Pope Benedict Needs History Lessons
Ian Osborne
JREF Kid
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He ought to know better, considering he's a former member of the Hitler Youth...
merphie said:
Considering how Hitler kept saying he was sent by God, how he constantly attacked communism and Juddaism for being atheistic (go figure), and his belief in the supernatural, I think the Pope is pulling the old unprovable "secret athiesm" garbage Jedi Knight had years ago. Afer all, Hitler was raised Catholic, and he valued the Aryan Christian legacy of Germany. Benedict probably just thought the Nazis were atheist because they kicked him out of Hitler Youth over religious differences. This is a case of conviction over fact, and I'll bet he cites Table Talks to back him up, but no other source.
Let's not rule out two other possibilities: that Newsweek is wrong, or that merphie is.
As it turns out, merphie is wrong. The article in question can be found here.
First of all, the article does not deal with Ratzinger's first address as pope, although it does examine an address he made as a cardinal shortly before the death of Pope John Paul II. This is a minor mistake, however.
More important, what the article actually says is this:
It would be somewhat interesting to explore the claim "Full-blown Nazism was an atheistic and anti-Christian ideology" - it's certainly not an outlandish one - but we can safely leave the pope out of it for now.
As it turns out, merphie is wrong. The article in question can be found here.
First of all, the article does not deal with Ratzinger's first address as pope, although it does examine an address he made as a cardinal shortly before the death of Pope John Paul II. This is a minor mistake, however.
More important, what the article actually says is this:
Merphie mistakenly put these words in Benedict's mouth. The 2004 Concilium article quoted by Newsweek can be found here. It was not authored by Ratzinger as either cardinal or pope, but by Cambridge professor Janet Soskice and noted Italian historian Alberto Melloni.
It would be somewhat interesting to explore the claim "Full-blown Nazism was an atheistic and anti-Christian ideology" - it's certainly not an outlandish one - but we can safely leave the pope out of it for now.
Moon-Spinner
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We all make these kinds of mistakes, but it still irks me how so many people still try to connect Nazism and atheism, aarggh.
On a slightly related note, has anyone else noticed how Newsweek and USNews magazines seem to have a major cover story dealing with religion just about every month? Christianity in America, The rise of Religion, Finding the Real Jesus, The Battle over Evolution, etc... these seem to be hot topics for the writers of those magazines these days. Then again, this country does have an increasing problem with Fundamentalists trying to gain power, so I guess it's no surprise.
On a slightly related note, has anyone else noticed how Newsweek and USNews magazines seem to have a major cover story dealing with religion just about every month? Christianity in America, The rise of Religion, Finding the Real Jesus, The Battle over Evolution, etc... these seem to be hot topics for the writers of those magazines these days. Then again, this country does have an increasing problem with Fundamentalists trying to gain power, so I guess it's no surprise.
Why would science and scientific discovery function as a counterbalance to religion? They are not diametrically opposed.fowlsound said:
For that matter, how would news reporting about religious issues function as a counterbalance to news reporting about science issues?
Ian Osborne
JREF Kid
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How about a study in critical thinking? That's certainly diametrically opposed to religion, which is based on dogma and unquestioning belief in the unprovable...