Since my last post we have taken up a profound case study in our reflections on the modern struggle between faith and doubt: the experience of anti-Semitism in Europe, leading up to the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel's Night dramatizes the issues before us.
In reflecting on the big historical picture, we have to think carefully about the link that has often been forged between religion and oppression. This will be a running theme in coming weeks as we also study Malcolm X and feminist criticism. There is no doubt that religion has been a force for good, but for many, its tendency towards hierarchy, conservatism, and even violence has been a significant instigator of doubt--especially in the modern period. We'll have to look into this. Maybe it's all too easy to cherry-pick the history of religion for its many crimes and foibles, but to what extent can we pin these troubling episodes on religion "itself"? We're dealing with a case in point right now: to what extent was/is anti-Semitism essential to the Christian message?
In discussing Night we will obviously want to pay close attention to the development/devolution of Wiesel's religious consciousness, as he recounts his experience in the text. As things progressively get worse, and especially as his comrades become radically dehumanized by the Nazis, Wiesel's questioning becomes more and more radical. Now one can argue that this questioning fits into the unique combination of faith and doubt that has often characterized Jewish religiosity (cf. Job's protest, for example), but we have to wonder: does Wiesel really have any faith left by the end of this ordeal? And in what?
This must be at least the tenth time I’m reading Night, and I get nightmares every single time I read it. In my view the most striking passage has to be the hanging of the young pipel,the “sad-eyed angel”. Unlike Job, Wiesel loses faith in God. Where is God? God is hanging in the gallows (Wiesel). I’m reminded of Freud’s claim that religion is the universal obsessive neurosis of mankind, Nietzsche’s proclamation that God is dead, and perhaps even Lewis’ fear: “The conclusion I dread is not, ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but, ‘So this is what god’s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.”However there is no denying that religion remains a thriving phenomenon. I can’t help but wonder - so what exactly is the appeal of religion?
ReplyDeleteCertainly we cannot pin all “troubling episodes” on religion itself. That would not be fair (although, what’s fair?). After all the first Commandment states “You shall have no other gods before Me”, which perhaps prohibits one from holding false beliefs about God, presumably in doing so then one is believing in a false God. But it’s interesting to contemplate the impacts of religion on mankind over the past few centuries. How many atrocities have been committed in the name of God? How many people can truly and sincerely believe that anti-Semitism has nothing to do with the Christian message?
Interestingly my brother was telling me about his trip to Eastern Europe, and he witnessed a (violent) protest with people holding banners that read “To hell with Christ-killers and homosexuals”. Kind of scary.
In class, we discussed the foundation of Anti-Semitism. We discussed that Anti-Semitism dates back to the Bible. I had never really thought about that until then. I started to wonder if there were other discriminations in the Bible that society picks up on. In my political science class, we have been discussing the "elite." It is no doubt in history and still today, white educated men have been the elite. I think this idea also existed in the Bible. Jesus' disciples were all educated white men. So, I have to wonder what good the Bible is doing. I think that it influenced some societal problems. Like Elie Wiesel, anyone being discriminated against is questioning God. Is the Bible doing more harm than good? I am not sure Anti-Semitism would exist without the Bible. I think the Bible has promoted a lot of doubts.
ReplyDeleteWell first off I want to comment on Angela's post. It blows my mind how people today (as your brother had seen in Eastern Europe)still have such hatred towards certain groups of people. With all the knowledge we have in the world today about different races,cultures,ect.., we still cannot wash away all of the hatred. Like today in class, Jess brought up how recent the holocaust was. It scares me to see that people still have the same anit-semetic thoughts as people from the time of Christ.
ReplyDeleteSecond I want to respond to what Emily has said. I believe although the Bible might have been a questionable source for such anti-semitism, racism and ect.. I don't necessarily think that the Bible is to blame for much of the damage created throughout history, i believe it is the different ignorant people who started the trends of anti-semitism. Like Lewis's theory on the moral law. People were created with free will, therefore a person can either chose be good or to be evil and it just so happens some ignorant people like, John in the new testament, had wrote such ignorant gospels in the Bible.
