Was or Is Ratzinger a Nazi?

Let's get it right. Although I disagree on many points with the current pope, I do believe that the recent rumors floating around that he was or is a Nazi pure and simple lies. I would not even mention it, but my son and my daughter have asked me about it in the last two days. Ostensibly, they are not even getting their information from religious sympathizers, just secular angst-ridden teenagers. So where does the lie come from? Why jump to this conclusion? Try this on for size; the writer's political leanings are obvious.

Ratzinger did belong to the Hitler Youth, but membership at that time was compulsory. His father was demoted numerous times for refusing to join the Nazi Party. Ratzinger has written that Nazis were ""fanatical ideologues who tyrannized us without respite."

Pass the word: Even if you do not agree with the man's theology, he displayed character and independent thought in the face of tyranny and evil. More... and more... Email the Pope