I didn't take it as anti-American, and I certainly value the German perspective on the question! I also don't happen to disagree with your conclusions, with the exception of the fact that a person who has been deluded into thinking their jingoism is a selfless act... whatever bullshit they were fed to make them think they are doing something noble, they are nevertheless taking an action they believe to be noble (the same applies to the people to whom the OP's friend was referring) because of the ideologies they had swallowed.
The fact that a Nazi was an expert on how to manipulate peoples' minds to fool them into perfoming "self-sacrificial" actions that happen to benefit those in power isn't a condemnation on those who bought it so much as a shining insight into how religions even form in the first place.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go help a whole bunch of my fellow Israelites wipe out the heathen Amalekites over the next hill. God said that they've rejected His Plan™, and are a threat to us, so it's okay to destroy them. Toodles!
The fact that a Nazi was an expert on how to manipulate peoples' minds to fool them into perfoming "self-sacrificial" actions that happen to benefit those in power isn't a condemnation on those who bought it so much as a shining insight into how religions even form in the first place.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go help a whole bunch of my fellow Israelites wipe out the heathen Amalekites over the next hill. God said that they've rejected His Plan™, and are a threat to us, so it's okay to destroy them. Toodles!
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
