journal 12: HITLER WAS A CHRISTIAN.6of6.1.26.7

Journal: HITLER WAS A CHRISTIAN, PART 6 OF 6


1.26.7
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his actions as evil or as being motivated by evil. No one does - most people think that his actions as evil or as being motivated by evil. No one does - most people think that they are doing what is right and/or necessary. Hitler, for example, thought that his actions they are doing what is right and/or necessary. Hitler, for example, thought that his actions
Hitler Was A Christian, Part 6 Of 6

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/1818/3_1ChristianRight.htm
What’s Wrong For America Is The Christian Right
By Joseph Alberghini
This article has nothing to do with the Christian faith. It has everything to do with the un-American religious right which has appropriated the word “Christian” to mask the unmoral ambitions of its leaders; a Christian practice centuries old. To the detriment of the believer, this mask, over the centuries, has become the face in many cases. And nowhere in the world is that more apparent than in the United States today.
“How very profitable this fable of Christ has been to us through the ages.” These words by Pope Leo X (1513-1531) to his Secretary of State, Pietro Bembo, a Venetian scholar who was quoting from the Gospel.
Times have not changed so much. Today, slick, high living TV evangelists, and a surprising number of unpatriotic organizations and personalities pervade certain sectors of our government as well as our political and private lives with such nonsense as “God’s plan” and the Catholic need to control man’s “sinful nature.” But God’s plan and man’s nature have nothing to do with it.
What it does have to do with is power and big bucks that come through the manipulation of those unwitting souls prone to swallow such rubbish. From a 1996 survey of the religious right, as much as 14% of the American population are among these unwary souls. That is not an insignificant number.
This religious right, exclusively Christian, gives rise to a Christian nationalism which proclaims that “America’s political troubles can be alleviated by bringing Christianity into the government” and “having the state become the partner of the church in carrying out God’s plan.”
Whoa! Wait a minute. What that demonstrates is a colossal ignorance, not only of the Bible, but of the history of western civilization. Worse, it’s a total disregard for the American Constitution. Moreover, any observer of affairs in the Middle East will note how “God’s plan” for the Jews, a plan God revealed to Abraham 3,500 years ago is working out. It doesn’t take long to get the picture.
Christians have been living by a creed of violence and betrayal since Jesus himself was betrayed by one of his own 2,000 years ago. In Ireland today, Christians kill Christian for political reasons. Hitler was a Christian with a plan, as was David Koresh, and the minions of the Inquisition. The 16th century Franciscan monk Diego de Landa destroyed witness to the pagan Maya civilization by senselessly burning its priceless art objects and manuscripts, all for God’s plan.
Today we report the violence of the Christian anti-abortionists, the Ku Klux Klan, the exclusive “born agains” who call Christians of different persuasion people of the “other world.” To what end, God’s promise of Paradise? If His promise of Paradise is anything like His promise of land to the Jews 3,500 years ago, wouldn’t you have second thoughts about His word? If it hadn’t been for the English in 1944, those descendants of Abraham would still be living in Diaspora.
It’s doubtful that any of these leaders of the Christian right are adherents of any article of Christian faith, biblical or otherwise, that inspires them to implement “God’s plan.” What does inspire them are the books of their multi-million dollar enterprises, the power base not only for political influence peddling, but for expanding their realms: Old wine in new bottles.
THE HORRORS OF CHRISTIAN POWER
Regrettably, Christianity, whatever its stripe, has been inextricably woven into the fabric of western civilization with a convenient disregard for the unholy realities on which it was built. Centuries before the holocausts wrought by the infamous and largely unsuccessful Crusades of the Middle Ages, Rome, the seat of early Christendom under the aegis of Catholic popes, was a sink hole of corruption, moral depravity, greed for material wealth and political power at any price. The Crusades saw the wholesale slaughter, Pillage and rape of the infidel and his lands.
Closer to home were the pogroms for those who refused to convert, the horrific deeds of the Inquisition, torture of the most inhuman kind for those Christians who dared to disagree, the burning of the “heretic” who dared to suggest that the guardians of Christianity were forsaking their spiritual mandate for pursuits too temporal. In fact, such was the show of moral decay amid flashy opulence at the court of our Christian fathers at Avignon that Patriarch, in the late 14th century, was to exclaim that here, indeed, was “the whore of Babylon” so vividly described by St John in the Book of Revelations.
Not until around the mid 15th century did man begin to discern the reality that for well over 1400 years his mind had been set to accept a priori Christian theology as the total range of knowledge and truth. Finally, in the early 16th century, the Reformation broke the hold of the Roman Catholic Church, the only authority of scripture and doctrine, which began to crumble under the weight of its own capital sins.
The Reformation, alas, didn’t change much. Change that did come of it were in form, but not in substance. The Reformation was the same old rhythm played on different drums. Although often the victim of the still virulent Catholic Church, this new form of Christianity did not stop internecine wars pitting Christians against Christians. Its new brand of Christianity became, in itself, a major political factor in civil wars and alliances between nations. In continental Europe, only since the French Revolution and Napoleon did secular laws and ideals replace the tenacious grip of Christianity on Europe’s western societies.
