What would be a proper response to someone who brought up his membership in the Hitler Youth in negative way, without any other information and in the company of others?
You might say calmly and politely, “Do you consider it fair to defame a man who is not present to defend himself?” As the person in question splutters over the charge of defamation, you can continue, “As I am sure that you know, even the Anti-Defamation League welcomed Benedict XVI’s election as pope and stated that he had spent his entire adult life atoning for his teenage membership in the Hitler Youth (source), which, by the way, was compulsory and not his choice.”
DISCLAIMER: Catholic Answers has turned over the archive to Catholic-Questions.org and no longer owns, manages, or moderates the forums. For additional apologetics resources please visit www.catholic.com.
