spiritual pathology the case of adolf hitler精神病理学的阿道夫·希特勒.pdf

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 th On July 13 , 1942, just after dawn a group of German reservists were assembled outside the small 1 Polish town of Jozefow. 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, bu