Just a disclaimer, I might not ever mention Plato’s Republic even ONCE in this post, so if you have high expectations for anything I might say about the oft-debated subject, sorry to disappoint.
Serj Tankian (the lead singer of System of a Down) recently released a solo album. One of the writers for Rolling Stone remarked, somewhat tiredly, that many of Tankian’s songs were, again, about the Armenian genocide. To some extent, I can appreciate the fatigue he feels, even with my common heritage. What has happened to the song-writing of System of a Down is the same thing that happens to many of us—in the course of life many become defined by their struggles; by calamity. An old friend shared in a Dostoevsky class that her parents’ divorce was perhaps the most defining feature of her character development. My grandfather can’t help but tell me stories from his time in World War II. Adam Levine of Maroon V keeps writing songs stemming from his failed romance with Jane. We are known by the scars.
The push to identify the Armenian genocide in those terms has been a long struggle drawing upon everything from art to politics. Bush has resisted the move to do so for reasons probably rooted in economics and diplomatic ties to Turkey—certainly one of the few allies the US has in the Middle East. But any relationship that asks for blindness to such offense can only have disastrous consequences. In his biography, Black Dog of Fate, Peter Balakian writes
“I return to the Genocide and its long aftermath. How is an Armenian to live with the predicament of Turkish denial? How is one to heal? Will genocide denial implode the victims, and the descendants of the victims? Can any victim consummate his relationship with the past without the perpetrators confirmation of wrongdoing? Can there be forgiveness without apology, without some acts or gestures toward justice?…When the past remains unacknowledged, some people will vent their madness in wanton violence, and resolve nothing…
If the perpetrator government stalks the victims in an effort to prevent the victims’ acts of commemoration, there can be no full healing. The victim culture is held hostage in a wilderness of grief and rage, and is shut out of its moral place in history.”
This is why Tankian is still singing about the same things. This is part of the “Why,” in fact, for many people who have gone through such scarring experiences. It is difficult, however. These questions are all legitimate. Balakian WANTS to forgive. He wants reconciliation. He might empathize with the character in “American History X” who says, “Life is too short to be pissed off.” He recognizes that forgiveness is needed NOT because those who murdered his grandparents deserve it, but because his freedom and peace is on the other side. Sure, there are some who prefer revenge to renewal, perhaps because it’s easier and offers a perverted kind of emotional consolation. Anger feels safer than grief. The government of Turkey resists apologizing not only because they might be too proud and still hate the Armenians (aren’t we naturally inclined hate all things that make us look bad?), but because it’s easier for them to defy the world than to face that awful specter of shame. And what shame it is. Paul makes an important distinction between the sorrow that brings repentance and the sorrow that brings despair. If Turkey is to face their past, some might likely fall into a paralyzing despair and sorrow and not re-emerge. I would venture to say that many are ready to forgive them, and there is healing there. But the greatest obstacle facing them, as well as all perpretrators, is that no one can receive forgiveness and healing without the grace of God to battle the incessant self-condemnation.
I am not sure if Turkey will ever recognize the genocide as the crime its victims (and much of the international community) know it to be—I’m not sure if the largely Muslim culture can allow for that level of humility and introspection. I would like to note that, even though we keep making movies and video games about World War II, Germany has been, more or less, taken back into the fold, and doesn’t feign the same ignorance about the Jews that is given to the Armenians, nor do they threaten anyone who speaks of the holocaust. I imagine that a cultural heritage which includes several centuries of Christianity probably has something to do with it.
Posted by The Grand Inquisitor 
Posted by The Grand Inquisitor 