As one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation; St. Paul's School in Concord; New Hampshire; has long been the exclusive domain of America's wealthiest sons. But times have changed. Today; a new elite of boys and girls is being molded at St. Paul's; one that reflects the hope of openness but also the persistence of inequality. In Privilege; Shamus Khan returns to his alma mater to provide an inside look at an institution that has been the private realm of the elite for the past 150 years. He shows that St. Paul's students continue to learn what they always have--how to embody privilege. Yet; while students once leveraged the trappings of upper-class entitlement; family connections; and high culture; current St. Paul's students learn to succeed in a more diverse environment. To be the future leaders of a more democratic world; they must be at ease with everything from highbrow art to everyday life--from Beowulf to Jaws--and view hierarchies as ladders to scale. Through deft portrayals of the relationships among students; faculty; and staff; Khan shows how members of the new elite face the opening of society while still preserving the advantages that allow them to rule.
#396631 in Books Susannah Heschel 2010-10-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.21 x .80 x 6.14l; 1.14 #File Name: 0691148058384 pagesThe Aryan Jesus Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Revelatory and ShockingBy David G.Uncovering records thought to be lost or destroyed; Heschel ploughs new ground in this ever more distressing history. That many or most of Germany's best minds and supposed models of ethical behavior and bastions of Christian charity competed with each other to provide the logic of anti-Semitism and the murder of the millions of Jews; throwing babies and children alive into the ovens; re-writing history and re-writing the Bible; are grounds for despair. A brilliant book emerges from this awful task of research; yet a fascinating tale in itself of Susannah Heschel's tenacity against the odds as doors slowly opened to her. Paired with her earlier Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus; the two provide a cohesive grand sweep. Bravo!15 of 17 people found the following review helpful. Two Kinds of Nazi-Era German ProtestantsBy Werner CohnUnlike the Communist movement in Stalin's time; the Nazi movement never achieved a totally uniform party line; not even in its attitudes toward Jews. It can be said that; in general; any view of Jews was permitted; as long as it amounted to rabid anti-Semitism.Within the Nazi-era German Protestant Church; there were two major competing views of Jews:a) The "Confessing Church;" including famous names like Martin Niemöller; held that present-day Jews are evil; but that the Old Testament; with its Jewish origins; forms a permanent part of the Christian religion. These CC pastors were generally supportive of "non-Aryan" Christians; i.e. Jews who had undergone the Christian baptism.b) The "German Christians" embraced a more "racial" anti-Semitism. They agreed that Jews are evil; but; in addition; also held that Jesus was not a Jew; and that those portions of the New Testament that say otherwise need to be revised. These pastors of the GC were more enthusiastic supporters of Hitler (although; generally; the Confessing clergy; including Niemöller despite his imprisonment at a certain stage; lost few opportunities to declare their loyalty to the regime). One of the more comical aspects of the story is how each side accused the other of being less anti-Semitic than it should be.Although the broad outlines have been known for a long time; this remarkable book is the first to study the German Christians in detail; basing itself on archival material that nobody else has studied before. The result is a chilling story of distinguished clergymen and professors of theology who; in pursuit of their eagerness to please the Nazi movement; discovered and in some cases invented sophisticated speculative arguments to bolster a case for a non-Jewish; indeed an anti-Semitic Jesus. The author is particularly strong in showing how academic careerists -- of a type that would nowadays be called academic "operators" -- combined vanity; ideology; and egotism to secure acclaim and high position. In some cases these advantages were retained long into the post-war period.The great villain of the piece is a certain Reverend Walter Grundmann; the evil genius behind the German Christians' Institute for the Study and Eradication of Jewish Influence in German Church Life. Grundmann was the author of many learned volumes on the evil of Judaism; but also on complicated issues of New Testament theology. And guess what: after the war; living in the Communist German Democratic Republic; the Rev. Grundmann became a secret agent of the Stasi; the Communist secret police.I do have some minor reservations about this book. While the author makes it clear that the German Christians contained a great number of influential Protestant leaders; there is no systematic effort to gauge its precise strength as opposed to that of the Confessing Church. Another lack that I found is that the author; though very good in discussing previous work on wartime German churches; fails to mention the indispensable work of Klaus Scholder. Finally; the publisher must be faulted for an inadequate index (Martin and Wilhelm Niemöller are treated as if they were the same individual); and also with poor proofreading of German text. But these minor shortcomings in no way detract from the seminal importance of this important work.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. invaluableBy R. Nealan invaluable resource for anyone that wants to better understand how the Holocaust could have happened in a Christian nation.
