https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57924885


“The show director of the Olympics opening ceremony has been dismissed, one day before the event is due to be held.

“Footage of Kentaro Kobayashi from the 1990s recently emerged in which he appears to be making jokes about the Holocaust.

“Japan's Olympic chief Seiko Hashimoto said the video ridiculed "painful facts of history".

“This latest scandal has seen former comedian Mr Kobayashi strongly criticised for a sketch he performed 23 years ago, in which he and another comedian pretend to be children's entertainers.

“In the sketch Mr Kobayashi turns to his colleague, referring to some paper dolls, saying they are "the ones from that time you said 'let's play the Holocaust'", according to AFP news agency.

“Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga described the comments as "outrageous and unacceptable", while Rabbi Abraham Cooper, of the US-based Holocaust research body Simon Wiesenthal Center, said: "Any person, no matter how creative, does not have the right to mock the victims of the Nazi genocide."


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Here is a recent thread by Steve Benson in which Steve states:

“J. Reuben Clark was a notorious Jew-hating, pro-Nazi, World War II-opposing First and Second Counselor in the Heber J. Grant Church Presidency. Among other odious acts, Clark was aware of the German concentration camps that were used to collect and gas Jews, but nonetheless hid information on that rancid reality from Grant.
…
“J. Reuben Clark gets BYU's law school named after him…”


For the full picture, see Steve’s thread here:

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2384501,2384501#msg-2384501


So the Olympic show director gets summarily fired for something objectionable he said 23 years ago. I’m sure some people think it’s a heavy price to pay for a remote comment. Multitudes will feel it’s a 100% stand your ground situation – iow, no quarter should be given when it comes to the absolute need to forever acknowledge the horrors of the Holocaust. What could ever be remotely humourous in it? One hint of denial is too much.

On another note, here in Canada historic names given to buildings and streets and schools and other venues are being re-thought, and changed, in light of the tragedies suffered by First Nations here (thousands of their children dying at government-mandated residential schools, loss of land and culture and traditional rights and frankly, government oppression). Too, many statues honouring past leaders and others are being removed from their places of honour and remembrance. This is because in our time it is being realized that severe injustices occurred in the settlement of this nation by newcomers and it is painful for Indigenous Peoples to see their oppressors being remembered and honoured when their actions brought untold pain to so many, with still ongoing present-day repercussions.

I think, and hope, that these actions will go some way to indicating that the current population recognizes the wrongs and is trying to make restitution in whichever ways are possible. This is a start. (Long time coming).

Discarding the names of concern, and finding new ones, is one significant way in which we can indicate that some people in the past aren't deserving of the honours they've received by keeping their names in the forefront in perpetuity.


Back to the Olympics, I have to say I don’t understand the director’s comment. Maybe you had to be there. Still, if you’re feeling the least inclination to joke about Nazis, get a grip on yourself. Just. Not. Funny. That shouldn’t even have to be said.

So. Re J. Reuben Clark. BYU. You’re up.