TO THE AMERICAS
The perverse use of sin as an instrument of restraining and manipulating unsophisticated minds, we see, has not changed substantially. It transmigrated to the American colonies which soon witnessed the horror of the dunking stool and the pyre, not for burning the dead but the living: An old Catholic practice, now Protestant. All in the name of God and in the best Christian tradition.
In no other modern democratic Christian country is this blatantly offensive sin thing preached with such zeal as in the United States; preached by organizations and individuals protected by the Constitution, which they seek to undermine.
Collectively called the Christian or religious right, it is an amalgam of Christian militants attempting to use the democratic process to achieve the same type of total religious oppression Medieval Christians tried to achieve by force. There are even those among them who claim that Christianity finds revolutionary violence justifiable, if peaceful means fail. (Charles Colson, First Things).
Tainted by this virulent religious virus, we find a Republican Party which, for an apparent paucity of thought, ideas, imagination and vitality, has slipped to grabbing onto this litany of Christian babble as a direction toward which to lead the country. Baal and Ashtart save us!
BACKWARDS, TOWARD THE FUTURE
With the third millennium less than two years away, we Americans find ourselves face to face with attempts to lead us backward in time. The backtrack is led by a Republican Party unduly influenced by the unpatriotic fervor of an oustspoken Christian right, that mixed bag of self-styled apostles building their own empires (Babylons?) on a wisdom not so different from that of Leo X.
How Leo would drool over this polyglot of mutually supporting heretics as he strikes the match to light the fire before confiscating their staggering wealth to his treasury.
But this is not the I6th century and Leo is not around to do the job for us. Besides, we are bound by the Constitution to tolerate the cheap razzle-dazzle of the TV evangelists, the effrontery of Robertson’s Christian Coalition, the pollution of our airwaves with Dobson’s Focus on the Family, to say nothing of the maniacal babble of God’s Chancellor, Bill McCartney, whose ministry, the Promise Keepers, would provide enough creepy material and title for a Stephen King horror story.
And who can ignore the current Christian Right sponsored censorship campaign against distribution of photography works by David Hamilton and Jock Sturges. They are considered pornographic by agent provocateur, Randall Terry (agent provocateur also of the violent confrontations of the ‘80s at abortion clinics)? Aside from the evident nationwide effectiveness of the Christian right network, the tone of the language alone is alarming but not surprising.
Terry swears “to destroy” photographer Sturges whom he considers “the monstrous public scourge incarnate” (Liberation, Mar 16, ‘98, Paris). Undisguised expressions of biblical violence such as this, backed by the Christian right megastructure, is a far greater danger to society than a book of “dirty” pictures which can only disgust some and please others.
These are but a few of the lead drummers who have too many Republican leaders in their sway on both national and state levels. It is claimed that in 1994, 43% of the votes putting the Republicans in power were votes from this religious right, giving the Republican Party infrastructure over to them and a Republican majority in both houses.
Others head foundations and committees within the political system itself, shaping policy and trends supportive of Christian right rhetoric while little opposition to them is heard. Somehow God and His lobbyists have gotten their foot in the door of that chamber where they don’t belong.
THE ROLE OF THE “GOOD BOOK”
Finally, this article wouldn’t be complete without a few words on the Bible on which these paladins of Christ stand and often quote out of context to give substance to their prattle. Such out of context quoting is either manifest ignorance or purposeful abuse. I tend to believe the latter.
It should suffice to say here that there is no rational reason to believe the Bible is a divinely inspired work, that it is “holy” or THE “good book”, just because its authors say so. They used it as a means to their own ends too.
Furthermore, written in a time when populations were small, communities tribal, nomadic and horizons limited, the Bible has no global relevance to today’s lifestyles whether you approve of them or not. Nor has it any relevance to man’s monumental achievements in the arts, sciences, medicine, technology, outer space, world peace.
More importantly, perhaps, is the Bible’s irrelevance to our concepts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness guaranteed by the greatest of man’s achievements, the Constitution of the United States; the most sacred contract between a people and its government. The constitution embodies a far higher concept of man’s nature and values, vis-a-vis a creed which attributes an evil and sinful nature to man, demands perpetual repentance to assuage guilt, and engenders bigotry and exclusion not always without violence in God’s name.
From the beginning, Christianity, as practiced by zealots such as those who are the subject of this article, has always been an impediment to the progress of man and society. Never an impetus.
© 1997 Free Heretic Publications, San Diego, Ca
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http://atheism.about.com/od/adolfhitlernazigermany/Adolf_Hitler_Nazi_Germany_Christian_Nationalism_AntiSemitism.htm
Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany: Christian Nationalism, Anti-Semitism
The Nazis and Adolf Hitler are commonly thought of as representing the antithesis of Christianity and Christian values. If that's true, why did tens of millions of German Christians adore Hitler, join the Nazis, and participate in the Holocaust (among other atrocities)? Hitler and the Nazis promoted a Christian nationalism, anti-communism, anti-Semitism, and return to traditional values which most Christians appreciated. The Nazi party platform specifically endorsed 'positive' Christianity
Articles & Resources
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Race vs. Gender in Nazi Germany & Modern AmericaIf there are biological differences of race, why is it invalid to treat people of different races in different ways but valid to treat different sexes in different ways? What arguments against differential racial treatment don't also work against differential gender treatment? I'm not sure there are any. Might this mean that people who accept one are likely to accept the other - that people who accept differential treatment of the sexes are more likely to accept differential treatment of races?
