Story of Martin Luther ON PBS..parallels todays politics....he stood up

[Gin]

against the catholic church....and paid a huge price...they are using terms we all use here on DU talking about the fanatics in office now..no difference between then and now...just the clothes.(although in private I bet shrub has a hat and scepter like the pope and he wears it in private for the misses)

Religious fanatics...and corruption were the rule of the day...the little guy paid out the arse...while the pope et-al lived high on the hog...gee...that sounds pretty darn familiar to today's drama in the administration!

Back to the future! Let the revolution begin!

[RafterMan]

1. Martin Luther stood up against religious fanatics?

Uh-huh.

[Christ was Socialist]

2. he was also mentally ill and an anti semite, and look

at the hate groups that dominate america.

[fairfaxvadem]

3. yeah....no.

Don't make Luther out to be such a stand up guy. As was mentioned in the previous post, he was a big anti-semite and had major personal issues to boot which drove him.

While some good changes came out of the Reformation, please be cautious about making Luther out to be some swell guy.

[Gin]

5. I wasn't trying to make him a hero...I never knew his story...I am

not religiously affiliated...I only saw the parallels to this cabal in office and their religious zealotry!

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

4. Luther was a religous fanatic too, and a rabid reactionary.

His issued some blistering attacks on the German peasants when they rose in their great Peasants Rebellion, siding w. the nobels and landlords.

Luther represents sort of a reactionary, ascetic, purtanical form of religous fanatasiscm.

[Christ was Socialist]

6. reminds me of a guy i know

"Luther represents sort of a reactionary, ascetic, purtanical form of religous fanatasiscm."

He's about 6'5, rents out caves in afghanistan/pakistan.

[durutti]

8. True, but...

He also helped lay (if unwittingly) the ideological foundation for the development of capitalism and the modern nation-state -- certainly a good thing.

[BabsSong]

7. As a Lutheran---Luther was at the right place at the right time

The various princes in Germany wanted to break with Rome. He nailed his notice on the church door; they protected him and defended him. He ended up marrying Katherine, a num and having a shit pot of kids. Luther didn't suffer. He suffered trying to make up his mind at first; but after he had a hell of a good time. If he had "done his thing" in a different political environment, he would have ended up being a weenie roast.

[mmonk]

9. Nearly all were religious fanatics back then

(Catholics, Luther-the one Hitler referred to as the father of Germany, Zwingli, others) except learned scientists and astronomers. In some ways, things don't change much.