# Why did Belgium honour a genocidal mass murderer **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 31, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697 "2016-03-31T04:50:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/1 "2016-03-31T04:50:01Z")
They have an order named after Leopold II, honouring peoples civic service? Rather ironic isn’t it, the guy responsible for murdering between 10-15 million Congolese (worse than Hitler?) is remembered for his public service?:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/2 "2016-03-31T04:55:39Z")
Because you would be hard-pressed to find people who care about the murder of 10-15 million Africans that happened prior to WWII? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/3 "2016-03-31T05:07:05Z")
Well that and it was created by ol’ Leopold II himself. ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/4 "2016-03-31T05:12:30Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Well that and it was created by ol’ Leopold II himself. And he is forcing them from beyond the grave, to continue the order into the modern day.:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/5 "2016-03-31T05:20:11Z")
I hate to tell you, but it wouldn’t be the only order or honor named after a total bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/6 "2016-03-31T05:20:33Z")
Countries don’t usually abjure their pasts unless they’re forced to. Shame is for losers. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/7 "2016-03-31T05:20:36Z")
Why does the US still have Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, if it comes to that? Plenty of people are not very happy with **his** human-rights record either. Tradition and inertia account for a lot of things. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/8 "2016-03-31T05:28:41Z")
I’m not really a fan of orders of merit and such, but the point of an order of merit is not to honour the person after whom it is named, but to honour the people upon whom it is conferred. The name of the order reflects the fact that Leopold, who was King of the Congo Free State at the time, founded it. They could rename it, certainly, but is there any need? Nobody imagines that the [Order of the Garter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Garter) exists to honour garters, or the [Order of the Thistle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Thistle) to honour thistles, or that the [Order of the Golden Fleece](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Golden_Fleece) celebrates sheepskins. ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/9 "2016-03-31T05:29:53Z")
Well maybe karma is finally coming around for the Belgians. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/10 "2016-03-31T05:31:31Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > Well maybe karma is finally coming around for the Belgians. Niiiiiiiiice, dude. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/11 "2016-03-31T05:34:14Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Niiiiiiiiice, dude. :rolleyes: Fuuuuuuuuuck off, dude.:rolleyes: No one is forcing your clown ass to participate in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/12 "2016-03-31T05:38:32Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > Fuuuuuuuuuck off, dude.:rolleyes: No one is forcing your clown ass to participate in this thread. New around here, are you? Or did you just temporarily forget what forum you’re in? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/13 "2016-03-31T05:41:53Z")
**Moderating \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_** > [@Longshanks](#): > > Fuuuuuuuuuck off, dude.:rolleyes: No one is forcing your clown ass to participate in this thread. This is a Warning to leave the personal insults for The BBQ Pit. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/14 "2016-03-31T05:45:48Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > **Moderating > \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_** > This is a Warning to leave the personal insults for The BBQ Pit. > > [/Moderating] No room for a bit of lively debate here? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/15 "2016-03-31T05:52:55Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > No room for a bit of lively debate here? :dubious: Says the guy who’s apparently so thin-skinned that even a mild objection to his extremely distasteful gloating over a terrorist massacre provokes him to angry obscenities. The first requirement of actual “lively debate”, at least around here, is being able to keep your temper and a reasonably civil tongue in your head. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/16 "2016-03-31T05:55:18Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > No room for a bit of lively debate here? Lively debate does not include telling other posters to “fuck off.” Lively debate includes presenting facts and logic to make a point. If you would prefer, I can move this thread to The BBQ Pit for you. ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/17 "2016-03-31T05:56:06Z")
Well when I see people like you writing of the actions of people like him, and then you also cry about a couple dozen white Belgians that were killed, I wonder why the difference in feelings? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/18 "2016-03-31T05:56:24Z")
**Kimstu** , we really do not need any examples of junior modding, here. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/19 "2016-03-31T05:58:35Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > **Kimstu** , we really do not need any examples of junior modding, here. > > [/Moderating] No, we don’t. My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697/20 "2016-03-31T06:03:52Z")
> [@Longshanks](#): > > Well when I see people like you writing of the actions of people like him, and then you also cry about a couple dozen white Belgians that were killed, I wonder why the difference in feelings? Who’s “writing off” the atrocities committed by Leopold? Where did I or anyone else suggest that the crimes he committed were NBD? All I did was point out that it’s fairly typical for nations to ignore or gloss over crimes perpetrated by their leaders a long time ago. If you want to encourage greater empathy for the victims of brutal crimes committed over a century ago, I don’t think gloating over the victims of brutal crimes committed just last week is the way to go about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-belgium-honour-a-genocidal-mass-murderer/750697.md?page=2)