Hitler's Detachment, Dogmatism, Uncompromising NatureThere is a popular perception of Hitler as a charismatic and popular leader. This is all true, to a certain extent, but it's also not the whole story. Hitler was charismatic in public because he practiced hard. Out of the spotlight, more of his true character revealed itself: he tended to be detached from others' suffering, dogmatic in his beliefs, and completely uncompromising.
Appeal of Fascism: Restoration of Religious Values, Moral CrusadeMany people have wondered, quite legitimately, how fascism could ever be appealing enough to develop a large following. Fascism was popular enough in Germany and Italy to take over those governments. Fascism also developed strong followings in other nations, like France and England. The unfortunate truth is that wherever it appears, fascism promises people what they want most.
Characteristics and Nature of FascismFascism is a frequent topic of conversation; unfortunately, it is more often than not used simply as an epithet for any political system which people dislike. This is a problem because despite some difficulties in definition, fascism is a real political philosophy which poses real threats. Using the term as an epithet masks the real problems and real fascism.
Nazi & Christian Conceptions of Women's Social RolesBoth religious and political conservatives tend to try to take women out of politics, business, and other public roles in order to limit them to the home, the family, and the church. It is their belief that women's roles are necessarily constrained by God and/or nature to taking care of the family and home life, leaving public life to men.
Blurring the Line Between Lawful and Unlawful ConductThe difference between lawful and unlawful conduct is crucial for any society which is built upon laws. The laws are what help ensure the equality of everyone because the laws stand above everyone's passions or preferences. Everyone is expected to follow the same laws and to be held to the same penalties for failing to do so. When the laws become irrelevant, then so do justice and morality.
Catholic Complicity in Nazism, Anti-Liberal IdeologiesThere were lots of reasons why Catholic leaders should have opposed Hitler and the Nazis and this makes people wonder why they bent over backwards to accommodate the Nazis. What people need to understand is that there were also lots of reasons why Catholics and other conservative Christians wanted to work with the Nazis. Most were bound up with their common opposition to Weimar and liberalism.
Political Christians vs. Nazi LiberalsGetting involved with politics is a double-edged sword for religious groups: on the one hand, they have the opportunity to affect national policies in a way that is compatible with their beliefs; on the other hand those beliefs may become corrupted by the political process. Usually this is an observation one might hear from religious liberals, but religious conservatives are also noticing.
Nazi Christian Ethics: Killing Unequal Humans, Victims of Guilt, SinSome wonder how Christians could have cooperated with the Nazis - especially when it came to the Nazis' more vicious policies, like forced euthanasia, wars of aggression, and eventually the Holocaust. Evidently, it wasn't too hard - they didn't even need to compartmentalize and ignore their dogmas. They could rely on Christian leaders providing theological justifications for Nazi programs.
Defeatism, Dissent, and Treason at Home During WarWhenever a nation goes to war, it becomes important for everyone at home to rally behind the flag and support the nation's goals. Or is it? What if the nation's goals are immoral, or if the nation went to war under false pretenses? This doesn't always seem to matter to nationalists: they accuse dissenters of treason regardless of how reasonable their dissent was.
Racing to Save a Nazi ChurchMost Christians today don't have any conception of just how tightly intertwined Christianity and Nazism were in Germany. It's often assumed that they two were antagonistic; the truth, however, is that many Christians saw Nazism as fully compatible with their religion. One of the few physical examples of this, a Nazi-themed Lutheran church, is at risk for falling down.
Film Examining Christian Support for Nazi PartyThe Baptist General Convention of Missouri showed at Columbia, Missouri, the one-hour documentary 'Theologians Under Hitler.' Based on the book Betrayal: German Churches and the Holocaust, it examines the relationship between Christian theologians and the Nazis, something which most Christians are unaware of or in denial about.
Blending Christianity and Science in the Service of Political IdeologyThe conflicts between religious faith and empirical science seems to be continual, but just as continual are the efforts to find some middle ground where both can co-exist. It's important for many Americans to find a way to bridge the gulf between traditional Christian faith and modern science.
Jehovah's Witnesses' Resistance to Hitler and the NazisIt's a common conceit among Christians that their religion was in opposition to the Nazi regime of Germany. The truth, however, is that most Christians either went along with the Nazis or actively supported them. Just about the only Christian group that opposed the Nazis - and paid for it - were the Jehovah's Witnesses. How many other Christians supported them?
Conservative Christian Politics in Pre-Nazi GermanyBefore the Nazis took power in Germany, conservative Christians were actively engaged in defending German Christian culture against the dangers of modernism, secularism, and communism. They insisted that Christianity be the basis for politics and culture; moreover, they were determined to protect society from anti-Christian influences. Does this sound familiar?
