[Colofornian]

(Oh. And before a poster does a double-knee jerk with full extension and accuses the journalist -- Doug Gibson -- of being an "anti" Mormon, Gibson is a Mormon!)

[SkyDancer]

In the ‘30’s all sorts of groups were enamored of the Soviets (New York Times) and of Nazi Germany. Take Lindbergh as an example too. I’m not dismissing the LDS on the Nazi’s but you have to understand the times. Pretty much the whole world was amazed on how Germany rebuilt itself under Hitler. We can look back and shake our heads on how could they be so stupid as to embrace what went on then. I’m not defending the LDS on this. Again, you have to look at the environment at the time.

[Jack Hydrazine]

The Mormon concept of becoming gods and Hitler’s concept of beoming Übermensch (supermen) are not very dissimilar.

[Wallace T.]

There were also Catholic and Protestant religious publications that praised the Nazis, not to mention favorable press received in secular publications. The first major condemnation of Nazism by a religious leader was that of Pope Pius XI in 1937, shortly before his death and four years after Hitler's accession to power and the true nature of the Nazi regime became evident. However, numerous Catholic clergy and laymen in both Germany and this country (Father Coughlin) supported Hitler. Ditto for the Protestants. For every Dietrich Bonhoeffer, there were dozens of "German Christians" who endorsed the Nazi regime, in both pulpit and pew. There were Nazi sympathizers among American Protestant clergy, e.g., Gerald L.K. Smith.

There were Mormons complicit in supporting the Nazis. However, they were a very small minority in a German nation that was about 55% Protestant and 35% Catholic. Even more to shame, there were thousands of men of partial (one-quarter to one-half) Jewish ancestry who served in the German armed forces during World War II, a few even holding the rank of general.