Drake 53 Posted May 8, 2009 2). I mention his past as a joke. I'm sorry, but despite the fact that it is old, considering that the Conclave in which Popes are elected is Divinely Sactioned (according to us, you don't have to believe what we do) and the Almighty choose a guy who joined the party that hated Catholics (Hitler didn't go after the Church and Catholics directly, but many priests were arrested and put into concentration camps, not to mention the "blind devotion" that Catholicism calls for was frowned upon by the Nazis because it took "power" away from them because those people were focused on religion rather than the Nazi party.) I'm going to assume you're not Catholic because every single liberal Catholic I know still is bitter over the fact that we choose a former Hitler Youth member. .... Trust me, I'm Catholic and a history major. I always know what I'm saying when it comes to history. Time to use this crazy little thing that God likes to call "forgiveness." "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." -Luke 17:3,4 Keep in mind that perhaps the Pope had no choice in the matter. Following his fourteenth birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was enrolled in the Hitler Youth, as membership was required for all 14-year old German boys after December 1939, but was an unenthusiastic member and refused to attend meetings. His father was a bitter enemy of Nazism, believing it conflicted with the Catholic faith, according to biographer John L. Allen, Jr. In 1941, one of Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was killed by the Nazi regime in its campaign of eugenics. In 1943 while still in seminary, he was drafted at age 16 into the German anti-aircraft corps. Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry, but a subsequent illness precluded him from the usual rigours of military duty. As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household. As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the War in summer 1945. He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year. Catholic and history major, my ass. ;) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake 53 Posted May 8, 2009 Granted, the internet isn't a 100% reliable source of information. However, the Wikipedia people are usually steadfast in keeping information accurate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Winters 0 Posted May 9, 2009 Well, my speciality isn't the social programs of Nazi Germany, I tend to focus on the Allies... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Drake 53 Posted May 9, 2009 Perhaps a more balanced opinion would be called for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chickenman 9 Posted May 9, 2009 When I said all citizens were Nazis, I think I was confusing it with that Hitler Youth Thing. But I'm sure there was a long host of people who enrolled in the Nazi party because they had to. Not by choice. And I didn't realize you were joking. I can see that. It's just so endlessly parroted a piece of information that I felt like speaking up, lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chickenman 9 Posted August 5, 2010 "Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional." And so society marches just a few more steps out of the stone age. Congrats to the gays and gay-supporters, neiner-neiner to the homophobes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites