Hindus denounce Pope for Being Offensive to Atheists

[Sophus]

When Ratzinger was 11 years old he had to join the Hitler Jugend in 1938. This was mandatory for all kids. When he was 18 years old (the war was nearly over), he deserted the army. I don't like the guy either, but I wouldn't call him a Nazi.

I agree, but still... having been in the Hitler Youth he should know better than anyone that Hitler was not an atheist. He knows he's telling a damned lie. It seems Ratzinger is so terrified of having anything negative equated with the Catholic church. That's why he's trying to cover up the pedo priests and that's why he's trying to cover up the fact that Hitler was a Roman Catholic.

[Tom62]

Where did you get that information from Tom? As someone said earlier, I would not put it past the church to falsify the past of it's leader, after all, we know they have no problem with covering things up.

It came from Ratzinger's own book "Aus meinem Leben (1927-1977)". The first part is absolutely true. In December 1936, a law was put in place that all children had to join the Hitler-Jugend. I didn't find any sources about whether or not he deserted from the army in 1945, but I give him the benefit of the doubt.

[karadan]

Where did you get that information from Tom? As someone said earlier, I would not put it past the church to falsify the past of it's leader, after all, we know they have no problem with covering things up.

It came from Ratzinger's own book "Aus meinem Leben (1927-1977)". The first part is absolutely true. In December 1936, a law was put in place that all children had to join the Hitler-Jugend. I didn't find any sources about whether or not he deserted from the army in 1945, but I give him the benefit of the doubt.

The other day, BBC news reported that he deserted the army.

[philosoraptor]

The law regarding the mandatory joining of the Hitler Youth is certainly true, however, a person's autobiography isn't exactly an unbiased source of information about their life.  

Did you guys know I cured cancer?  True story.  I'm telling you myself.  

[Thumpalumpacus]

When Ratzinger was 11 years old he had to join the Hitler Jugend in 1938. This was mandatory for all kids. When he was 18 years old (the war was nearly over), he deserted the army. I don't like the guy either, but I wouldn't call him a Nazi.

Actually, mandatory signup was decreed in 1941, when Ratty was 14,  according to this source. You're right that it was compulsory.  You're wrong in these details.

Additionally, I don't doubt he deserted.  Aside from what I looked into above [which may or may not be accurate, as Philosoraptor points out in her comment on Vatican accuracy], desertion in the Wehrmacht in 1945 was rather like fleas in Europe during the Plague.  However, desertion does not an anti-Nazi make.  Desertion in that timeframe rose to the very highest levels of government.  We ought not take the desertion of a youngling to signify anything more that the urge to survive.

[Tom62]

When Ratzinger was 11 years old he had to join the Hitler Jugend in 1938. This was mandatory for all kids. When he was 18 years old (the war was nearly over), he deserted the army. I don't like the guy either, but I wouldn't call him a Nazi.

Actually, mandatory signup was decreed in 1941, when Ratty was 14,  according to this source. You're right that it was compulsory.  You're wrong in these details.

Actually, the law was created in 1936 and was "tightened" in 1938. The Hitlerjugend was made up of the Hitlerjugend proper, for male youth ages 14â€"18; the younger boys' section Deutsches Jungvolk for ages 10â€"14; and the girls' section Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Youth. Ratty had to join Deutsches Jungvolk at the age of 11 in 1938 and the Hitlerjugend (proper) in 1941.

[Thumpalumpacus]

... and there you have it.

[necrobitsch]

When Ratzinger was 11 years old he had to join the Hitler Jugend in 1938. This was mandatory for all kids. When he was 18 years old (the war was nearly over), he deserted the army. I don't like the guy either, but I wouldn't call him a Nazi.

No, I wouldn't call him a Nazi for that either.

However, I'm prepared to call him a Nazi sympathiser, or at the very least a revisionist historian of the worst kind. I was at two of the demonstrations against him in London for an array of reasons, but as someone who's MA is in Modern History and International Relations the fact he's revoked the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson a known Holocaust Denier AND wants to beatify Pius XII makes me sick to my gut.

And as someone who was in the Hitler Youth and saw the firsthand brutality and ultimate futility of the Nazis, you'd think Ratfuck would try and take a proper stand against these horrors instead of just bulldozing over history.   :mad: )