Pardon my asking, but is that by any chance *the* Godwin of "Godwin's Law" fame? (ironic name, given the thread, eh?)
Cheers!
Nope. This is not Mike Godwin, but one Robert Godwin, a clinical psychologist (and philosopher).
Nobody on this thread seems to have invoked Hitler or the Nazis yet. Do you suppose that some of our correspondents may think that Godwin's Law can work perfectly well when one substitutes "Christ" and "Christians" for "Hitler" and "Nazis?"
Arguably, Hitler perpetrated a "magical act" on the people of Germany: He was a "sorcerer," a "'black magician." His operation was "magical" precisely because it was a successful deception of his target audience.
"Magic" purports to "transform" Reality; but in Reality, whatever transformation occurs is in the mind of the target audience, not in the world per se. Hitler's acts were premised in the idea that "magic" can effect an eclipse of Reality, so as to build a "new and better" one. But this is to lie about the Truth of Reality. And when one does that, inevitably people suffer.
Or so it seems to me. JMHO FWIW.
Thank you oh so very much, dear grey_whiskers, for your outstanding contributions to this thread! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!