From: ata@hfsi.uucp (John Ata - FSO)
Subject: Re: Will the -REAL- Christians please stand up?
Reply-To: ata@hfsi.UUCP (John Ata - FSO)
Organization: HFSI, McLean VA.
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 04:08:56 GMT

In article <1993Jan4.194127.16374@walter.bellcore.com> kenl@origami.cc.bellcore.com (Ken Lehner) writes:
>(Sorry, email to Brad Kepley of this post bounced)
>
>In article <1993Jan4.022547.24574@cs.unca.edu>, Brad Kepley wrote:
>|> >no one could be in any real doubt about what the Nazis intended
>|> 
>|> Well, now you're not just convicting the Vatican, but also all those people
>|> who supported the Nazis early (including men like Oswald Spengler), all 
>|> of the nations of Europe who cooperated and supported the Nazis because
>|> of their fear of the Bolshevics, and particularly Chamberlain but
>|> also Roosevelt and the Americans who opposed early entry into the war,
>|> as Jew killers. After all, as you point out:
>|> 
>|> >  Their anti-semitic program was on public
>|> >show early on.   The elimination of Jews from Germany was in Clause
>|> >5 of the 1920 Party program.
>|> 
>|> So all these people "wanted the Jews and Atheists killed" as you put
>|> it?
>
>I'd say that all those who actively supported the Nazis are guilty of
>supporting the mass murders they accomplished.  I'd also say that those who
>knew what was going on and did nothing are also guilty, but not to the same
>degree.  The latter includes the governments of England and the US.  (I heard
>that the Allies mounted a successful raid to save the Lippizaner stallions in
>Austria near the end of the war; no such attempt was made for concentration
>camp inmates...)
>
>I'm not sure which category the Catholic Church falls into.  It appears to me
>that they had the moral responsibility to do all they could to fight the Nazis,
>if they really were interested in being true to the teachings of Jesus (as I
>might understand them).  To do any less was hypocrisy.  The Vatican has
>consistently failed to act to protect those who could most benefit from the use
>of the unbelievable resources the Vatican has at its disposal.  What could the
>Vatican do in Somalia?  I mean REALLY do!  Having the Pope plead for peace
>isn't the answer I'm thinking of.
>
>|>   The Catholic Church is led by fallible men who make foreign policy
>|> mistakes and have many skeletons in their closets, and they can be 
>|> sanctimonious, just like others (I won't mentionany names). But who 
>|> hasn't made terrible mistakes, given a thousand years of history and rapidly
>|> changing moral values?
>
>As someone else pointed out, the Church is supposed to speak from the highest
>moral authority.  Of course, their leaders are human and make mistakes, but
>they never admit it.  They can't, because after that admission, all of their
>decisions and positions on all sorts of issues would be suspect:

This is of course not true.  The Church has admitted to error.
For an example of this, see the latest admission of error in the
Gallelio case which although is rather late for the poor
scientist, does rather disprove your claim that the Church will
never admit error for fear that they will never be believed again. 

>
>Raul Wallenberg, for one.  Let me know if you don't know his story (which may
>or may not be finished).  The minority of Poles who harbored Jews.  The Dutch
>who did the same.
>

There are individual stories of Christians and Catholics who also
acted heroically during this era.  See for example, the story of
Father Maxmillian Kolbe who traded his life for a concentration
camp victim.

-- 
John G. Ata - Technical Consultant | Internet:  ata@hfsi.com
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