(January 1, 2016 at 2:38 pm)abaris Wrote:(January 1, 2016 at 1:58 pm)TrueChristian Wrote: I suppose the holocaust, the culimination of 2000 years worth of Christian dehumanization of Jews, embarassed the Church into acknowleding the humanity of the Jewish people.
The Holocaust had much more to do with the idea of Eugenics and German nationalism, surfacing in the late 19th century than it had with the old clerical antisemitism. It had absolutely nothing to do with religion. In fact, the people calling the shots, went to great lengths to make it look a biological necessity. Bullshit, of course, but not rleigious bullshit.
True enough. Nazism was not a religious phenomena, even if it had religious people in it.
My point is that even if the RCC wasn't responsible for the holocaust, and even if Priests and nuns tried to hide Jewish refugees, the Church (and Christianity generally) helped pave the way for it by dehumanizing Jews for so long.
Even if the Nazi/eugenics ideology wasn't clerical, the clerical antisemitism helped Germans and others "Get on board" with it IMO.