NavList:

Alex, I, too, never heard the story of this phrase originating in the Albigensian War. Thanks.

It appears that this "let God sort them out" line may have become widely known, and would thus have been part of a literate (cynical!) Vietnam-era US officer's common knowledge, thanks to Lord Acton (nineteenth century British politician and author). Acton is most famous for the quotation "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" and his essays on freedom were very popular. That's where he wrote about this Albigensian war cry that translates approximately as "kill them all and let god sort them out".

-FER
PS: Lord Acton was a huge supporter of the Confederacy during the US Civil War and wrote to Robert E. Lee, "I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo". How's that for hyperbole. This means that Lord Acton almost surely knew Matthew Fontaine Maury whom we've discussed recently (though I couldn't find any specific proof of that).

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