Hello. Am I the only german here?

[DeistPaladin]

hey, i am always amazed of how all americans seem to keep track of their ancestors.
I know my dad is british, my mum`s austrian and somewere in the late 18th century my great great great great grandpa was a polish man who served in the austrian army, during the napoleonic wars. but that`s all i know

It's kind of a hobby and the stories are invariably interesting, since let's face it, what would drive people to uproot and travel all across the ocean to a completely new land? Usually, it's bound to be some kind of story about escape from war, economic calamity, escape from religious persecution, etc. Trial and suffering are usually the components of an "interesting story". Hence the old Chinese curse, "may you live in interesting times".

i dont mean any offence but, i learned at school (when i was at school) that the first settlers who came to "new england" were radical calvinists who had fled the war of the roses in great britain and wanted to found a fundermentalist state.

No offense taken. In fact, that's likely where a lot of our Protestant-based religious nuttery that we're currently fighting in this country comes from. Them and the Puritans.

The Catholics in America are generally the liberal ones.

oh i dont think things have changed that much. i believe our culture is simply different. i remember a american evangelical preacher coming to tour around germany and people hated him.
he protested infront of abortion-clinics by swearing and intimedating those who entered (in german culture that is considered a gross violation of someones private life), he made a preach-music-event in wich he preached "if hitler could get together so many people then i can to in the name of jesus" - number one rule in german social life NEVER compare yourself to hitler no matter how good or bad you intentions may be,

Holy shit.

You know, common sense should tell you as much, even if you know nothing of the culture. I studied German for four years under a native Prussian (she fled East Germany before the wall in Berlin came up), so I know a little about that. We read a German history text of the time "Die Zwolf Dunkle Jahre Deuteche Geschicte" (The Twelve Dark Years of German History). From what I gather, Germany has done well to honestly face that time. Better than we Americans have with our genocide of our Native Americans or history of slavery. All nations have their dark history that they need to be faced so, as they say, "never again".

and then he denied evolution wich we as a country who has a former scientist as chancelor and is very proud of it`s scientific faculties rejected. evangelical calvinism i believe simply doesnt fit into german culture.

Among many fundamentalist Christians who are Creationists, "Darwin" is often confused with "Social Darwinism". Many of them also think Hitler was an atheist, if you can believe that. You met one of these guys so you're probably aware.

[Something completely different]

No offense taken. In fact, that's likely where a lot of our Protestant-based religious nuttery that we're currently fighting in this country comes from. Them and the Puritans.

The Catholics in America are generally the liberal ones.

and there i find it strange, that here in europe the most religious, conservative, uneducated, unprogressive and poorest countries are those with a catholic population and catholic history such as spain, italy, portugal, poland and austria - the less influence rome has the better off that country is - one can see especialy in the cases of austria and poland how the decline of catholic influence has lead to those nations success - france on the other hand might be by mayority catholic but had it`s revolutions and napoleon aswell as the "code civil" wich was basicaly the first secular constitution in europe wich underlined that it was secular - in italy the south is poorer than the north and strangly enought more religious - and since most of northern italy was eighter a austrian or french colonie the influence of those secular nations can be clearly seen,
but those wich are more liberal, progressive, financialy successfull and more advanced in education and science are those nations wich use to be protestant such as germany, sweden, denmark, norway, united kingdom, and most strange of all the netherlands - the netherlands are strange - because they use to be a realy radical fundermentalist calvinist state - and now they have legal prostetution, pot and are in the top ten of the most atheist population.

so if in the usa being catholic stands for being liberal and being protestant stands for being conservative. well here in europe it`s the opposite.

You know, common sense should tell you as much, even if you know nothing of the culture. I studied German for four years under a native Prussian (she fled East Germany before the wall in Berlin came up), so I know a little about that. We read a German history text of the time "Die Zwolf Dunkle Jahre Deuteche Geschicte" (The Twelve Dark Years of German History). From what I gather, Germany has done well to honestly face that time. Better than we Americans have with our genocide of our Native Americans or history of slavery. All nations have their dark history that they need to be faced so, as they say, "never again".

well most f those germans who had to flee from germany during 1933-1945 and from east germany from 1949-1989 went to america.
unfortunatly i believe the ancestors of the speciment called Michele Bachmann is one of those examples.
how much our nation has learned from it`s history can be debated.
fact is we have writen our constitution in a way wich forbids any party to campain or claim power with a idiology wich wants to overthrough democracy and /or wich claims to have the absolute undenieable trought without evidence. - thereby forbidding left aswell as rightwing extremism aswell as religious political parties

