[Tzfat]

Luther may have been anti-Judaic (in fact he wrote some extremely harsh words about them), but he was not anti-Semitic -- he was ok if they converted

I think you misunderstand the nature of anti-Semitism. "Anti-Judaic" may sound fine to you, but it is the same thing as "anti-Semitic." Christianity says that once a Jew "converts" to Christianity, he/she is no longer a Jew. Genocide, either way, is the goal. It is why Hitler printed and distributed Luther's nice little hate tract "The Jews and Their Lies."

[topcat54]

Christianity says that once a Jew "converts" to Christianity, he/she is no longer a Jew.

Hmmm, Judaism says that once a Jew "converts" to Christianity, he/she is no longer a Jew. No?

[Cronos]

I'm not misunderstanding the nature of anti-Semitism. What Luther said was harsh, yes, but it was not racially motivated. At no point did Luther say "let's kill any Jew or Jew converted to Christianity".

We in the modern world may disagree with this philosophy "convert or leave", but I respectfully wish to distinguish between this and utter disdain/slaughter for someone because of their ancestry.

Hitler made the Jewish question into one of race (ok, Hitler didn't originate the idea which started int eh 19th century). Hitler misused Luther's statements just as he misused Nietsche (who in some texts goes on to profess how he loathes Germans and wishes he were a Pole!)

[Cronos]

I'm not misunderstanding the nature of anti-Semitism. What Luther said was harsh, yes, but it was not racially motivated. At no point did Luther say "let's kill any Jew or Jew converted to Christianity".

We in the modern world may disagree with this philosophy "convert or leave", but I respectfully wish to distinguish between this and utter disdain/slaughter for someone because of their ancestry.

Hitler made the Jewish question into one of race (ok, Hitler didn't originate the idea which started int eh 19th century). Hitler misused Luther's statements just as he misused Nietsche (who in some texts goes on to profess how he loathes Germans and wishes he were a Pole!)

I'm pretty confident in saying that Luther would have been appalled at what Hitler did