I feel that Elie Wisel's faith was forever changed after spending the first night in Aushwitiz. I do not believe his faith was shattered but most definitely it was altered for the worst. It says in the beginning of the book that he was very religious and studied Jewish mysticism and talmud everyday. He even cried when he prayed which showed his extreme devotion. I think his experiences during the Holocaust transfered his religious faith in essence to that of his Father. Instead of living for God it was almost as if he was living for his Father and that is what kept him going. It seems as though he still felt passion towards Judaism as he was slightly saddened by the absence of any religious ritual/ceremony after his fathers death. I think his faith isn't in Kabballah anymore, but more so in himself for surviving such a horrific experience.
ReplyDeleteThis is only my second time reading night. It was never assigned in any of my classes but I was curious to read it because everyone around me seemed to have, so I read it about six months ago. However by rereading it again I’m picturing all the scenes clearly in my head such as the evacuation of Elizer’s neighborhood in the beginning of the book. I agree with Jamie in that I believe that Wissel’s faith was definitely altered but for the better. Going along with our first class discussion, is it necessary to have doubt in order to have faith? In Night, Ellie Wiesel explains the struggle with his faith. I feel that his age of only 15 was another factor at the time of these horrific events. He is comming from a religious background and all of a sudden his life is changed forever. He witnessed many people being tortured and yet still praying and having faith. At the time he didn’t understand why having faith would make turn the situation around. He states “for the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify his name? The almighty, the eternal and terrible master of the universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank him for?” (Wiesel 33). Similar to Jamie, I believe that by experiencing the holocaust he experienced doubt. However at the same time he is observing other people in the same situation praying. Towards the end of the book he understands that by having faith you can continue to move on from bad experiences and believe that things will get better.
ReplyDeleteI think it is interesting how Job and Elie responded to their religion after facing their individual trials. Although Job might have asked God why he was being punished in such a manner, I don’t believe that he ever stopped believing in a just God who had his best intentions at heart. With Elie , I believe that very early on during his experiences he began to question if there is a God. I believe he even said something along the lines of There either isn’t a God or he isn’t a merciful God. By the end of book , I got the feeling that Elie still acknowledges that there is a God. However, he has discovered that God is not as merciful as he was taught through his childhood. He had given up believing in him as a figure who watches over him. I was trying to figure out why the two responded to similar situations in completely different ways. I've come to the conclusion that because Elie is so young he was unable to survive with a strengthened faith. Job was lucky to have a whole life time to develop his faith. Not only was Elie's faith still young , but his life was also. On the other hand , it's hard to imagine any amount of years or any amount of faith preparing someone for an experience like Elie's.
ReplyDeletePage 33: "They took our hair off with clippers, and shaved off all the hair on our bodies"
ReplyDeleteThis short sentence is just one of the many ways that the oppressed were dehumanized. I find it sad how today’s men and women serving in the military, as well men and women in prison have to endure the same act of dehumanization.
On another note, Jews weren’t the only people prosecuted during the Holocaust, and I often feel as if people forget about the fact that amongst other minority groups, Soviet civilians, homosexuals, Jehovah Witnesses, and persons with disabilities were all victims as well.
I think Wiesel has faith left but in a different aspect since the beginning of the memoir. He has lost all hope in humanity in a way because people are killing other people for no good reason what so ever. He finds it difficult sometimes that God has let his happen to innocent people. And believes that if there was a God then why let the Nazis be the one to kill innocent people. With his lost in humanity Wiesel gets a new found faith in the end of the memoir. He found that there is life after suffering, that we can move on. That is where he found his faith to move on in his life and keep with God.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Shantaya that Wiesel, unlike Job, lost faith in a good, just God. Wiesel still had faith in God at the end of the book. He believed that God existed, but he could no longer believe that God was merciful. In a way this is even more disheartening than losing belief in God altogether. If there is no God, at least human beings have some control over their lives and over what happens in the world. With an unjust, unmerciful God who won't step in when such atrocities occur in the world, how can we feel secure?
ReplyDeleteThis brings up another question about God. If God gave us free will and people do evil things, shouldn't a merciful God step in and protect God's people, especially God's chosen people?
Powerful comments here...I just want to highlight something Jess said: Jews were not the only ones caught up in the Holocaust. In addition to the groups she listed above, political dissenters and "gypsies" (the Roma people) were also targeted by the Nazis.
