud of their accomplishments, but at the same time, be humbled by the knowledge of where their country went wrong, so they can prevent it from happening again.

What is the point of this House Resolution now?

"Never forget!" Yes, never forget. But how long are we going to keep shoving it in the faces of the descendants of those who committed the atrocities when they—the descendents—had nothing to do with it themselves, and who, indeed, condemn those actions themselves?

What is the point!??

Don Firth