Tuesday, March 17, 2020

The Anti-Semitic Dark Side of Martin Luther

The Anti-Semitic Dark Side of Martin Luther Without a doubt, Martin Luther is one of the most influential personas in European history. As a reformer, he played huge parts in creating the Protestant Christian Church. In translating the Bible from Latin into German, he created the foundations of the High German that is spoken in the country today. He singlehandedly made a mess out of Europe that resulted in the divide of Western Christendom leading to Luther being labeled The Great Divider. The aforementioned divide was followed by long and cruel struggles. Dukes and Kings soon had to choose whether they and their subjects would be Catholics or Protestants. These struggles finally led into the Thirty Years War. Many historians find, that Luther is to blame to some extent for a lot of pain and suffering. Martin Luthers Surprising Anti-Semitism From what we know about Martin Luther, we can tell, that he was very uncompromising and somewhat stubborn. The former monk had strong opinions on many issues and just as his views on scholarly matters, he felt urged to express them. He felt no remorse attacking his enemies and adversaries or those he deemed to belong to that category. What might come as a surprise to some, is that this category also included the followers of another major religion: the Jewish people.​​ A Hate Speech Book In 1543, Martin Luther wrote a short book called â€Å"On the Jews and their Lies†. It seems that Luther had hoped for the Jewish people to convert to Protestantism and as that didn’t happen, he was deeply disappointed. In the centuries after Luther’s death, it had no special place among his literary works or underwent particular treatment. It became quite popular in the Third Reich and was even used to justify the discrimination of Jewish people. Was Hitler a Fan? Adolf Hitler  was a declared fan of Luther and his views on the Jews. Extracts of the book were even quoted  in the propaganda movie â€Å"Jud Sà ¼ÃƒÅ¸Ã¢â‚¬  by Veit Harlan. After 1945, the book was not reprinted in Germany until 2016. The recently published edition, which was translated into modern German, proves that the reformer basically demanded the same fate for Jews that the Nazis did, with the exception of a systemic annihilation (maybe, because he could simply not fathom such a thing in the 16th  century). In earlier years, Martin Luther expressed different feelings for Jewish people, probably connected to his high hopes of them converting to Protestantism. Unsettling Views Unfortunately, the views in Luthers book reads like a manual for the National Socialist  German Workers Party  (Nazi Party). Excerpts from his works are  as follows: â€Å"(†¦) set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them.â€Å" But in his wrath, he not only turned against their synagogues. â€Å"I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues. Instead they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies.â€Å" He propagated to take the Talmud from them and to forbid the rabbis to teach, and he wanted to prohibit Jews from traveling on the highways. â€Å"(†¦) and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping.â€Å" Finally, Luther further wanted to force young Jews into manual labor.   Though â€Å"On the Jews and their Lies† is his most infamous work on Jewish people, Luther published two more texts on the matter. In the book â€Å"Vom Schem Hamphoras (Of the Unknowable Name and the Generations of Christ) he put the Jews on the same level as the devil. And in a sermon, released as â€Å"Warning Against the Jews† he stated that Jewish people should be expelled from German territories if they refused to convert to Christianity.

Sunday, March 1, 2020

How to Make a Glowing Flower

How to Make a Glowing Flower Use chemistry to make a real flower glow in the dark. Glowing Flower - Method #1 Test a highlighter pen to make sure it glows under black (fluorescent) light. Yellow is reliable, but some other colors glow brightly, too.Use a knife or saw to cut open the pen and expose the fibers which contain the ink. Remove the ink strip.Squeeze dye from the ink pad into a small amount of water.Trim the end of a flower so that it will be able to take up water. Place the flower in the water with the ink.Allow several hours for the flower to absorb the fluorescent ink. When the flower has taken in the ink its petals will glow under black light. Glowing Flower - Method #2 many flowers fluorescent light Pour some tonic water into a vase.Cut the end off of a flower so that it has a fresh surface.Allow several hours for the quinine to be incorporated into the petals of the flower.Turn on a black light and enjoy your flower. Glowing Flower - Method #3 Prepare glowing water using diet tonic water or any color of highlighter that you have established will glow under a black light. Its also possible to use thinned glowing paint.Find a glass or cup that is large enough to accomodate your flower. Fill this container with the glowing liquid.Invert the flower and immerse it in the liquid. Gently swish the flower around to dislodge any air bubbles, since areas with bubbles wont pick up the fluorescent or phosphorescent color.Allow your flower to absorb the dye. Just dipping the flower results in spotty coverage. If you want bright glowing flowers, allow the flowers to absorb the color directly into their petals for an hour or two. You can keep the stem of the flower hydrated by wrapping a bit of dampened paper towel around it.Remove the glowing flower from the liquid. You can place it in a vase filled with water or otherwise display it under a black light. Tips for Making a Glowing Flower White or pale flowers work much better than flowers with deeply colored petals. The pigment in the dark colored flowers blocks nearly all the glowing light.You need fresh healthy flowers. Flowers that are nearly dead wont drink the water and wont glow. Its possible you might be able to inject the ink directly into the flower head, but wouldnt you rather just use a fresh flower?Certain flowers work better than others. Carnations and daisies work better than roses. Basically any flower you can dye with food coloring works well for making a glowing flower. A Note About Glowing Chemicals how to make glowing flowers . If the videos involve giving the flowers a chemical that is already glowing or is fluorescent or phosphorescent under a black light, theres a good chance the instructions are legitimate. However, videos that call for you to mix unlikely chemicals like match heads and peroxide are a scam. Those chemicals will not make your flower glow. Dont be fooled!