ReplyDeleteI've read Night before and I remember thinking I wasn't old enough to be reading this kind of thing, I was 13. Only 2 years younger than Elie when he was sent to the concentration camps. This time I have a hard time making myself realize that this actually happened, I feel like I'm reading a historical fiction a story similar to what happened but all of these specific things just could not be real. If I were in Elie's shoes I think I'd have the same faith as the faceless neighbor in the infirmary "I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people"(Weisel 81). This part in the book just made my stomach turn, at first I thought, How could someone say such a thing? and then I read it a few more times and realized ... why not? what did these people have? I just , I can't even wrap my mind around what they went through, and their behavior, how everything changed. By the end of the ordeal they were hardly human, physically and mentally. So What was the point of religion for them? Other then blaming something, I can't imagine being able to lean on God during all of it. I would be so angry like they were, so to answer the question, no. I don't think Elie had a shred of faith left, and I'm not sure if he regained any of his faith later in life, but as for immediately after they were liberated , surely not. And in the other posts Lewis' thoughts were quoted ‘So this is what god’s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.” If there was any faith I imagine it sounded something like that.
ReplyDeleteAs we discussed in class today, Wiesel may have questioned his faith, but in the end didn't lose faith. I think what Wiesel realized was that he could keep his faith in God, while questioning "Him". He may have also realized that his faith in God remained after the Holocaust, but his faith in mankind was in question.
ReplyDeleteWiesel was a man of great faith and devotion before the Holocaust and like most people it began to flicker, like a lightbulb. It starts out so bright and strong. It spreads the message if you will of light. Wiesel spread the message of the Jewish people. This faith was only somewhat altered when put under such duress that he couldn't understand what was going on and why God wasn't attempting to save them. He never actually stopped having faith. He questioned it.
ReplyDeleteAs modern believers we too cannot go around and preach what we believe until we ourselves have questioned those very concepts. We have to stop and think, "Is this what I believe?" and then and only then can we turn on our lightbulb and provide light for others.
It's hard to imagine Wiesel having any faith after what he went through. The god he worshiped so fervently--the god he thought was just and good--betrayed him in the end. He sees for himself, as he stands in front of that mirror at the end of the book, that God is not good. For what reason would a just god allow him to endure so much misery? That said, as Christina mentioned, I don't think he lost his faith; he simply began to question it. From what I gather in our class discussions, Wiesel remains devout to his heritage and culture, but he will never stop questioning. How could one do so after something like the Holocaust? As Christina mentioned, how can anyone subscribe to a set of beliefs without first questioning its authenticity? Does this really fit for me? Do I really believe this? I remember a discussion I had with a former co-worker a few years ago regarding her belief in God. I asked her if she was certain God existed. She said she absolutely did. But how can one be certain about a force as uncertain and as far from the realm of human perception as God, I replied? Even the word "God" is a human word used to fit sheer awesomeness into some form of understanding. She told me, "Go ahead, kill me right now. I know where I'm going." She had no doubt in her beliefs. It was flawless. As I would later find out, it was either her way or the highway. This is why I see Wiesel's experience as an example of true faith. He still believes but will never stop using his reason to guide him. On the other hand, I see my former co-worker's experience not as a sign of ultimate faith or dedication to God; I see it as brainwashed dogma.
ReplyDeleteTwo responses to earlier posts: First of all, I am a person who truly and sincerely believes that anti-semitism has nothing to do with the Christian message. The Christian message is that Jesus, God's son, died for ALL people so that we could be saved and go to heaven, because we are ALL sinful and deserve the death he suffered. pharisees, the heads of the Jewish community during the time when Jesus lived, did want him dead because they believed he was blaspheming when he said he was the Son of God. While people have twisted this fact, the Christian message makes it clear that those peole are no more guilty of Jesus' death than every other person who has every lived. People who say otherwise do not undertsand the Gospel message.
ReplyDeleteSecond of all, the other accusation that the Bible may be the root of other forms of discrimination such as an "elite" class of white, educated, men is founded in misinformed facts. Jesus' disciples were not all educated white men. They were a diverse group including tax collecters, who were wealthy but hated, societal leaders, and fisherman, who were at the bottom of the social ranking. This diversity encourages acceptance, which is the OPPOSITE of discrimination. While we have little time to study all the aspects of every issue we discuss, lets be wary of drawing conclusions on facts that we have not verified to be true.
