Martin Luther Quotes
… we should set fire to their [Jews] synagogues and schools, and what cannot be burnt should be covered over with earth, that no man may ever discover a stone or brick of it; we are to do this for the glory of our Lord and Christianity.
The Nazis did not create German anti-Semitism for the first time. Germany had a long brutal history of murder and torture. Luther was a virulent Anti-Semite. But he was not always such. See {629231} for totally contradictory writing earlier in his career. The Modern Lutheran Church does not currently follow any of Luther’s anti-Semitic dicta and has repudiated his views on murder for the glory of the religion, although many did support it in WWII. What is stunning about this quotation is that this religious leader was advocating burning houses of God, schools and people for the “glory” of God and Christianity. However all major religions had viscous and bloody pasts. Most adherents have rejected that past as being misguided, primitive and incompatible with the modern, more noble view of the religion while only a few religious extremist fundamentalist still adhere to the darker history and interpretation of the religion.
Martin Luther, 1483-1546, German Theologian & Founder of Protestantism, On The Jews And Their Lies, 1543
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
In this quotation the founder of Protestantism criticizes other Christians for their anti-Semitism. Luther later became a virulent anti-Semite himself. See {629230}
Odo of Chatillon-Sur-Marne. This is an amazingly distressing quotation for most moderns. Here we have the Pope preaching genocide and ethnic cleansing. This was one of the main triggers of the bloody Crusades and is not forgotten by Muslims in the Middle East Today. As Islam has not changed a great deal in 1000 years, most Muslims assume that the same is true of Christianity and especially the popes and the Roman Catholic Church. This is one of the reasons that the Islamic world reacts so strongly when a pope makes any statement negatve about Muslims and Islam.
The Nazis and most of the Arabs were allies in WWII. The Jews of Palestine—although they were opposed to many of the British policies regarding Palestine—were active in the Allied cause contributing units to the British Army. Although the Germans were brutal to civilians, murdering millions, they refrained from public pronouncements or exhortations to kill civilians in most cases. The Arabs did not. The Mufti was actually given the rank of General in the Nazi SS and had his own SS unit. In this despicable exhortation he actually uses a concept and wording from the Koran. See {584355}. This quotation is important in that it refutes a common claim by some Palestinians that it was only the Germans who were responsible for the Holocaust and the post war Jewish Refugee problem and that the Palestinians had to bear the price rather than place Israel in Europe. This quotation and the other by the Grand Mufti prove that Palestinians were not only complicit in persecution of Jews but took a leadership and advocacy role.
Most people are familiar with the people are familiar with the terrible persecution of the Jews in Spain by the Christians. Although there were a few examples of tolerance to Jews by Muslims when they controlled Spain and instances like modern Turkey. Generally however there is and has been Islamic persecution of Jews, Christians, and other non Muslims in almost all nations where Muslims have been in control. Until the Enlightenment, Christian persecution of other religions was just as bad if not worse.
The same article denies the fact that the Holocaust ever existed. Al-Akhbar was not just an ordinary newspaper. It is the Egyptian Government’s Official Daily Newspaper—the same Government that was the recipient of the second largest amount of United States foreign aid.
These kinds of inflammatory sermons are delivered with the approval of the king and royal family who crack down on any cleric who preaches what they do not approve of.
This was the first official act of the German government implementing official discrimination against the Jews. Soon, the boycott policy was replaced by a policy of murder and extermination.
Sirhindi is a very important Muslim Imam and is credited with breathing new life and energy into the 2nd millennium of Islam. An irony of this quotation is that Sufi’s are often characterized as “moderate” Muslims. The quotation is extremely important in that there are some who attribute the anti-Semitism of the Muslims to the dispute over the State of Israel. However, it was the anti-Semitism that caused the problems with Israel. This quotation is from the 17th century—more than 300 years before Israel was established and over 200 years before the Zionist movement even thought about recovering Palestine for the Jews. Islamic anti-Semitism and anti-Christianity began in the Prophet’s lifetime and continued thereafter. It is as vicious today as it was 500 years ago, except for the fact that there is now an Islamic Reformation that despite the Koran’s statements regarding non-believers, they have a more modern view of the world and the people within it. Islamic cultures like Indonesia and Turkey do not have the same degree of anti-Semitism as Pakistan and the Arab Countries.
In 2012 University President James Wagner and Gary Hauk, Emory's vice president of the Emory University made an apology for the anti-Semitic practices of earlier decades when the few Jewish Students who had been accepted because of their high grades and test scores were simply sent letters that their performance had been unsatisfactory and they were not allowed to return to school by the anti-Semitic Dean of the Dental School—John Buhler, . None of the Jewish had ever gotten a poor grade or been talked to about inadequate performance by any of the professors and the Dean would never give a reason that they had been flunked out. See {629670} for the courageous words of the apology.
The Alawites, always a Muslim minority in Syria, have been hated, distrusted, discriminated against, and physically persecuted by the majority Sunni Muslims as long as they have existed. When in Syria, the Alawites, although a minority, gained political control of the country and for the first time were secure in their own country. In the early 2000s, the Sunni majority tried to oust the Alawite leadership, but the Assad government put down the protests brutally. Most Western observers did not know of the anti-Alawite history of persecution in Syria. Returning to that position of victimization was so feared by the Alawites that they fought tooth and nail, murdering many civilians, to be sure that the historical position of the Alawites would not occur again. This makes talks and negotiations over the Syrian Civil War so difficult. The Alawites believe that if they do not control the nation, they will be massacred by the majority. The Christians and the Jews also believe that if the Sunni’s get control, their communities will be in great danger. Complicating the situation even further, is that fact that of the insurgent Sunni groups, the tolerant secular ones who started the revolution are no longer in control of the insurgents. De facto dominance has passed to the Jihadist, Islamic extremists who hold the view expressed by this quotation.
- Born: November 10, 1483
- Died: February 18, 1546
- Nationality: German
- Profession: Friar, Priest, Theologian, Professor
Martin Luther, O.S.A. was a German professor of theology, priest, author, composer, Augustinian monk, and a seminal figure in the Reformation. Luther was ordained to the priesthood in 1507. He came to reject several teachings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church; in particular, he disputed the view on indulgences. Luther proposed an academic discussion of the practice and efficacy of indulgences in his Ninety-five Theses of 1517. His refusal to renounce all of his writings at the demand of Pope Leo X in 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms in 1521 resulted in his excommunication by the pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Holy Roman Emperor.