Sarah McCall ’26

by Sarah McCall ’26 on April 23, 2026

The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It

On Friday, April 17, the Humanities Forum invited Alec Ryrie of Durham University to present on his most recent book: The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It. Ryrie is a historian of Protestant Christianity and specializes in early modern England and Scotland, specifically how beliefs and values impact the social world. His most recent book is a deviant from his normal research, as it has much less to do with religion. However, it is similar to his field of research in its focus on how human values impact the social world in which we live. Ryrie acknowledged the current relevance of Christianity and politics at the beginning of his talk, mentioning the discourse surrounding the United States’ President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, saying, “It is very interesting to talk about this on a Catholic campus this week.”

Ryrie started by citing ABC’s The Greatest Story Ever Told, which began broadcasting in 1947. At the time, the title did not need any further context; it was very clearly about Jesus. Even if individuals were not traditionally religious, they still viewed Jesus as the greatest moral figure. He was the baseline for what it meant to be a good person.

By 1965, however, no one cared for the story anymore. The baseline for genuine good and evil had shifted. For thousands of years people had viewed Jesus as the determinant for what it meant to be good. Yet, a new figure was determining the baseline for evil in social contexts. That person, Ryrie argues, is Adolf Hitler. After World War II, people used Hitler to define evil. The narrative no longer was about becoming Jesus-like through good deeds, it was instead about not becoming Hitler-like through evil acts. Ryrie’s concern with this is that it “teaches us what to hate, but not what to love.”

Ryrie also analyzed the larger impact of this shift. Hitler is a secular individual, therefore he believes that this represents a societal turn away from religion. Ryrie additionally cites examples within the U.S. of a turn away from religion. For example, civil rights organizations played down their religious origins in order to appeal to a larger group of people. Additionally, no one had the same emotional response to Christ that they once did. Instead, cultural empathy was placed towards individuals impacted by World War II. 

This shift was not accidental, Ryrie argued, saying that “the appetite for this story has not gone away.” Dozens of movies and films have been made about World War II, even more with indirect messaging. Schindler’s List, Inglorious Bastards, and Fury were all examples of direct representation of World War II, while Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings were examples with indirect messaging. Nazis and Hitler have become a staple image in the media and society of pure evil. Godwin’s Law about internet discussion cites Nazi as the ultimate insult. “Grammar Nazis” and “Little Hitler” are phrases used consistently. Ryrie argued that Nazis come as readily to our mind as the devil did in the Middle Ages.

However, in recent history WWII has been losing its moral centrality. The societal realization that racism is the consistent evil, and Naziism was just a part of this has become a much larger narrative. This has become evident through countries grappling with colonialism, slavery, and exploitation. Ryrie, however, argues that this move away from WWII as our basis for moral centrality is not entirely productive. People have begun to forget the messages that we learned from WWII. He conceded that the focus on Naziism was overdone, but millions died for humanity to learn this lesson and it cannot be so easily forgotten.

Ryrie ended his talk by emphasizing the importance of remembering this message, but also a need to bring back deeper tradition. Catholics and Christians have long developed a basis for what good should look like. This needs to be revived, he argues. The past and its tradition cannot be erased. Society has to move forward and find authentic good once more.

There are two more Humanities Forums occurring this semester. The first will be “This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark,” presented by Craig Fehrman on Friday, April 24 at 3:30 p.m. in the Ruane Center for the Humanities, room 105. The last Humanities Forum of the semester will be “Human Dignity in the Algorithmic Society” by Paolo Carozza on Friday, May 1, at 3:30 p.m. in Ruane 105.