Hi Fred, I read your comments to my post, your reference and other material on the subject of Hitler and the III Reich, and their relation to the Pope. Here are my thoughts.
Point I: The Wikipedia and other materials do not contradict the information given to me by the German-Americans. Hitler brought political stability to Germany. Yes, he did / had to introduce "strict measures" to bring the existing chaos to an end. Given the continuing instability of prior governments, the Law & Order that Hitler brought was a respite to the people. I am not defending the Nazis. I am just reporting the facts. You are perhaps viewing the Third Reich history with moral judgement, hindsight and what you would have liked to see, rather than the facts as the majority of native Germans of the period saw it. The fact that during a period of chaos, instability, and widespread corruption, a dictatorship is a PREFERRED OPTION of the populace is demonstrated across ages and in many countries. We saw this in right wing dictatorships of Hitler, Salazar, Khomeini and the many military dictatorships of Pakistan. The same is seen on the left with the initial popularity of Lenin, Mao and Fidel Castro. It is true that these dictatorships end political discourse and elections. But as a fair reading of historical events, we have to admit that often people during a period of significant or sustained uncertainty and economic chaos, prefer to trade peace and prosperity for freedom. We see this happening even today. Of course, dictators of both shades outlive their welcome and then LATER, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The economic progress of the Third Reich was demonstrated by building of the autobahns, the industrialization of the country, elimination of corruption and inflation with end to labor strife. Once again, I am reporting the facts. I am not claiming that the end justifies the means. Point II: When a government comes to power in any part of the world, other countries including the Vatican have to deal with it and make the best of the situation. The Vatican does not bring or maintain a government (right or left wing) in power and does not the have the ability to bring them down. This was demonstrated more vividly by the communist governments in Rome, Italy. The Catholic Church is unable to change the government's policies even in Christian countries without being accused of "interfering". (See abortions; immigration policy in USA, etc). I am afraid what you and Cornel may be doing is adopting the principle of "Guilt by Association". If we were Vietnamese, we would accuse the Vatican of colluding in the Vietnam war. And if we were Arab, we would accuse the Vatican of the same in the current American-British war in the Mid-East. Is Cornel analyzing history or is his post a reflection of his well-known anti-Catholic bias? Regards, GL _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
