Spiritual Pathology The Case of Adolf Hitler 英文参考文献.docVIP

Religions 2012, 3, 389–406; doi:10.3390/rel3020389 OPEN ACCESS religions ISSN 2077-1444 /journal/religions Article Spiritual Pathology: The Case of Adolf Hitler W. George Scarlett Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; E-Mail: george.scarlett@ Received: 27 March 2012; in revised form: 1 April 2012 / Accepted: 13 April 2012 / Published: 26 April 2012 Abstract: Hitler had a noble purpose (to save the world) and a strong faith in the laws of Nature as he understood Nature. He was, then, a spiritual person, though his spirituality was pathological and destructive. Here, the example of Hitler, his faith, and his spiritual pathology is given to both understand spiritual pathology in general and, through contrast, to understand positive spiritual development. Keywords: Hitler; spiritual pathology; pathological faith 1. Introduction: Arrested vs. Pathological Spiritual Development On July 13th, 1942, just after dawn a group of German reservists were assembled outside the small Polish town of Jozefow.1 These were ordinary Germans who had avoided active, front-line military duty by volunteering for what they had expected would be police work in newly occupied territories such as Poland. These were not the carefully selected killers making up the Einsatzgruppen or special units of the SS selected for their fanaticism and extreme anti-Semitism. The reservists formed a motley crew with respect to anti-Semitism, but none of them were eager to kill Jews. They shared nationalist sentiments and pride in being German, but their main concern was for returning to their families as soon as possible. They were more than surprised, then, when their commander, Major Wilhelm Trapp, told them their assignment was to kill the Jewish women, children, and old people of the village—and to gather up the Jewish males of working age so they could be sent to work camps. Trapp gave his ord