Nazi Socialism & Christian Socialism: Opposition to Godless CapitalismIt's common for conservatives to associate liberals in America today with Nazis because both supposedly support socialism (and, ultimately, communism). This reveals a painful ignorance of history because the 'socialism' of the Nazis was of a very particular sort: Nazi socialism was, in their minds, a Christian socialism which opposed communism, liberalism, and atheistic Jewish socialism.
German Catholic Church's Complicity in the Destruction of the JewsThe mass murder of Jews in Germany, as well as throughout Europe, is generally attributed to the Nazis - but committed Nazis in the German government could not have achieved what they did alone. They had to have help from others throughout society and a source of significant, critical help was the Catholic Church. Yes, the Catholic Church was actively complicit in the mass murder of Jews.
Religious Affiliation and Nazi Party SupportAn important subject of research about Nazi Germany is the relationship between people's religion and what they did to support the Nazis: voting for them, joining the party, and/or helping them achieve their goals. It's commonly thought that Nazi support came primarily from Protestants, but the whole truth is a bit more complex.
Hitler and the Nazis: Working God's Will Against the JewsMany Christians today complain about people who simply talk about believing in God without doing anything about it. They have a companion in this whom they'd rather not be associated with: Adolf Hitler. Like many Christians, Hitler wanted people to make an effort to fulfill God's will rather than simply talk about it. Unlike others, though, he tried to do something about it.
Christian Conservatism and the Nazi AgendaThe Nazi Party almost certainly wouldn't have acquired power in Germany if it had not been for the fact that their social and cultural views meshed so well with those of conservative Christians in Germany. The Nazi Party critiqued the same things about the Weimar Republic as conservatives did. They promoted an ideological vision that almost perfectly matched what conservative Christians wanted.
Anti-War Sentiments as TreasonIf it's not possible to whip people up into a frenzy of support for a war, it may be enough for the government to so denigrate anti-war positions that people will be pro-war by default. If anti-war beliefs are valid, then they might attract greater support; if they are perceived as invalid or perhaps treasonous, then people will avoid any association with them out of fear at the very least.
Adolf Hitler & Christian Nationalism: Nazis’ Program of Positive ChristianityA popular image of the Nazis is that they were fundamentally anti-Christian while devout Christians were anti-Nazi. The truth is that German Christians supported the Nazis because they believed that Adolf Hitler was a gift to the German people from God. German Christianity was a divinely sanctioned religious movement which combined Christian doctrine and German character in a unique and desirable manner: True Christianity was German and True German-ness was Christian.
Christian Nationalism: Betrayal of Germany, Betrayal of GodWhen Christians identify their nation's political agenda and political system with God's Will, any losses suffered by their nation are perceived as an affront to God as well. Admission that some political action taken was wrong and needs to be reconsidered is tantamount to a betrayal not just of political leaders and the nation's destiny, but of God as well.
Christian Anti-Semitism in Post-Nazi GermanyJust about everyone is aware of the deep and destructive anti-Semitism which characterized Nazi Germany. Many forget the deep and destructive involvement of German Christians in this anti-Semitism - including the Holocaust. One might imagine that after the truth about what happened was revealed, Christians would have repented; unfortunately, things didn't work out quite that well.
Nazi Germany and the Right-Wing War on Homosexuality, Sexual DevianceOne of the things which the Nazis used to appeal to Christian voters in Weimar Germany was their strong opposition to all forms of sexual deviance: prostitution, pornography, sex without procreation, too much liberty for women, and of course homosexuality. The Nazis argued that all this created impurity within Germany and imperiled Germany's future.
Protestant vs. Catholic Reactions to NazismFor a number of reasons, Christianity was instrumental for Nazi seizure of power in Germany. Some reasons, like the fact that most voters were Christian, are obvious. Other reasons are not so obvious and one of these is the fact that Christian leaders actively reassured Germans that Hitler and the Nazis not only were no threat to Christian civilization, but were in fact a source of hope.
Nazis & Christians: 3rd Reich as Implementation of a Christian AgendaHitler and the Nazis are often cited as an example of the horrible crimes which atheists have committed in the 20th century. They are only assumed to be atheists, it seems, because people can't imagine Christians doing such things - but the fact is that Hitler explicitly appealed to Christianity on a regular basis and this was part of why he was popular.
Christian Nationalism in Nazi Germany"A board hanging in Lippe, Westphalia, in 1935 crudely summed up the Jews for the German Christian Movement (Glaubensbewegung "Deutsche Christen"): "Baptism may be quite useful, but it cannot straighten a nose." The German Christians, as adherents of the movement came to be called, believed National Socialism and Christianity to be mutually reinforcing."
Catholicism, Liberalism, and DemocracyVatican apologists like to portray the Catholic Church as having been a bastion of liberty and democracy during the dark days of Italian fascism under Mussolini. The apologists' history suggests that the Vatican opposed fascism and supported democratic reforms; the truth is just the opposite, though.
When National Interests Take Precedence Over the Rule of LawSome members of the Bush administration, as well as conservative apologists for the administration, believe that the president's responsibilities in time of war and to protect the national interests mean that he can ignore laws and treaties. If he believes the protecting the nation requires violating a law, he has the authority to do so. Where does such reasoning lead?
