Ratzinger Again

[liadnan]

Jeanne d'Arc makes the argument why Ratzinger's past in the Hitler Youth matters. One of the best posts I've seen on this. The comments are well worth reading as well.

(ETA: purely to collect together my own thoughts and half-thoughts on this:
I argued in a comments thread on AJHall's journal that one can't demand people be heroes, and linked it with my thoughts while watching The Downfall. I certainly think the child Ratzinger's moral position was far less ambiguous than that of the naive Traudl Junge.

Australienne replied that:

Personally, I think condemning Benedict XVI for the bare fact of his membership of the Hitler Youth is not particularly useful. By this I mean Ratzinger = ex-Hitler Youth = morally doubtful Pope. BUT: the fact that his experience growing up in a totalitarian dictatorship has not lead him to condemn authoritarianism and intolerance, but merely demand unquestioning allegiance to *his* set of absolutes, is something that does trouble me deeply. Dictatorship of Nazi Part? Bad. Dictatorship of relativism? Bad. Dictatorship of conservative priests unwilling to acknowledge global situations and dismiss a large number of fellow humans as intrinsically moral evil? Fine!

Which is a very good point, I think.)

Comments

[eccles.livejournal.com]

I don't think you can instantly condem a man just because he was once a member of Hitler youth. I would have to look at the guy as a whole before I did that. I guess you would have to really look at how his life influences his ethics and morals. I'm probably not the first to point out people like Schindler who were members of the Nazi party yet managed to be generally good. I'm not sure what my point is.