...besides Sarah and I that the new pope is a former Hitler Youth?
I was listening to all the pope related coverage yesterday on NPR, and they had all of these representatives for Catholicism ranting and raving how they don't want a pope that follows the current fashion of times. You know, because we are all living in sin. They want a pope that is solid and stands for "what is right", not "what is right now".
Yeah, that worked like gangbusters. Way to go. It is plain to see from looking at Ratzinger's history that he totally doesn't bend to the times.
Oh, wait. No. That's not right. I mean, he did bend to the times, but those were Nazi times, but he promises not to bend to the times now. For reals.
No, it doesn't bother me that the new pope was a Hitler youth, considering that defiance of membership in that particular group resulted in death. Also, when he was drafted into the Nazi army, he immediately abandoned it, which was also punishable by death.
What does bother me is that NPR didn't point that out to you. It makes quite a bit of difference.
What say you?
No, I get that. I get that big time. And I understand that there was minimal "choice" involved with whether or not you would like to be a member of Hitler Youth.
And, it is important to keep in mind, that this post was minutes after the new pope was announced, so there is a certain level of shock factor.
But that doesn't change the facts dramatically. Of the plethora of valid candidates for pope, most of which have stunning credentials, why pick one that has a past that is marred like this? If simply for the initial shock value when you hear about it! It's shocking. Shocking! when you hear it for the first time. That's all I was saying.
Shocking!