My ongoing journey through the Torah

How the intellectual climate in Germany shaped the future Führer.

Adolf Hitler

How the intellectual climate in Germany shaped the future Führer.

By Clive James

Posted Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, at 12:41 PM ET 

The following essay is adapted from Clive James’ Cultural Amnesia, a re-examination of intellectuals, artists, and thinkers who helped shape the 20^th century. Over the coming weeks, Slate will run an exclusive selection of these essays, going roughly from A to Z, abbreviated for these pages.

You have everything that I lack. You are forging the spiritual tools for the renewal of Germany. I am nothing but a drum and a master of ceremonies. Let’s cooperate!
—Adolf Hitler at the ­Juni-­Klub, spring 1922, as quoted in Jean Pierre Faye’s Langages totalitaires.

Adolf Hitler

 

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) should need no introduction. Statistics suggest, however, that a large proportion of young people now emerging from the educational systems of the Western democracies either don’t know who he was or have only a shaky idea of what he did. One of the drawbacks of liberal democracy is thus revealed: Included among its freedoms is the freedom to forget what once threatened its existence. Granted the uncontested opportunity to do so, Hitler would have devoted himself to eliminating every trace of free expression that came within his reach. The awkward question remains of whether, on his part, this propensity precluded any real interest in the humanities. The awkward answer must be that it didn’t.   Read more at Slate

We will never forget.

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FW: At Least Six Slain At Pa. Amish School

FW: At Least Six Slain At Pa. Amish School
"So far six confirmed dead and the helicopters are pulling into (Lancaster General Hospital) like crazy," Lancaster County Coroner G. Gary Kirchner said.Six people were dead after a gunman opened fire in a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday in Pennsylvania’s bucolic Lancaster County, the county coroner said. It was unclear if the shooter was among the six, but state police had said earlier that he had been killed at the school. Police said the situation is now under control.

Read more…

On Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, this happens :(  How can we ask G-d for forgiveness of the entire human race when someone is willing to kill children?  What in the world could the Amish be targeted for?  The Amish have got to be one of the most harmless groups of people on the planet!  They keep to themselves and offer help to strangers when needed.

The Amish remind me strongly of a group of people Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time saga known as the Tuatha’an:

Those sworn to the Way of the Leaf are a pacifistic group, pledging to do no violence. They believe that violence harms not only the victim, but the person who harms the victim.

The Way of the Leaf also means taking what must come, and the leaf is an example: "For the leaf lives its appointed time and does not struggle against the wind that carries it away. The leaf does no harm, and finally falls to nourish new leaves." Those sworn to the Way of the Leaf pledge not do violence, but are willing to accept if it comes upon them.

Some born to the Way of the Leaf have trouble accepting this lifestyle. For the most part, though, those who follow the Way of the Leaf are happy and at peace with themselves. Many find it difficult to see how anyone could follow the Way of the Leaf in a world filled with violence and troubles, but these people find it hard to believe people would choose to live any other way.

Despite the difficulties involved, it easy to envy those who follow the Way of the Leaf for the simplicity and peace with which they live their lives.

I’m very angry and I shouldn’t be on Yom Kippur but I am.

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FW Townhall: Surprise as America’s “most popular” religion

With all the recent talk about anti-Semitism, who would have thought that Jews would prove so popular?

A new Gallup Poll (released September 7, 2006) asked respondents how they felt about ten different religious groups, ranging from “Fundamentalist Christians” to “Atheists.” By every measure, Jews drew the most favorable reaction, with the highest “positive” rating (58%) and the lowest “negative” rating (only 4%). By contrast, Americans expressed decidedly mixed feelings about Mormons (with a net negative rating, 29% to 28%) and Muslims (30% to 26%). The least popular religious groups in the survey proved to be Atheists (an overwhelmingly negative 44% to 15% rating) and, most especially, Scientologists (a stunning 53% negative, to just 11% positive – thank you, Tom Cruise!).  Read more…

I couldn’t help smiling when I read the article but at the same time, I’m sad because it really shouldn’t make any difference what religion a person participates in as long as the religion is generally non-violent IMHO.

Why generally?  Well, there are always times when the members of the religion have to take on violent ways for survival.  Note that I’m not including the murder of innocents that groups like Hezbollah seem promote.

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