Just to clarify...that's a compliment. I would love to spend a career studying this period. Talk about a meaty subject!!!
Me too. Here's what Catholics have going for them, that Moslems don't, they have a sustained period of solid and good foundations laid that have survived the centuries, and Islam doesn't. Their lack of accomplishment must rankle, in the face of what they have to measure themselves against. It's a real pity that, en masse, it seems Moslems would sooner be annihilated than rehabilitated. And, that is probably what we will have to give them. One of the things I admire about President Bush is his understanding of this, and his unwillingness to whet the appetites of the red-fanged amongst us. You know, we never think of the Iraqi dead. We don't even know how many have died, do we?
I'm the child of WWII survivors who were kids themselves in Italy. My Mom was 11 and my Dad was 17. They were forced out of their homes so German soldiers could be garrisoned there. They lived on the lam (sp?) for one year, under the 24/7 surveillance of German troops. My Mom lost all her hair from the disease that ensued. My Mom and Dad both attest to the general fairness of how German soldiers treated them. My Grandmother cooked for them and my Grandfather chopped wood. My Mom also told me of a doctor who they suspected was Jewish who ended up in their midst. My Grandmother caught an infection in her lachrymal duct and the Jewish physician healed her with rose water and something else, though I can't remember what that is.
As I understand it, Italy preserved 80% of its Jewish population through their expertise of forging documents. It certainly was easier in Italy to preserve its Jewish population, because they looked no different than Gentile Italians.
One story my Mother relays of the German occupation always broke my heart. DS, these people had nothing. When the war was finally declared over and they were able to return to their homes, the German soldiers had burned all of their furniture to the ground. They came home to piles of ashes where their only table and chairs once were. I spent the entire summer of '68 in Italy. The ruins of the WWII were still evident. Hot running water was still not available. The maturation leap I made in that summer was unlike any maturation leap to follow.
What makes us different from radical Moslems is that we have a conscience. I'll never forget the beheading of Nick (can't remember his last name). It was one human against however many lower than quadrupeds were present. And their masks and the whole picture issued straight from hell.