In "A German Lesson: the Fallacy of One True Path" by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (Los Angeles Times 2005), Goldhagen draws a controversial parallel between Pope Benedict XVI and Pre-WWII Germany. According to Goldhagen, although Pope Benedict XVI expresses great sensitivity to Jewish history and the Holocaust, he maintains that the only true religion is Catholicism and that followers of other religions are gravely misled. Just like Hitler believed the Aryan race was the only true race and that all others were somehow inferior, Pope Benedict XVI believes that one religion is true and that all others are inferior.
The parallel does not hold up entirely however, because Pope Benedict does not feel that non-Catholics are inferior humans, the way Hitler felt that Jews, for example, were inferior humans, but simply have inferior beliefs and must be brought to Catholicism. The fallacy is that neither Hitler nor Pope Benedict XVI ever explain why their "chosen path" is any better than another by saying more than that it is better because it is truer or something of that nature. The only backbone for the claim of a true path is circular logic, which is in itself fallacious.
In "A German Lesson: the Fallacy of One True Path" by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (Los Angeles Times 2005), Goldhagen draws a controversial parallel between Pope Benedict XVI and Pre-WWII Germany. According to Goldhagen, although Pope Benedict XVI expresses great sensitivity to Jewish history and the Holocaust, he maintains that the only true religion is Catholicism and that followers of other religions are gravely misled. Just like Hitler believed the Aryan race was the only true race and that all others were somehow inferior, Pope Benedict XVI believes that one religion is true and that all others are inferior. 
The parallel does not hold up entirely however, because Pope Benedict does not feel that non-Catholics are inferior humans, the way Hitler felt that Jews, for example, were inferior humans, but simply have inferior beliefs and must be brought to Catholicism. The fallacy is that neither Hitler nor Pope Benedict XVI ever explain why their "chosen path" is any better than another by saying more than that it is better because it is truer or something of that nature. The only backbone for the claim of a true path is circular logic, which is in itself fallacious.
1 comment:
Wow, I really like your idea that the parallel between Hitler and Benedict XVI is their beliefs about inferiority. I think everyone thinks that their beliefs are correct, but when they are intolerant of others' beliefs is when it becomes controversial.
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