Among many fundamentalist Christians who are Creationists, "Darwin" is often confused with "Social Darwinism". Many of them also think Hitler was an atheist, if you can believe that. You met one of these guys so you're probably aware.

well as a german who knows his history i can defenatly say that hitler was roman catholic and did actualy reject evolution. he actualy believed in racial differences created by god.
himmler believed atlantis was in the baltic sea and was created by god for a perfect arian race - but when they mixed races the city was sunk by god. he believed god created several races and god`s favorite race had to fight the others.
most historians agree that fashism originated within catholic europe.
and strangly enought even the catholic church in germany agrees and apologises, but outside of germany they tell a different story - as if we would never leave our country and didnt speak other languages

[DeistPaladin]

and there i find it strange, that here in europe the most religious, conservative, uneducated, unprogressive and poorest countries are those with a catholic population

Meh. Consider that every religion and even every denomination can be practiced differently in different countries. People always see what they want to in their god. To liberal Christians, Jesus was the kind rebel who cared for the poor. To conservative Christians, Jesus was a stern authoritarian who tells us to get right with his father. Why shouldn't denominations and sects be subject to modification by the local followers, just as a religion itself might be?

and catholic history such as spain, italy, portugal, poland and austria - the less influence rome has the better off that country is - one can see especialy in the cases of austria and poland how the decline of catholic influence has lead to those nations success -

You see the same thing in America. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the terms "red" and "blue" as it applies to American politics and culture. You see these colors on our election maps every four years.

"Red" or "red states" refers to areas of America, mostly the south or central western states. These are conservative areas, deeply religious, filled with myopic ignorant people chanting "USA! USA!" or "We're #1" even though they've likely never seen any other country. (how ironic that you might associate the color red with the far left). These are the states in our "Bible Belt".

"Blue" or "blue states" refers to more progressive, less religious areas of the country. Not surprisingly, these less religious areas are not only more educated but have a higher standard of living, fewer social problems, lower crime rates, etc.

most strange of all the netherlands - the netherlands are strange - because they use to be a realy radical fundermentalist calvinist state - and now they have legal prostetution, pot and are in the top ten of the most atheist population.

Here's hoping the Muslims don't ruin that paradise.

[Rev. Rye]

And even the catholic=liberal thing isn't necessarily too reliable. Catholics are strongly anti-abortion and anti-gay, but at least they see that the way the richest 1% is out of control. The problem is that the Evangelical protestants are even more anti-gay, anti-abortion, and pro-laissez faire capitalism.

[Rayaan]

Welcome to the forum.

I see that you have Kurt Godel in your avatar, one of the greatest logician and philosopher that ever lived. I find his ideas really interesting ... stuff like the incompleteness theorem, the limits of human intuition and mathematics, unprovability, self-reference, paradoxes, holes in logic ...

But, strangely, I heard that he eventually starved himself to death because he thought that someone was putting poison in his food.

[Minimalist]

But, strangely, I heard that he eventually starved himself to death because he thought that someone was putting poison in his food.

And he was a "logician?"

[Autumnlicious]

He suffered from mental illness later in life.

His death resulted when the only one who could feed him successfully was incapacitated for months and he starved.

[Rayaan]

Yeah, what Moros said.

In later life, Gödel suffered periods of mental instability and illness. He had an obsessive fear of being poisoned; he would eat only food that his wife, Adele, prepared for him. Late in 1977, Adele was hospitalized for six months and could no longer prepare Gödel's food. In her absence, he refused to eat, eventually starving to death. He weighed 65 pounds (approximately 30 kg) when he died. His death certificate reported that he died of "malnutrition and inanition caused by personality disturbance" in Princeton Hospital on January 14, 1978.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B..._and_death


"No great genius is without an admixture of madness." - Aristotle

[Norfolk And Chance]

I'm British but my Grandad was German, from Munster.

Welcome.

---

But, strangely, I heard that he eventually starved himself to death because he thought that someone was putting poison in his food.

Never has the saying been truer - "there is a fine line between genius and insanity".

[kılıç_mehmet]

I might be one of the few german speakers here, but I'm not German, but Turkish.