"How evil are people? Evil enough for a righteous God to send them to Hell if they do not seek redemption for their sin.
Why don't we see it? Why didn't the death camp nazis see what they did as being evil? Because their 'morality' justified their actions, just like your 'morality' tells you and everyone else is basically a 'good' person."
You want to go there? Really? OK.
The death camp Nazi's were almost entirely Christian. They were used to following the instructions of a dictator having been immersed in Christianity from birth. That dictator did appalling things whilst claiming to be a loving God. With that kind of background switching God for Hitler and following the instruction to turn on the gas taps was a breeze.
The trick the bible uses, in God's name, is the same at that used by any dictatorship - dehumanize the enemy. If you can convince your followers that the enemy is evil, inhuman, performing unnatural acts, cavorting with the devil or denying your God it appears to be worryingly easy.
People as individuals are rarely evil (except for psychotics and the like). People only ever get truly evil when acting in the name of something. That might be a political philosophy or ideology, it might be a religion or something else. Even then it usually additionally requires a group mentality with concordant peer pressure and so on.
Why don't we see it? Why didn't the death camp nazis see what they did as being evil? Because their 'morality' justified their actions, just like your 'morality' tells you and everyone else is basically a 'good' person."
You want to go there? Really? OK.
The death camp Nazi's were almost entirely Christian. They were used to following the instructions of a dictator having been immersed in Christianity from birth. That dictator did appalling things whilst claiming to be a loving God. With that kind of background switching God for Hitler and following the instruction to turn on the gas taps was a breeze.
The trick the bible uses, in God's name, is the same at that used by any dictatorship - dehumanize the enemy. If you can convince your followers that the enemy is evil, inhuman, performing unnatural acts, cavorting with the devil or denying your God it appears to be worryingly easy.
People as individuals are rarely evil (except for psychotics and the like). People only ever get truly evil when acting in the name of something. That might be a political philosophy or ideology, it might be a religion or something else. Even then it usually additionally requires a group mentality with concordant peer pressure and so on.