Christian Churches and Nazi GermanyChristians today often like to make a big deal about Christian opposition to the Nazis in Germany, but such 'opposition' was often more hype than reality. When Christian churches did oppose the Nazis, it was usually in cases of perceived threats to church authority and not in cases of violence towards Jews or Hitler's wars of aggression.
Hitler & SocialismMany conservatives insist that the Nazis were an example of a 'socialist' government as part of their effort to discredit socialism and leftist policies in general. This is rather like using the example of East Germany, the German Democratic Republic, to discredit democracy: it demonstrates the speaker's inability to comprehend reality.
Christian Nationalism: War Theology in Weimar GermanyChristianity is proclaimed by its adherents as a religion of peace which transcends national borders in a manner that unites humanity. The reality, though, is that Christianity has been deeply involved not only with ideologies of nationalism, but also ideologies of war and violence. It's happened before and it could happen again.
Opposition to Liberalism, Secularism, Immorality: Hitler's AppealPeople tend to regard Hitler and the Nazis as being an inherently anti-Christian movement. At the same time, though, the Germany which elected Hitler was overwhelmingly Christian - Jews were a minority and no other religion had significant numbers. What was it that caused Hitler to be so appealing to German Christians?
Adolf Hitler's Positive ChristianityMost people view Hitler as the epitome of evil; he himself, however, certainly didn't view his actions as evil or as being motivated by evil. No one does - most people think that they are doing what is right and/or necessary. Hitler, for example, thought that his actions were consistent with the needs of the German people and the dictates of Christianity
Auschwitz, Anti-Semitism, and Modern Christianity"After Auschwitz the mission of reconciliation and acceptance permits no deferral. Even if we know that Auschwitz is the gruesome expression of an ideology at not only wanted to destroy Judaism but also hated and sought to eradicate from Christianity its Jewish heritage, the question remains..."
Far-Right Attacks on Prisons Being Soft on CriminalsContemporary American conservatism has long made the idea of 'law and order' an important political slogan. Conservatives attack the prison system for being too lenient, for emphasizing treatment over punishment, for pampering prisoners, and for being too sentimental. There is a precedence for such arguments, but it's not a very pleasant one.
Hitler & Christian Anti-CommunismPeople often wonder how and why Hitler could have acquired so much support from the German population. Any reasonable explanation would have to be very complicated, but it is possible to cite one simple reason which has a lot going for it: anti-Communism. Many Germans were frightened of communism and saw Hitler as their Christian salvation.
Terror in the Name of Law & OrderWhen people think of totalitarian regimes like Nazi Germany, they imagine societies where everyone lives in fear of the secret police and government action. The truth, however, is both more mundane and more disturbing: the Nazi state only acted against the undesirables in society, with most people openly supportive of the actions.
Relationship Between Catholicism and Nazism in GermanyA popular image of the Nazis is that they were fundamentally anti-Christian while devout Christians were anti-Nazi. The truth, however, is far more complicated because there were many issues on which Nazis and religious conservatives found common ground. Like any politician, Hitler was able to use these to his advantage
Holocaust Theology for Christians & JewsThe Holocaust is one of the central, defining events of the twentieth century. It's also a defining event for both modern Judaism and Christianity - but while Jews realize this, Christians don't seem to. Some professional theologians do work related to the Holocaust, but for most believers it doesn't appear to have intruded on their thinking.
The Lessons of Nazi Germany for ChristianityThe actions of Nazi Germany appear to contain important lessons for humanity about the use and abuse of power, the insidious nature of hatred and fear, and of course the importance of democratic institutions in protecting us from the whims of authoritarian impulses. Not everyone learns the same lessons, though.
The Catholic Church in Nazi GermanyNazi Germany was responsible for some of the most horrific acts of the twentieth century, if not of all human history. Germany was at the time a very Christian nation with large numbers of both Protestants and Catholics. How did they reconcile their religion with Nazism? How did the churches go along with the Nazi government?
