^{In 2008, Mrs Smith of Anytown America would describe herself as a good person. She is not particularly religious but she does wear a little cross on a chain and has one of those religious inspirational sayings framed on her kitchen wall. She rarely attends church, but she does send her young son to Sunday school. There are millions of Mrs Smiths all over North America. Are they right or wrong in what they are doing?}

^{In 1938, Frau Schmidt in Anytown Germany would have described herself as a good person. She wasn’t particularly politically active but she did wear a little swastika on a chain and had one of those Adolf Hitler inspirational sayings framed on her kitchen wall. She rarely attended any political rallies but she did enrol her young son in the Hitler Youth Movement. There were millions of Frau Schmidts all over Germany. Were they right or wrong in what they did?}

^{To a large extent what we regard as right and wrong behaviour depends on when and where we live. 400 years ago in Europe it was “right” to burn women convicted of being witches. 60 years ago in the southern States, it was “right” for black people to stand in a crowded bus to allow a white person to sit. Even now, in much of the world, it is “right” to discriminate against homosexuals!}

^{SMART people believe that one day historians will place all those Mrs. Smiths and Frau Schmidts in the same category. Individually they may have been well-meaning people but in their own way they both gave moral support to an evil institution.}

^{If even a cursory connection between nazism and religion offends some religious people, consider this: The Nazis masqueraded as a force for good. They wanted to take over the world. At least some of their leaders, including the Roman Catholic Adolf Hitler, claimed to have God on their side. They were responsible for unimaginable cruelty and they caused the premature death of millions of people. To SMART people that also reads like a history of religion! The only real difference is that the Nazis’ crimes were well documented and committed during a relatively brief 15 year span. The crimes of religion go back to the beginning of recorded time!}

Archbishop Cesare Orsenigo, papal nuncio to Germany, talks with Hitler at a formal reception in Berlin, January 1936.