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Post by ckennedy on Dec 8, 2010 11:02:07 GMT -5
So if propaganda was meaning for “church bulletin” then why would they use this saying during the time of Hitler. Hitler was farthest from a Christian man, he was the main cause of killing thousands of innocent people. Propaganda was taught to me only from the point of view during the Holocaust. So I don’t understand why the meaning of propaganda is “church bulletin”. Propaganda during the time of Hitler used these tactics by mainly influence people into either believing in what Hitler says, or hinting to the people of Germany to stay quiet or they would be shot. While the purpose of propaganda during the time we are studying would influence to people that they would help, give, or sell things that they have, and wish to get rid of. Are these two separate propaganda’s, or what is the difference between them?
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Post by Mr. Delainey on Dec 8, 2010 17:27:46 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]Propaganda (modern definition): information that is spread for the purpose of promoting some cause.[/shadow]
Propaganda is a Latin word that came into use in 1622 when Pope Gregory XV set up the Congregatio de propaganda fide (Committee for propagating the faith). This committee was made up of a bunch of Catholic cardinals who were responsible for overseeing foreign missions. The word “propaganda” was initially used to mean “the propagation of doctrine”. So anything that furthered the interests of the Church when it came to teaching Christian doctrine would in fact be “propaganda”.
You have a problem with the term (I think) because your understanding of this word is that it’s bad, i.e. Hitler’s use of propaganda to spread hatred of Jews, etc. You are confusing how the word is currently used with how it was used in the past. Do you understand this? For instance, the word "gay" used to mean "happiness" but now it means something else altogether doesn't it?
You need to take a step backward. In fact, go back about three centuries. Forget everything you know about what happened in the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s or 2000s. These things didn’t happen yet. The word propaganda has a very different meaning; it didn’t mean something bad. The meaning of the word simply referred to the “propagation of Catholic doctrine”. With that said, there were major conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in the 1600s and onward. Both Protestant and Catholic Church’s wanted to “propagate” (push forward) their own doctrine (ideas). They opposed one another. So to push forward their doctrine Catholics would denounce and explain why the Protestants were wrong; and on the flip side the Protestants would do the same thing to Catholics. I think it is out of this intolerance that the word gained its current negative connotation.
I came across the definition of "propaganda" being a "church bulletein" a few years ago in a book (I've forgotten the title). I didn't get the impression that the author was somehow implying that churches that used propaganda were being evil or bad, etc. Instead, propaganda was the simple sharing of church business with the laity (people like yourself).
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