Paris Peace Accords 23 Oct. 1991

Friday, January 31, 2014

The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World

Seen and heard on Ms. Theary C. Seng's Facebook accounts: 
www.facebook.com/theary.c.seng 


THE END OF MEMORY: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World (Miroslav Volf): "...exposing evil prevents or at least deters its perpetration. A notable feature evil is that it seeks to cloak itself with a mantle of goodness in order to hide its true nature; whenever possible, Satan will appear as the angel of light precisely because it enhances his satanic work."

Something for us Cambodians to think about vis-a-vis the Vietnamese issue / Vietnamization: "As victims seek to protect themselves, they are not immune to becoming perpetrators... Emil M. Comoran has observed, the great persecutors are often 'recruited among the martyrs not quite beheaded'... Victims will often become perpetrators precisely on account of their memories. It is because they remember past victimization that they feel justified in committing present violence. Or rather, it is because they remember their past victimization that they justify as rightful self protection what to most observers looks like violence born out of intolerance or even hatred. So easily does the protective shield of memory morph into a sword of violence." (Volf, 33)

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