Before anyone suggests anything inhumane about me, realize that this is meant as a rhetorical Q as much as anything, intended to initiate thought (where I feel some may be lacking).
Everyone knows what Hitler did and what he was trying to do. So I ask, what WAS "wrong" about it? Consider, he sacrificed many for what he felt was the good of many more. Also, he was most likely mentally insane. Should he be hated for something he had little or no control over? Moreover, what was in fact wrong about what he did? He thought and, apparently, honestly believed that cleansing a race was very noble and important. Who are we to say him doing something he believed very passionately in was wrong?
Most important thing to me about this is, WHY do you think/feel/react the way you do? I'll be happy to share my thoughts when answers stop coming in.
2007-07-09 08:29:47 · 24 answers · asked by randyken 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Very true, Irena, and your suggestion of exacting the vengence on him that we abhor, yet he subjected so many others to, to in fact sacrifice one to save many (while he sacrificed many to "save" many more, or so he apparently thought) seems to be an eye for an eye situation.
2007-07-09 08:51:43 · update #1
hitler was a monster that used the differences in people to label them as inferior or even a problem to the rest ... the same can be said of trying to label any group as the worlds main problem religeous or otherwise .. its a dangerous line of thought ...
2007-07-09 08:35:19 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Well, the "wrong" comes into play when we consider what the world holds for their general morals. It's wrong to kill people, it's wrong to be discriminatory against race, sexuality, religion, etc, things like that.
It may be true that he was mentally insane, but you have to realise that there's a stigma against insanity, as well. If he was insane, he should never have been in the position of power he was in, he should have been 'locked up' and given help. If he truly had no control over a mental illness that caused this, then I don't think he personally should be hated, but what he did, his actions should still be looked upon as they are.
Even if he was completely sane, and passionate about what he believed, he did things that were considered immoral to achieve it. It isn't condoned to do illegal or immoral things to follow your dreams, that's just that way society works.
I don't know that I have fully formed opinions on Hitler in a 'right/wrong' sense of the matter. I think that trying to create a 'master race' of healthy people, in theory, could be a good idea. To do it by killing so many people? I don't think that was a good way to go about it.
2007-07-09 15:41:18 · answer #2 · answered by Sara H 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
UFO made an excellent point here. The U.S. government was responsible for the attempted (and very nearly successful) genocide of American Indians over the span of 300+ years. This resulted in many more deaths than Hitler's attempted genocide of the Jews.
Personally, I don't object to the vilification of Hitler. But I do object to the fact that history doesn't mention U.S. presidents from George Washington through Teddy Roosevelt in the same breath with him. Killing is killing. Genocide is genocide. History is indeed written by the victors.
2007-07-09 16:31:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree that someone should not be hated for actions that come as a result of mental illness. However I dont think Hitler was insane. It takes a lot of intelligence and mental capacity to go from rags to riches like he did. I think he was a narcissist.
Anyway, I don't know him to hate him. I do hate the things he did for obvious reasons. I hate the fact that so many deaths came as a result of belief in superior and inferior races.
I guess I feel the way I do in part because I have heard comments about my brother who is blond/blue eyed. You know, comments about aryan this and that.
I think a scary mentality exists in the world. Today people hate Hitler, people will speak against the Nazi party. However no one speaks about the genocide that took place in the USA, and no one speaks about the Native American victims. Again people were victimized for the perceived greater good.
I believe that the media has helped turn people against Hitler because it serves a purpose - increased faith in the US Gov't, increased resistance to communism and socialism, etc. I am not making light of the atrocities committed by Hitler. I am simply saying that our media picks our enemies.
2007-07-09 15:34:43 · answer #4 · answered by ♨UFO♨ 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
He killed millions of civilians. That's awful, even if he was insane, which could be in question. Insane men who rape and murder should face justice just like a sane man who did the same. It doesn't excuse the actions or their intent. The Inquisitors were passionate about rooting out any other faith than Christianity and killing those people. They were evil, oppressive men whose hands were drenched in the blood of women, children, and other innocents. I'm sure they had 'good' intentions, but murder, torture and genocide are inexcusable in any situation. Sure, many folks have a knee-jerk reaction to Hitler and have never taken the time to consider whether he was as evil and he was made out to be, but there is very little to redeem him in the face of horrid atrocities he ordered upon innocent people.
2007-07-09 15:38:19 · answer #5 · answered by St. Toad 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Why want to erase a race he didn't put there himself.
He is a race too, would it be fare to erase him and whoever he believed in.
You can't erase a race. We all come different and we still don't know why some of us a white, black or Jews, Mexican or whatever.
It's like knowing who god is, which is still a mystery.
It like the scientist saying they know why there is black or white, and they will say it because they ate something and it change their skin color.
It shows that being white it's wrong and that all white should be eliminated out of the world, which is being said by an another race( Chinese, Japanese, black or India whoever beside white man) and he get lucky just like Hitler and every body listen to him, get the power to kill people just like Hitler did, WOULD YOU BE OKAY THAT THIS MAN WANT TO KILL OFF YOUR RACE JUST BECAUSE HE FEELS THAT IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO. You see you parent being killed and raped in front of you, or seeing you wife and kids being burn to death in front of you just because this person feels that he is doing the right thing.
COME ON DUDE IT'S NOT A GOOD LOOK. I don't wish this to anybody it just not fare, don't take what don't belong to you
2007-07-09 23:08:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your question is worth considering, and I do not see anything wrong in what you've asked or how.
Humanism isn't a bad guide. It's based on the idea that reason and compassion should be the cornerstones of any ethical system. Freedom and the value of human life are paramount in this creed. It is not a relativistic philosophy.
Hitler was the very antitheses of these virtues. He killed and enslaved. The degree of his passion, or faith in his unreasonable views are irrelevant. It is good to hold his followers to account to discourage similar repeated behaviors.
2007-07-09 15:41:16 · answer #7 · answered by Herodotus 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The whole...your rights end where other's begin.
Killing others to perpetuate a perfect race is wrong....
He should have bought an island...and moved there asking his other perfect race people to go with him....that would have been more humane.
Finally, insane or not...he was a terrible person...I believe all know the basics of right and wrong...even the mentally imbalanced.
2007-07-09 15:34:08 · answer #8 · answered by G.C. 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He was the type of human being that should have been exterminated, like some kind of rodent. Why do we exterminate rodents? Technically they're not doing anything wrong, but they bring disease, they're ugly to look at and just plain bug the hell out of us.
Ironically, this is what he thought of Jews. He was the very thing that he hated.
2007-07-09 15:44:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Regardless of mental illness or reasons behind such personal crusades, the man still wanted to take over Europe, and kill very jew along the way.
Thus he will remain infamous for his crimes against humanity.
Besides if you get to being a leader of a country you have to take a LOT of responsibility, it can't just be like "He can't be responsible for any of this, he was mentally ill, he took lots of stimulants, blah, blah, blah, the point is he gave a bunch of children machine guns and rocket launchers, on one of his good days, the only perfect race would be a race that is a mixture of all, like on that episode of southpark, "They took our Jobs!!!!!"
2007-07-09 15:36:18 · answer #10 · answered by Ian G 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