The Hitler Conundrum

POSTED BY: RionaEire
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 28, 2026 18:31
VIEWED: 8911
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Okay, so what do you guys think? Because I'm perplexed.

So I'm talking to this guy today (not at work BTW) and he comments that he likes my tree of life purse (Celtic symbol) so I assume he likes Irish things, logical enough right? Because that's why _I have it. So I ask "So if you like Irish things you're probably excited for St. Patrick's day coming up?". A logical question, because that's the day everyone does Irish things and its cool instead of being different, or at least non mainstream, I love St. Patrick's day I dress up pretty and curl my hair and go all over and listen to my kind of music (its the one day a year when people come around to my way of thinking, at least musically). So that's not a weird question to ask this guy.

So his response is "NO. My family are Druids and so he's like our Hitler". Well that one threw me for a loop. I have lots of Pagan friends and none of them have ever said _that. So I was rather flabbergasted. Okay, I'm sure there are pagans who don't prefer Patrick, he might not be their favorite person, they might see him as a negative figure, okay. But Hitler? Kill 12 million people and _then you can be compared to Hitler okay? Melodrama anyone?

But the interesting thing about this encounter is that its not the first time I've had a "Hitler incident" pop up. Here's the other time: So y'all know about my not-so-secret crush on Genghis Khan. My bigger crush is on his blood brother Jamuqa (look him up) but no one's heard of him, so for general purposes Genghis will do. Why do I have a rediculous crush on a historical figure who was no doubt ruthless and cruel? I don't know, I just do. Anyways most people think its funny if I tell them, because ... it is funny. But someone I work with was like "Do you have a crush on Hitler too?". I was rather mortified. Sure Temujin isn't a class act of a guy, but in the ranking of historical big baddies do you rank him equally with The Big One? Because it doesn't get worse than Hitler.

So why does this keep happening to me? Shrug. People are impossible.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Maybe Son Of Druids was just trying to be funny? I don't know whether St. Patrick is associated with violence toward pagans, so I cannot judge that one, at all.


But I can sort of see, while terribly rude, where your coworker was coming from. I mean, when you get down to it, you're playing a numbers game. Hitler ranks up there for you because of the sheer volume of death, destruction, injustice and misery that is associated with him. But he is not necessarily different in nature from other horrid historical figures, who also started wars or persecuted minorities or caused suffering and death in other ways. He's just more recent and high up on the numerical scale.

So that's something worth keeping in mind when the comparison seems unflattering to you.

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Here's a rather amazing series of podcasts dealing with Temujin and the Khans who followed.

http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive

It's five parts, each nearly two hours long, but it's fascinating. This guy brings history to life like nobody else.

And bear in mind that a lot of that "mixing with the locals" is just polite talk for "raping every woman in sight."

We can talk about the Khans with some disconnect and without all the heat and passion now because all this was the better part of a thousand years ago, and none of us know anyone who was hurt by their brutality. In 800 years, perhaps people will speak as dispassionately about Hitler's time.

As far as numbers of people killed, historians put it somewhere between "millions" and up to 50 million, so he ranks right up there alongside any other murderous despot.



"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I was wrong" - Hero, 2012

Mitt Romney, introducing his running mate: "Join me in welcoming the next President of the United States, Paul Ryan!"

Rappy's response? "You're lying, gullible ( believing in some BS you heard on msnbc ) or hard of hearing."

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Quote:

---

So his response is "NO. My family are Druids and so he's like our Hitler". Well that one threw me for a loop. I have lots of Pagan friends and none of them have ever said _that. So I was rather flabbergasted. Okay, I'm sure there are pagans who don't prefer Patrick, he might not be their favorite person, they might see him as a negative figure, okay. But Hitler? Kill 12 million people and _then you can be compared to Hitler okay? Melodrama anyone?

---

Ehm... Well, St. Patrick didn't kill 12 million people. But pagan folklore does credit him with ending the practice of druidism in Ireland. Supposedly, that's what driving the "snakes" out of Ireland meant. Snakes might have been a euphemism for druids.

*shrug* Not as bad as the holocaust, but the guy you met kinda has a point there, why should we celebrate someone for committing genocide? Celebrate Ireland, but leave that out of it. That's how I see it. In fact, celebrate the week around it and call it "Seachtain na Gaeilge," that's what a lot of people do.

I do look forward to then, probably bake some cabbage and potatoes. Then break with tradition and totally slather them both with ketchup, the perfect condiment. And spice bread, I'll make SPICE BREAD. Anyone here doing colcannon?

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Quote:

---

Originally posted by Kwicko:
Here's a rather amazing series of podcasts dealing with Temujin and the Khans who followed.

http://www.dancarlin.com/disp.php/hharchive

It's five parts, each nearly two hours long, but it's fascinating. This guy brings history to life like nobody else.

And bear in mind that a lot of that "mixing with the locals" is just polite talk for "raping every woman in sight."

We can talk about the Khans with some disconnect and without all the heat and passion now because all this was the better part of a thousand years ago, and none of us know anyone who was hurt by their brutality. In 800 years, perhaps people will speak as dispassionately about Hitler's time.

As far as numbers of people killed, historians put it somewhere between "millions" and up to 50 million, so he ranks right up there alongside any other murderous despot.

---

There's a reason why most of the world's population has a bit of Mongol blood in them. Actually a number of us might even be distantly related to Genghis Khan.

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Riona has a crush on Genghis Khan?

Well, that figures.


Nice girls almost always end up digging the bad boys.



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