conuly

Hm, we'll have to agree to disagree there, I guess; personally I'm more inclined that religion is very likely to be used as an excuse for nationalist insanity, but that it's (often) not truly the cause. Christianity makes a fine example there, perhaps; look at the discrepancy between Jesus' teachings as recorded in the various evangelia, and the things some Christians did or still do...
I think the problem boils down more to humanity being, on the whole, less good and pure than one should like - and the tendency of people to justify their dealings (particularly the ones that need justifying, i.e. the nasty stuff) with their reference framework. While said framework very often happens to be of a religious nature, it doesn't have to be (Communist China comes to mind)...

Oh, I wasn't talking of that sort of people (though of course we have them, too). I was talking of Third Reich attempts to 'reinstate' a "true Germanic" religious cult, based on a sort of romantic idea of "What Our Noble Forebears The True-Blooded Spear-Bearing Germans Used To Believe Before Christianity (OMG JEWISH SECT) Came And Made Them Soft", a mix-and-match cult based on neo-pagan ideas, theosophy and other forms of 19th century mysticism, general social Darwinism and specific Nazi ideology. Pseudo in every direction, really.