Nazis

I am a 50+ year old white male, a Christian, and a Conservative. I have voted Republican in every election of my life, but I've astounded many of my friends with positive comments about Democrats. My belief is, and has been, that our country is better with a periodic switch from one political perspective to the other. Those who know me, know that I have positive things to say about, and genuine respect for, both President Clinton and President Obama, though I voted for neither. In the last few decades, I find that I am increasingly disturbed by the practice of abortion, and I could never consider any Pro-Choice candidate. This makes my ballot profoundly Republican.

As an older white, male, Conservative, Pro-Life, Christian, I've come to realize that many Liberals are not reluctant to liken me, and many of my friends, to the Nazis. As stated below, the only reasonable conclusions I can draw are that such people have absolutely no understanding of the character and nature of the Nazis, or they don't care. I understand that I'm foolish to think that anyone who would accuse me of being like a Nazi would have any interest in this little lesson, but you must remember that I have a scrambled brain.
 

DEFINING TERMS

For the purpose of this page, "Nazi" refers to the political regime started and popularized by Adolf Hitler in the 1930's in Germany. When, in 2022 or 2023, someone likens a person or persons to the Nazis, they are referring to the Nazis of World War 2, and not to some crazy neo-Nazi cult in Philadelphia or elsewhere.

REMEMBERING THE NAZIS

The Nazis are famous for many things, including sharp uniforms, making the trains run on time, and goosestepping in parades. More importantly, they are remembered for these things. 

1. Starting WW2. This is the war that resulted in the greatest loss of life in the history of mankind - at least 70 million killed. Without question, it was started by the Nazis, without provocation, for their own interests.
2. The murder of 6 million Jews. This truly disturbing and heinous atrocity of the Nazis is well known, and well documented. As with virtually anything, there are idiots that deny that it actually happened. Individuals and entire families were arrested by the Nazis solely for their ethnicity, loaded into boxcars, and delivered to camps where they were either summarily killed by poison gas, or forced to do brutal work until they died of disease, injury, or starvation. The Nazis were careful to extract anything of value from these persons, before, and after their death. This included hair, skin, and tooth fillings. Some were killed for the purpose of hideous "medical" experimentation. These mass murders prompted the creation of a new term - The Holocaust.
3. The widespread execution of non-combatants. Nazi soldiers are famous for killing civilian enemies of the state, including the elderly, women, and children. These murders were often for the purpose of retaliation for resistance activities perpetrated by persons unrelated to those murdered. Sometimes the killings were simply to send a message to the captured population, Hundreds of thousands of innocents were shot, burned alive, or beaten to death. This activity was highly organized and was perpetrated by squads of soldiers called Einsatzgruppen.
4. Racism. Nazis promoted the belief that Germans were a race superior to all others. Nazi racism was so much more than favoring a particular skin color. It taught that you were inferior if you lacked not only white skin, but also blond hair, and blue eyes. The Nazis were big believers in the pseudoscience called Eugenics.
5. Nationalism. Nazis emphatically promoted the idea that Germany was superior to any other nation. They demonstrated this belief through nationalistic displays and events, military parades, reverence for the Nazi flag (not the national flag), and national imagery - especially the swastika image.

THE LINK BETWEEN NAZIS AND CONSERVATIVES

I have been interested in WW2 as long as I can remember. I can't explain my interest in WW2, but it's not because I love war. Regardless, I have read many, many books about, or set in, WW2. I've watched hours and hours of film and video about WW2. It attracts me to this day and I have learned a lot about the Nazis. I've learned that Nazis and Nazism was, perhaps, the greatest plague of evil ever upon the face of this earth. I hate everything about the Nazis. How could anyone possibly associate me with the Nazis?

This is a guess, but I assume that it's #5 on the list above. That is, love, respect, and admiration, of country. I can appreciate these are things that Conservatives have in common with the Nazis. For example, respect for the flag. The Nazi flag was everywhere, of course. In my case, I have a 3 x 5 American flag flying on a pole in my front yard. It was a flag flown outside the door of a helicopter piloted by my son while deployed in the Middle East in the service of our country. I have a photo. The Nazis had their own special salute. As an American, my salute is to stand with my hand over my heart when our national anthem is played. I do this as an acknowledgement of my gratitude for this country, and to honor the many that have given their lives to protect the freedoms that I have enjoyed every day of my life. I cheer with pride for any American athlete, of any race, gender, or color, competing for the USA in the Olympics. While visiting my son in military bases, I've shed tears of pride and respect for him, and his comrades, when every single person on the base immediately stops what they're doing, and stands in silence, when Taps (called "Retreat" on the base) is played at sunset. It's a humbling reminder that they are prepared to defend our flag, and me, with their lives from those who seek to do us harm.  

However, the country I love, and respect, is far different than the country loved, and respected, by the Nazis. Though Americans are not unwilling to go to war, we are not a war-like people. On the contrary, we have a reputation for defending the freedom of others. In our 250 year history, we've made mistakes of all kinds, including the slavery of other humans. Unlike the Nazis, we've consistently confessed, and repented of, our wrong doings. We're on an upward trajectory of doing better. Above all, we value freedom and seek it for ourselves and for others. Such freedom was beyond the comprehension of the Nazis.   

CALLING ME A NAZI 

Truly, likening me, or any reasonable Conservative, to the Nazis is abject demonstration of ignorance as to the nature and character of the Nazis. If you do it, it is a testimony to your own stupidity. Furthermore, you should consider this. If you are Pro-Choice, you are far, far more like a Nazi than any Conservative you may accuse of the same. The Nazis were responsible for the genocide of only 6 million Jews. You are complicit in the extermination of more than 70,000,000 innocent souls.