NO!!! For a thousand and ones reasons no. I find this horrifically insulting…not on my behalf but on the behalf of all those I know who experienced Hitler’s horror. Comparing Planned Parenthood (not all of which perform abortions and in which most services performed are actually birth control, pap smears, and breast exams for women who can’t afford a doctor…but you know, facts, blech) to a place such as Auschwitz is not only unfair and inaccurate but diminishes the horrors that took place. When a PP clinic takes a set of twins, amputates arms, stitches them together to create a pair of conjoined twins…often without anesthetics, then you can compare them to a Death Camp. Though he is right, Hitler wasn’t Christian…but he claimed to be and he quoted scripture and used people’s devotion to the religion to gain power and execute his goals. He may not have been a Christian but he sure took advantage of mis-teachings to corrupt a nation of people.
Also, Liberals are not the only ones throwing Hitler comparisons around…Glen Beck has been doing it since the middle of 2009. Personally, I feel comparisons of any American to Hitler (with the exception of neo-Nazi’s and the Aryan Brotherhood because, well, they admit it) are not only inaccurate but also diminish the horrors committed by that bastard, they make it trivial…makes Hitler out to be less evil. Liberals do not admire dictators. Like all groups of people there are those on the fringe…most Liberals do not admire Mao. Most would agree that a big Liberal “hero” would be John Lennon…many believe his ideals the core of modern Liberalism. In his song, Revolution, he wrote: But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow. The point being made is that those who truly cling to a liberal doctrine would not admire such a man…those people are extremists. Like the ‘conservatives’ who bomb abortion clinics are extremists…they hijack the term to explain their twisted philosophies but in no way do they represent anywhere near the majority of the conservative philosophy. Liberals do not support dictators…at all. In fact, one of the things that angers us the most is the fact that the US government has not only supported dictators in the past but also took action to make sure the dictators they liked came to power. We object to supporting any and all dictators. If a person supports someone like Mao then they are an extremist and do not represent the values of the philosophy.
Next, it is not the fact that Israel exists that bothers Liberals…but instead how it was created. Land was stolen from its inhabitants and then gifted to another group of people. It, not surprisingly, resulted from British colonization attempts and was sanctioned by the UN. What we don’t like is that Palestinians are judged harshly for fighting the takeover of their land and continue to be judged for their anger. Want a comparison…it’s pretty much the same thing that we did to the aboriginal peoples of what is now the United States. The problem is that a third party decided the partition of a nation, which had done nothing wrong, without and against the will of its people. We may object to how it was created, and it was done in a pretty crappy way, but now that it exists we agree that a mutual peace…benefiting both parties…is the best course of action. With regards to that peace process, Israel is just as guilty as Palestine for failing to come to an agreement. I remember a few years back Palestine offered a cease fire if Israel ceased expanding settlements into the Palestinian region around the West Bank. What happened? Israel continued to expand into Palestinian territory.
Hitler’s control of the media in no way resembles the Fairness doctrine…how so…um because broadcasters who speak out against the government are not executed. How do I know we do not live in a dictatorial fascist media controlled society…because Beck, O’Reilly, Hannity and Coulter are still alive (and on the other side so are Maher, Cooper and Schultz). It is a fiction of history that Hitler disarmed the people actually, he relaxed the gun control laws of the previous administration. That being said the Jews were not applicable to these new laws relaxing the ownership of firearms because of the mass of discriminatory laws against them. The US has laws that apply to all not just a specific group of people (no one is saying that Christians no longer have the right to bear arms). Since US gun regulations, or rather proposed regulations…actually misconceptions of the proposed regulations…do not single out a group of persons to discriminate against then any comparison to gun regulations to Nazi policies is pure crap.
“Crack down on people of faith because they oppose his agenda”…ok, this one really pisses me off. First of all, as long as ‘people of faith’ are not being thrown in prison, tortured, or executed there can be no comparison…once again, trivializing the horrors of the Holocaust. Second, America was founded on democratic (that is democracy not the party) principles. We are supposed to be able to debate our differences. Why is it when I disagree with a conservative (at least some, not all…I do not believe in absolutes) I am persecuting them, cracking down on them, declaring war, etc. …and yet when a conservative disagrees with me it is just in the spirit of democracy? (Look, I am aware some on both sides are guilty of this…I am only speaking from my own experience at this point) The whole point of this government is to debate our differences…not run to the hills proclaiming persecution when people disagree with your viewpoint. Furthermore, when one uses speech to denigrate and dehumanize a group of individuals it IS hate speech.
OK, now the Muslim Brotherhood thing…first let us be very clear, not all Muslims are terrorists. So, Hitler had a Muslim SS decision…I am pretty sure a number of German Lutherans were SS as well…shall we denigrate all of them for the rest of the sects existence or do they get a pass because they are not brown? As far as sending weapons to Egypt (at least I am assuming that to what he is referring) I did not see many complaints when we were sending weapons to Mubarak. Nor do I hear anyone denigrating Reagan for doing the exact same thing with Saddam Hussein. Both Republican and Democratic administrations have provided aid and weapons to those with questionable purposes…no side is innocent in that endeavor and I am tired of the assumptions that it was all the fault of a single party…either Democrat or Republican.
“Use the word of God to convince people of the righteousness of their cause, just like liberal churches do today…” Um, ok, but don’t conservatives use that as well to promote their cause. What makes it right for a conservative to do so but not a liberal? If you really want to address this issue, most people of a faith use their religious doctrines to justify their actions and affirm the “righteousness” of their cause. This is not just a liberal thing and I fail to see how he can say that with a straight face when it is the CONSERVATIVE position that same-sex marriage should be illegal because it goes against the WILL OF GOD. Sorry, but it seems a little hypocritical to accuse liberals of having commonalities with Hitler for using their faith to support their beliefs (some liberals, not all) when a priority of an entire political party (Republican/conservative) does the exact same thing? Does it make it right that everyone uses their belief system in such a way…of course not…but you cannot denounce one while supporting the other. That is the very definition of hypocrisy.
In no way, shape, or form does Liberalism share the same goals and ideologies of Hitler. Liberals are not seeking to exterminate an entire race of people from the globe. Liberals are not seeking to imprison or execute those who disagree with our beliefs. A liberal’s goal is that of freedom and liberty…for all. We believe civil rights belong to all people regardless of their race, nationality, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Since Hitler had a program executing homosexuals I have a hard time believing he would side with us on that one. We believe that all people should have religious freedom…the ability to practice whatever religion they choose/ or don’t choose…we also refute the idea that one religion is superior to another and thus refuse legislation that favors a particular religious viewpoint.
This is something that is very personal to me. If Hitler had his way my husband wouldn’t exist and as a result neither would my children. I find it thoroughly insulting to the survivors of this period of time for any American to in anyway insinuate that their struggles are even remotely similar to those faced during Hitler’s reign. It diminishes the death and suffering of millions to equate our petty grievances and imagined sufferings to such events. It is an analogy in American politics that needs to die solely on the basis that it is no way near a realistic comparison. Until people in the US are being led by the millions to execution simply based on what they are…religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation…then no. single. person in America—on either side—today can claim that the opposing side is in any way resemblant to Hitler and his Nazi regime. And trust me, compared to being gay, colored, a Jew, a Slav, or Polish in Eastern Europe during that period of time our ‘imagined’ struggles here in America today are petty and insignificant.
Like I See Them 