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http://www.calendarlive.com/books/bookreview/cl-bk-wiener7jan07,0,7107958.htmlstory
BOOK REVIEW
'American Fascists' by Chris Hedges
How conservative evangelists are trying to make the United States a Christian nation
By Jon Wiener
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on AmericaChris HedgesFree Press: 256 pp., $25
President Eisenhower famously said, "Our government makes no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don't care what that faith is." The people Chris Hedges writes about in his new book have a different view: They care a lot about the religion on which our government is based and they think it should be Christianity — their version, of course. "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" is a call to arms against what Hedges sees as the efforts of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the operators of Trinity Broadcasting Network, among others, to turn the United States into a Christian nation.Hedges is not your average secular humanist. He knows his Bible. He's the son of a Presbyterian minister and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School. He's also a Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent for the New York Times who has reported from more than 50 countries over the last 20 years.In "American Fascists," Hedges reports in fascinating detail what goes on inside the churches, conventions and meeting halls of the Christian right. He attends a "Love Won Out" conference in Boston, sponsored by James Dobson's Focus on the Family, held to "cure" those who are afflicted by "same-sex attraction." He visits the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., where he finds a display describing evolution as the "big lie."Hedges also goes to the National Religious Broadcasters annual convention, where 5,500 Christian TV and radio folk gather in Anaheim. And he joins a five-day "Evangelism Explosion" seminar in Florida to learn tactics for converting people to the Christian right's version of Christ. That conference is run by D. James Kennedy, whose "The Coral Ridge Hour" is seen weekly on more than 600 TV stations. There, he and 60 other people learn the sales pitch and how to fake friendship for the potential convert. Then they talk about sin. The aspiring evangelists also are told that "eternal life cannot be achieved through good deeds or even a good life," that there is no escape from sin, that belief in Jesus is the only way to eternal life.But the key message Hedges and the others are taught to deliver is that conversion obliterates "our fear of death, not only for ourselves, but the fear we have of losing those we love" — for example, children or spouses fighting in Iraq. This, Hedges argues, is "not only dishonest but cruel," because the fear of death cannot be banished.This message is also dangerous, Hedges writes, because the goal of the Christian right is "not simply conversion but also eventual recruitment into a political movement to create a Christian nation," where constitutional freedoms would be replaced by biblical law, as interpreted by evangelical leaders. Kennedy has been clear about this goal: "As the vice regents of God," the Florida-based minister has written, "we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government," as well as "our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors...."Hedges carefully distinguishes this strand of Protestant Christian evangelicalism, known as "dominionism," from traditional fundamentalism, which "has not tried to transform government ... into an extension of the church." Under Christian dominion, Hedges writes, "Labor unions, civil rights laws and public schools will be abolished.... and all those deemed insufficiently Christian will be denied citizenship." The Christian right could come to power, he suggests, if we had "another catastrophic terrorist attack, an economic meltdown or huge environmental disaster." At that point, Hedges asserts, evangelical leaders such as Kennedy, Falwell and Robertson could be "calling for the punishment, detention and quarantining of gays and lesbians — as well as abortionists, Muslims and other nonbelievers." Thus, Hedges concludes, the United States today faces an internal threat analogous to that posed by the Nazis in Weimar Germany.There are problems with this analogy. First, democracy in America is much stronger than it was in Weimar Germany in 1933. Nor is the Christian right as widespread or powerful as Hedges suggests. Among conservative Christians who are working class or lower class, "a dramatic majority" voted for Bill Clinton for president — that's the finding of sociologists Andrew Greeley and Michael Hout in their recent book "The Truth About Conservative Christians." A 2004 survey for "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly" on PBS found that a majority of evangelicals have an unfavorable view of Falwell and that a significant minority of them are more concerned about jobs and the economy than about abortion and gay marriage. And it isn't as if conservative Christians are the only obstacle to gay marriage: Yes, 85% of white evangelicals oppose gay marriage, but in the general population the figure is 61%. In fact, the differences between today's Christian right and the movements led by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini are greater than the similarities. Hitler was more pagan than Christian. Street violence was a key tactic of Mussolini's Brownshirts; the Christian right has focused on nonviolent demonstrations outside U.S. abortion clinics and on changing laws at the ballot box. And there's a big difference between supporting laws against gay marriage and putting gays in concentration camps.Nevertheless, Hedges concludes that the Christian right "should no longer be tolerated," because it "would destroy the tolerance that makes an open society possible." What does he think should be done? He endorses the view that "any movement preaching intolerance places itself outside the law," and therefore we should treat "incitement to intolerance and persecution as criminal." Thus he rejects the 1st Amendment protections for freedom of speech and religion, and court rulings that permit prosecution for speech only if there is an imminent threat to particular individuals.Hedges advocates passage of federal hate-crimes legislation prohibiting intolerance, but he doesn't really explain how it would work. Many countries do prohibit "hate speech." Holocaust denial, for example, is a crime in Germany, Austria and several other European countries. But does this mean that Hedges favors prosecuting Christian fundamentalists for declaring, for example, that abortion providers are murderers or that secular humanists are agents of Satan? He doesn't say.Prosecuting Pat Robertson for his preaching is likely to win him more sympathy and support, not less. There is a stronger answer to those who want to prohibit speech they consider wrong and dangerous: The solution is not less speech but more. Argue back. Debate your opponents. Fight arguments with better ones. Challenge them in elections with strong candidates. That's the way to preserve the tolerance that Hedges values. And as the November midterm elections seemed to show, it works. Jon Wiener, a history professor at UC Irvine, is the author of numerous books, most recently "Historians in Trouble: Plagiarism, Fraud and Politics in the Ivory Tower."Conversion obliterates 'our fear of death.'
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http://www.creationtheory.org/Morality/Hitler.shtml
Creationism versus Scientific Evolution Theory: Atheist Morality
Atheist Morality
Was Hitler an Atheist?
Atheists have been, and continue to be the targets of a vicious, tireless smear campaign. For example, after informally questioning my co-workers, I realized to my chagrin that most of them think Adolf Hitler was an atheist! Not one of them realized that Adolf Hitler had a strict Catholic upbringing (of the type that supposedly produces moral, virtuous people), or that he was an altar boy in his youth, or that he once told General Gerhart Engel that "I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so". None of them knew that his infamous "Mein Kampf" contains phrases such as this: "Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." (among many, many other things; see my page on Hitler’s Religion for more). None of them knew that Nazi soldiers wore belt buckles inscribed with "Gott mit uns" (God is with us).
