Sunday, April 20, 2008

Reflection on the Ethics Assignment

For our ethics assignment, Casey and I looked at a memo written by Adolf Hitler to the Nazi party speakers, which were basically the party leaders that made public speeches. He was addressing them regarding their membership to a church. In the memo, Hitler explains to the speakers that they should immediately leave the church because their only loyalty should be to him. He says in the memo that leaving the church would be "voluntary," however, if you've ever read history about the Nazi regime, you know that nothing was "voluntary." If the party leaders refused to leave the church, they most likely would have been punished severely by the Nazis. It is amazing to me to read historical memos that are so unethical, yet influenced so many people. Hitler had so much control over his people that he basically told his party officials that they could not go to church to worship a God that is more powerful than him. They could only worship him. Ultimately, it is seen in history how successful Hitler was at manipulating people into following him. It is evident in his writing that he was a mastermind of controlling others. He was able to convince the entire Nazi party that the extermination of the Jewish population would lead to a greater Germany.

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