Really?: Pope Connects Atheisim and Nazis, Also He Was a Hitler Youth

Sometimes you see or read something that makes you stop in your tracks and ask "Really?", while tilting your head slightly and raising the pitch of your voice just a bit.

That happened to me today as I perused the ole' Google news section and came across this story, where Pope Benedict associated atheism and Nazis. The relevant quote:

"Even in our own lifetimes we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live.

"As we reflect on the sobering lessons of atheist extremism of the 20th century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society and thus a reductive vision of a person and his destiny."

I find this hilarious, because of all the prominent religious figures out there, Pope Benedict bears the unique distinction of having been a Hitler Youth. So in a sense, the Pope was a Nazi.

Now, I know that being in the Hitler Youth was mandatory of all German children, and it is wrong to use that association to paint the Pope as some kind of Nazi sympathizer. And that's kind of the point. To say that all atheists are evil and want to destroy the world simply because a few monsters in our history have not believed in a god is a faulty generalization. Let's not forget that it was Christians who used to burn women for being witches. By the Pope's logic, that means that all acts of violence against women are a result of there being too many Christians in the world.

There is also the problem that the Nazis weren't, strictly speaking, atheists. Much of Nazi ideology came out of Lutheranism, which you may recognize as a form of Christianity (the irony!). While some of the top leaders of the party may have been anti-religious, that's a far cry from saying that Nazis as a whole were atheists. More importantly, the notion of a "superior race" has a lot more in common with religious dogmas, whether it's the Jewish notion of being "The Chosen People" or the Christian idea that only those who believe in Jesus Christ and are born again will go to heaven. It doesn't take a big push for a group of people thinking they are morally superior to everyone else to begin thinking of themselves as a superior group (or race).

Mainly, I have a problem with these kind of comments because I find it personally insulting. I don't believe in a god, and I think Christianity is bunk. Yet I have managed not to commit atrocious acts of violence or abuse upon my fellow man. I also have numerous friends who are also atheists, and they are some of the most compassionate and caring people I know. The same cannot be said for those Catholic priests who either abused children or helped cover it up. I know this is somewhat of a cliche point to make now, but it irks me that a group of people who allow those kinds of things to happen have the gall to tell me I am morally askew. If you are going to persecute a whole group of people for their beliefs (or non-beliefs), you best make sure you are not caught in a double standard.