Wiesel doesn't lose his faith in god but his own idea about what he considers god to be is altered greatly. He loses his faith in mankind. As we discussed in class Wiesel's faith in his relationship to god seems to be transferred to his relationship with his father and how important that becomes to his own survival. He relies on the strength that is drawn from this rather than the hope that his belief in god provided.
ReplyDeleteI simply believe that Wiesel did not loose faith in the existence of god, but he lost faith in the god he once knew, or thought he knew.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that throughout life, we as humans are allowed to question and change our ideas about god and the forces of a higher power.
If Wiesel does have any faith, its not shown. The last mention of an religious faith is at his father's death with him talking about the absence of this father's funeral ceremony. However, I do think that he does have something, maybe a small fraction of the faith his once had. Or perhaps his faith in God had changed to a faith in his survival. Hope that he would survive to the next meal. Perhaps his faith wasn't crushed but rather not thought of. Like for example, if you don't think about God does that make you an atheist? I think in Weisel's case he just wasn't thinking about God after his father's death but of survival. Afterwards however, I can only assume that he's views of religion is not what it used to be and that his view of God has changed drastically.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Carolina in that the last mention of religion was in his fathers death. How could a person bounce back from something like that without losing faith? I just take a look at my own life i realize if anything so extreme ever happened to my family like that i would have to seriously consider what i believe in if that higher power exists. I feel like said above his faith was changed to have faith in his survival. If he didnt have that from the begining he would have faded away into the masses probably to end up being killed but his will is what kept him and his father alive for that time. After his experience how could anything help him believe that there was a higher power up there looking down on him trying to make his life happy.
ReplyDeleteI also think that Weisel's questioning begins to shape his faith just like Moshe the Beedle talks about in the very beginning of "Night". His faith is less in the benevolent God and more in the questions which begin to hold more weight than anything else. Weisel continually goes back and fourth between stating his loss of faith completely and his need for God when he is most afraid. His fear in losing himself is very significant in his evolved faith in god. He must discover who he is through this incredibly terrifying, sort of coming of age story, in which everything he once knew is shattered and all things take on new meaning.
ReplyDeleteFaith in God ,and faith in a tomorrow is all Wiesel had to keep him moving toward the end of this book.I expected the loss of his father to be the end of his journey.Something mysteriously kept him hanging on for survival,and that thing is faith,faith in God.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Wiesel does have faith but it is not the faith that he had at the beginning of his autobiography. Mainly because in the beginning he describes himself as someone who studied the Talmud and was egger to learn more by studying the Kabbalah. But his faith was put to the extreme test when he was in the concentration camps and though it may not be the just God that he once believed in he still has faith that there is a God.
ReplyDeleteProf Herling, I never saw the comment you posted on October 16th, I knew I had forgotten something. On a differnt note, I've studied the Roma People, the gypsies, because in my 3rd grade journal i said I wanted to spend the rest of my life as a gypsy. Looking into the culture, and researching it on a college level I've realized how much oppression and prosecution the Roma people have gone through, and it is still happening today. I am still fascinated by the gypsy lifestyle, but I am not sure if it is something I can personally handle.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was writing my final paper I began wondering what Hitler's religion was. We all know he wanted to make the world pure of all of the evil people, as he saw it, but I had never really looked into whether he was acting becuase of a religion or something else. I looked around a little bit and found information on both sides but the one that struck me was an article from the "Freedom From Religion Foundation" website, which by the way is an interesting website, I encourage you to check it out. The author, Anne Nicol Gaylor writes that Hitler is acting because of his faith. She quotes from his book Mein Kampf "Therefore I am convinced that I am acting as an agent of our Creator. By fighting off the Jews, I am doing the Lord's work." I can not imagine someone believing so fully in something that they consider killing millions of people okay because it is "the Lord's work". I could never believe in a Lord so terrible, but some people do. That's what makes religion so scary for me, because people can justify everything they do and they do crazy things.
ReplyDelete