None of them knew that he made Christian school prayer mandatory for the 1930's German schoolchildren who grew up to be his dreaded SS, or that he publicly espoused "family values", which in his mind meant the condemnation of sexual "perversions" rather than the promotion of healthy marriages and parenting methods (rather reminiscent of the right-wing fundamentalist position today). None of them knew how much the German Christian Social movement resembled the modern right-wing Christian Fundamentalist movement. None of them knew that Hitler closely followed the anti-Semitic teachings of none other than Martin Luther, founder of Protestantism, but this isn't surprising since they didn't know about Martin Luther's extreme anti-Semitism either, even though he wrote a book titled "On Jews and their Lies". Anti-atheists have noted that Hitler had minor disagreements with the Catholic church in Germany (but not with the church in Rome, with which he signed a Concordat in 1933, and which ordered the German church to fall in line), and they have attempted to twist these minor disagreements into a widespread misconception that he was an atheist, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Numerous arguments have been advanced in favour of the notion that Hitler was an atheist, despite the above information. Among them are:
· "While most of the concentration camp victims were Slavs (5 million) and Jews (6 million), Hitler killed Christians too, so he was obviously an atheist rather than a Christian, despite the misleading quotes you use": Nice try, but the medieval Catholics killed Christians for disobedience too; does this make them atheists? George W. Bush approved of the execution of many criminals who were Christian; does this make him an atheist? The question is not whether Hitler killed Christians; the question is why. When one considers that Hitler himself openly professed his Christian faith in both his writings and public speeches, and when one considers the specific actions for which Christians were arrested and killed, it's obvious that they were killed for actively opposing his government, not for being Christian. This is entirely different from his hatred of Jews (whose only crime was their religion and race) and Slavs (whose only crime was citizenship in a "Godless Bolshevik" state). As for the "misleading" quotes, it's one thing for an atheist to use the word "God" (I myself say things like "Thank God" even though I don't actually believe in God), but it's quite another for him to say "My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Saviour as a fighter," isn't it?
· "Hitler feuded with the German churches, so he obviously wasn't a Christian": As before, this proves nothing since Christians have feuded with one another for centuries. In Hitler's case, his only feud with the church was over the division of power between church and state. Note that he never contested the idea that church and religion belonged in government; he only insisted that he have control over the church, rather than the church having control over him.
· "Hitler believed in Norse mythology and various other forms of pagan mysticism, so he wasn't true Christian": Some of Hitler's underlings promoted a bastardized form of Christianity into which they mixed elements of Norse mythology, but no one in the Nazi regime ever spoke against Christianity, and Hitler publicly, loudly, repeatedly professed his Christian faith. The only way to view the Nazis as anything but a Christian state is to distort the facts beyond recognition; a pagan state would not pray to Jesus in its schoolrooms or enter into a concordat with the Catholic church! The tinge of Norse mysticism was only intended to create a particular Teutonic flavour of Christianity for the purpose of enhancing German racial pride, not to oppose or remove Christianity.
· "Hitler's actions were un-Christian, therefore he was not a true Christian, even if he claimed to be one": I suppose that would depend on how you define "true Christian". The medieval Catholics did everything Hitler did and more; does this mean they weren't "true Christians" either? One Catholic actually E-mailed me to argue that Hitler's actions were far worse than those of the Catholic church, as if gas chambers are so much worse than hacking a "witch"'s breasts off, violating her with heated metal instruments, and then tearing her limbs out of their sockets on the rack! I define a Christian as one who believes that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. Others define it far more narrowly, so that they can exclude people like Hitler and Mengele. But if they are to use such a narrow definition, then they must be willing to admit that most self-professed "Christians" throughout history have not been truly Christian. Either way, they certainly couldn't call them atheists.
· "Christians outside Germany fought Hitler, so the Nazis were enemies of Christianity": This argument confuses nationalism with religion; Christian nations have been fighting each other for centuries. In reality, Christians throughout the world actively supported anti-semitism and even eugenics until Hitler went so far that peoples' consciences were finally pricked. America sterilized thousands of people with its own eugenics program before the Nazis began theirs, and Hitler's anti-Semite campaigns went almost unnoticed until they went beyond "mere" segregation and confiscation of property. In fact, in 1939, The Bishop of Hannover (among others) signed the following statement: "The foundation of this institute is based on the conviction that Jewish influence in all areas of German life, including therefore that of the Church and religon, must be brought to light and eliminated". Not exactly a stunning condemnation of Hitler's anti-Semitism, is it? But one doesn't need such quotes to make the point; one need only think about it. Germany was one of the most fiercely religious nations in Europe at the time Hitler rose to power. If Hitler's anti-Semitism offended all Christian principles at the time, then why did Germany's largely Christian population give power to an outspoken anti-Semite? Modern, moralistic Christianity is a reaction to Hitler; he forced Christians to look at themselves in the mirror and change their ways. That's good, but as the right-wing fundamentalists are demonstrating every day, the spectre of "traditional" Christianity always lurks beneath the surface, ready to return if we give it a chance. It is the responsibility of not just secular humanists, but also ethical Christians to make sure this doesn't happen.
