Comments on: Discovery Institute Blames Methodists for Hitler

by: Daniel

Sat, 10 May 2008 18:19:37 +0000

arkonbey: Eugenics seems to be artificial selection.

by: Alex

Sat, 10 May 2008 16:20:28 +0000

Hitler’s motivation was purely racial. He wished to create the Volksgemeinschaft - the ideal racial community. If you want to point fingers and blame people for influencing Hitler, there’s a long line off disgusting racialists to choose over a brilliant man like Darwin. It is a harmful misrepresentation, and I hope people know enough history to dismiss it.

by: Ken Lowery

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:58:52 +0000

Parrot:

Sure. Hope I didn’t hijack the thread too badly.

by: arkonbey

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:38:29 +0000

What always stands out in ‘discussions’ that link Darwin with eugenics, is the fact that eugenics is not natural selection and is therefore not Darwinism. If anything, perhaps, eugenics is Mendel-ism.

by: Troy

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:01:34 +0000

In reality there is nothing wrong with eugenics, the problem occurs when it is governments and not parents who practice it.

by: Parrotlover77

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:38:17 +0000

Ken - Well, conceding on ANY GLBT point is a step in the right direction compared to many of the other very large protestant Christian groups that hate GLBT with such a fervor, it is absolutely frightening. I will certainly give them credit where credit is due. Hopefully as time goes on, they will continue this (socially) liberal trend and stop being scared to admit that “come as you are” really means “come as you are.”

BTW, thanks for showing up and participating!

by: Ken Lowery

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:36:25 +0000

Parrot:

I’m a UMer myself, which is (partially) how this post caught my eye.

The UMC is very schizophrenic about GLBT concerns right now, and after General Conference basically stalemated. Transgender clergy = OK. Pastors allowed to deny membership to GLBT people = also OK. Homophobia and heterosexism must be stamped out = OK. GLBT “lifestyle” is “incompatible with Christian teaching” = also OK. Schizo, like I said.

It’s a weird, dark, conflicted time. But the UMC doesn’t waste its time with stuff like ID.

by: Parrotlover77

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:30:32 +0000

Yea I gotta agree with Ken. It’s particularly interesting because not too long ago, I saw a TV commercial advertising the Methodists with their “come as you are” slogan and they showed two men and two women who looked stereotypically homosexual and despite the stereotypicalness of it, I thought it was encouraging that they were basically saying, even if you are gay, come as you are. But apparently, they aren’t QUITE to the level I gave them credit for yet.

by: Ken Lowery

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:43:56 +0000

Chuck:

“Gee, we’re sorry we condoned something that led to the killing of 6+ million people BECAUSE IT’S NOT WHAT JEBUS WOULD DO!”

For Christians, the teachings of Jesus is how one defines their morality; it is the “lens” through which they determine what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, to say “this is wrong because it goes against the teachings of Jesus” is identical to saying “because it was wrong.”

The non-mention of GLBT people killed by Hitler is indeed a grievous oversight. It’s an issue the UMC is currently tearing itself apart over.

by: Chuck

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:03:57 +0000

The DI will never have more than two neurons to rub together - they see the name “Darwin” and their lexicon only has one entry to match: “Darwin, Charles”. -_-

Anywho, the more interesting part of your post, for me, was the Methodists’ apology thingy.

It’s not like I was expecting any more from Jesus-mongers, even though they are the not-so-fundie kind, but I found their “apology” revolting.

They didn’t say, “Gee, we’re sorry we condoned something that led to the killing of 6 million people because it’s wrong.” No, they said “Gee, we’re sorry we condoned something that led to the killing of 6+ million people BECAUSE IT’S NOT WHAT JEBUS WOULD DO!”

Note the remaining discrimination in their rant about discriminatory killings:
Whine about the killing of disparate ethnic/racial groups (e.g., Jews, Poles, Romani)? Check.
Whine about the killing of mentally handicapped groups (i.e., people with M.R., which was probably the only diagnosis back then)? Check.

Fail to acknowledge that Hitler also used his policy to kill all the gays he could find? Check.

WWJD?

by: Parrotlover77

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:00:03 +0000

At first I was worried the Methodists were going the wrong direction. I was raised methodist and I have to say that they are one of the most “liberal” (in terms of liberty and in terms of Christianity) sects of Christianity out there, at least in the mainstream. They are generally low on the fire and brimstone, low on the guilt of original sin, and high on the maximizing human potential (through Jesus Christ, of course). They may have their faults — afterall, George W. Bush is one of them — but all in all, they are mostly non-fundie. In fact, many are fighting tooth and nail to disown Mr. Bush. Good for them.

by: Jason Failes

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:20:34 +0000

So the Methodists apologize for being one of the many Christian sects that supported Hitler & the holocaust….and the DI blames Darwin, somehow.

If they had brought out a 40-page, point-by-point analysis of Luther’s writings and the history of Bible-inspired anti-semitics…the DI would blame Darwin, somehow.

God Damn It, DI, if you’re going to try to be fake science, at least don’t make it so obvious by continuously attacking Darwin.

Evolution is not a problem for deists, nor for many religions, nor for many sects of Christians….so the only reason to attack that particular well-supported theory is if you are operating under the same particular assumptions and the same particular mythological delusions as AiG.

Sometimes I want to joint the DI, just so I can get their f—ing PR strategy straight. Lie consistently, assholes!