|

Myth-Making vs Free Inquiry

By Bradley R. Smith ∙ August 15, 1993

Last updated on

Steamshovel Press published an article by me titled “Holocaust Revisionism: Myth or Free Inquiry.” It deals with director Oliver Stone, his film JFK, and spins off from a statement Stone made when he was accused of not following the historical record on the Kennedy assassination. Stone claims that he invented his own “myth” to counter the orthodox myth created by the State. I discuss the different values inherent in conscious myth making on the one hand and the discipline of free inquiry on the other, and argue against the former in favor of the latter. (A copy of that issue can be had from the publisher – 5927 Kingsbury, St. Louis, MO 63112 – for $3 postpaid.)

Author

  • Bradley R. Smith

    Bradley R. Smith was born in Los Angeles on February 18, 1930. At 18 he joined the army and in 1951 served with the infantry in Korea where he was twice wounded. After three decades of a variety of professional activities, it suddenly hit him: In 1979 he read a leaflet by Professor Robert Faurisson, "The Problem of the Gas Chambers." Then, Arthur Butz’s The Hoax of the Twentieth Century did it for him. He understood from the beginning that he would address the censorship, the suppression of independent thought, the taboo against publishing and debating revisionist arguments—not the arguments themselves. That has remained his position. In 1989, Smith founded Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust (CODOH) dedicated to defending free speech and free inquiry into the Holocaust question. He handed over CODOH's helm in late 2014. He passed away on his 86th birthday, February 18, 2016. Read a series of obituaries here.

    View all posts

Bibliographic information about this document: Smith's Report, no. 15 + 16, Summer 1993, pp. 22f.
Other contributors to this document: n/a
Editor’s comments: n/a

Similar Posts

Reviews of IHR Books Show Greater Acceptance of Revisionism

Books published by the Institute for Historical Review are gaining increasing acceptance, as indicated by reviews that have appeared in reputable journals and newspapers during the last several years. These respectful and often laudatory reviews show that the IHR is increasingly regarded as a legitimate publisher of serious works of history. Some highlights: How I…

Semi-Revisionism is Dead

In 2016, I wrote for CODOH critical expositions of the views of two men formerly prominent in Holocaust Revisionism, David Irving (“Talking Frankly about David Irving,” “David Irving is not the Embodiment of Holocaust Revisionism”) and Mark Weber (“Mark Weber: Squishy Semi-Revisionist Shirker” – Part One and Part Two), who now espouse what Robert Faurisson…

Exit the Whistleblower

Editor's remark: This document refers to a number of exhibits which we have scanned and combined into one PDF file which can be downloaded here. Introduction In late May I was dismissed as editor of the Journal of Historical Review and removed as treasurer of IHR’s parent corporation, the Legion for the Survival of Freedom….