"No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God."- George H.W. Bush, speaking to a reporter in 1988, while serving as Vice President of the United States (he's arguing that millions of Americans should have their citizenships revoked, and that neither George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Abraham Lincoln were citizens or patriots, since Washington and Jefferson were deists rather than theists, and Lincoln was an atheist) A dissenting opinion on George Bush's ignorant notion that America is "one nation under God": "No man [should] be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor [should he] be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor ... otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief ... All men [should] be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and ... the same [should] in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities."- Thomas Jefferson, Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779.
· "The worldwide Christian community knew nothing of the horrors of the Holocaust until very late in the war, and that's why they didn't say anything. Once the news got out, the worldwide Christian community united against him.": This is just a variation upon the previous argument, and it's an historical whitewash. The worldwide Christian community at the time was strongly anti-semitic, and collectively gave little help to the Jews. The idea that they fought to save the Jews was invented after the war. The historical fact is that the Allies knew about the horrors of the concentration camp by the start of 1942, from spy networks and the eyewitness accounts of escapees, but no one cared. Anti-semitism was powerful and omnipresent: Canada turned away 3,000 Jewish child refugees at the border (all are believed to have eventually died at Auschwitz). America turned away 30,000 Jewish child refugees on its own, as did many of the European nations who were in a position to save countless Jews. An American rabbi had to use his own money to purchase full-page ads in newspapers to publicize the millions of deaths of the Holocaust because the newspapers were putting the information in tiny articles on the back pages. The "March of the Rabbis" had to be organized in Washington DC because the politicians considered the Jewish Holocaust to be a low-priority situation. Winston Churchill proposed bombing the gas chambers (or at the very least, the rail lines leading to the concentration camps) in order to stem the tide of death, but they were not deemed strategically important targets. FDR responded to the March of the Rabbis by ignoring them and sneaking out a back door. There was no worldwide Christian revulsion at the Holocaust until after the war, when movies and pictures finally awoke long-dormant consciences that had been unaffected by written reports.
· "Hitler drew his inspiration from Nietszche, an atheist, and not Christianity": Nice try, but Nietszche opposed anti-semitism and he was ashamed of his German heritage. Does that sound like Nazism to you? Hitler used Nietszche the same way most people use Nietszche today: only as a source of an occasional handy quote. I've known a lot of Christians who quoted Nietszche at one time or another, and because of the ubiquity of Nietszche quotes, many of them don't even realize that he was an atheist until you point it out.
· "The swastika is an ancient pagan symbol, so the Nazis were Pagans rather than Christians": This seems quite convincing at first, but swastika-like forms are found in so many cultural artifacts throughout history that the use of that shape cannot be taken as proof of paganism. Did Hitler know of the swastika's use in pagan culture? Did he know of any of its history? Or was he simply influenced by the fact that during his youth, he lived near a monastery whose coat of arms included a swastika? Again, not to belabour the point, but given his loud and repeated public professions of Christian faith, as well as the lack of privately expressed sentiments against God, as well as the official policies of the Nazi party, it would take much stronger evidence than this to disprove the fact that he was a Christian.
"Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity."- Sen. Joseph McCarthy, in a speech to the Ohio County Womens' Republican Club on February 9, 1950 (according to McCarthy, Abraham Lincoln was an enemy of the state, for saying that "My earlier views of the unsoundness of the Christian scheme of salvation and the human origin of the scriptures, have become clearer and stronger with advancing years and I see no reason for thinking I shall ever change them"). McCarthy was merely echoing Hitler's virulent anti-Bolshevism, but Christian historical revisionists have made it seem as if McCarthy's crusade was against the communist economic model rather than its atheism. Indeed, if McCarthy was right about Christianity being a prerequisite for all Americans, then perhaps he could have explained the following sentiment from one of the "Founding Fathers": "The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites."- Thomas Jefferson, letter to his nephew, Peter Carr (one can only wonder whether he would have classified McCarthy as a fool, or a hypocrite).

Christian claims concerning Hitler's "atheism" are historical revisionism at its worst. Every vague hint, every subtle clue to anything even slightly different from Christianity is blown wildly out of proportion, while all of the official policies of the Nazi government as well as Hitler's own speeches and writings are dismissed as unimportant, irrelevant, and misleading. If you listen to a typical right-wing Christian fundamentalist describing World War Two, you would think it was a struggle between the righteous forces of God-fearing Christians and the evil forces of godless heathens. Nothing could be further from the truth.
When confronted by the fact that Hitler's example hardly helps in their slander campaign against atheists, some anti-atheists suddenly switch gears to Marxism and point out that Marxism is atheistic, in an obvious attempt to tie atheism to past and present human rights abuses in Russia and China. However, that is a logical fallacy: the fact that all Marxists are atheists does not mean that all atheists must therefore be Marxists (if you don't understand why that's a fallacy, go back to school). It's also an unnecessary slander against Marxists. While I find Marx's communist ideas to be very seriously flawed, I must note that he never would have approved of the violent regimes of Stalin or Mao. Atheism is merely the refusal to believe in a God for whom no scientific evidence exists. It does not necessarily lead to Stalinism, or decadence, or the breakdown of family values, or any of these other ridiculous charges that are routinely levied at it.
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