I suppose you can argue that the clergy never endorsed him, but has your clergy ever endorsed YOU??
2008-02-10T06:57:00Z
Now let's not forget, as a Christian he could go back to church on Sunday and "be forgiven".
And yes, it is true that most Christian clergy including the Catholics refused to take a stand on the issues in WWII
2008-02-10T06:59:07Z
Who decides who the TRUE Christians are any way? Is that YOU? Do you have a central Christian authority for deciding this? If so, what did they say about you?
Hatikvah2008-02-10T06:54:38Z
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Who cares whether or not Hitler was Christian. There's no denying that the entire Christian community aided and abetted him!
In the judgment of Konrad Adenuaer, first chancellor of the Federal Republic, writing in 1946: “The German people permitted itself to be nazified without offering resistance-yes, even with enthusiasm. Therein lies its guilt.”
Book Review: “Holocaust's Bystanders” by Steven Welch Friedlander paints a damning portrait of the conduct of the bystanders. Passivity and indifference predominated, but in many cases the Nazis could count on the active support of non-German authorities and their security forces in facilitating the annihilation process. As he points out, "not one social group, not one religious community, not one scholarly institution or professional association in Germany and throughout Europe declared its solidarity with the Jews". Friedlander is especially critical of the failure of the Christian churches, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox, to respond to the onslaught against the Jews. He identifies the virulent anti-Judaism cultivated by Christianity over centuries as a major contributor to the anti-Semitic culture that, he argues, took hold in Germany under Nazism but also flourished in the rest of Europe as well. The fact that Christian churches shared with Nazism anti-communist, anti-liberal and anti-materialist views rendered the churches incapable of coming to the defense of the Jewish population. Pope Pius XII comes in for heavy criticism for his "selective appeasement" of the Nazis. While the Pope sought in some cases to raise objections to Nazi measures, his concern did not extend to the mass murder perpetrated against the Jews. The Pope's silence stands as a disturbing example of the broader moral failure of the European and American spiritual and intellectual elites in the face of the Holocaust.
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist; Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist; Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist; Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew; Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak out for me. -Pastor Martin Niemöller, 1945
Can read the words of Jesus, and find anything that fits Hitler? Hitler himself said "[Making peace with the church] won't stop me from stamping out Christianity in Germany, root and branch. One is either a Christian or a German. You can't be both." (J. S. Conway, The Nazi Persecution of the Churches, quoted in Lutzer, pp. 113-114.)
Einstein said Being a lover of freedom, when the (Nazi) revolution came, I looked to the universities to defend it, knowing that they had always boasted of their devotion to the cause of truth; but no, the universities were immediately silenced. Then I looked to the great editors of the newspapers, whose flaming editorials in days gone by had proclaimed their love of freedom; but they, like the universities, were silenced in a few short weeks...
Only the Church stood squarely across the path of Hitler's campaign for suppressing truth. I never had any special interest in the Church before, but now I feel a great affection and admiration for it because the Church alone has had the courage and persistence to stand for intellectual and moral freedom. I am forced to confess that what I once despised I now praise unreservedly. Albert Einstein Kampi und Zeugnis der bekennenden Kirche p.526.
hi, a million) You forgot the reality that Hitler did depart the Catholic church and sacraments at a youthful age. 2) he's amazingly confusing to peg thought clever as he contradicted himself from one rant to the subsequent. In some he could communicate of " Rosenberg's "useful Christianity" and say i'm Catholic yet interior the subsequent he could say that Christianity replaced into little better than a bastardized form of Judaism and a faith of slaves incompatible with national Socialism. i'm going to spare you posting a team of fees as you will discover maximum of contradictions to his professional - Christan ones. 3) In his time Germany replaced into 2/3 Protestant and a million/3 Catholic. He had the Jews and commies as his scapegoats and enemy already. clearly he had to pander to those Christians to get votes whilst increasing to ability. Later down the line the Nazis needed Christianity weeded out of this 1000 year Reich. 4) The grounds for "formal" excommunication interior the Catholic church are indexed right here and Hitler did not meet this standards: a million.Heresy 2.Violating the species - ie taking the consecrated host off for black magic rituals or trampling on it or doing different incorrect issues with it. 3. utilising tension against the physique of the Pontiff 4. Giving absolution to a individual who's a companion in violation of the 6th commandment different than in time of loss of existence. 5. Pretending to be a clergyman (ie asserting mass listening to confessions etc) 6. Consecrating somebody a bishop who isn't a clergyman. 7.Breaking the seal of confession 8. Being an interpreter and breaking the seal of confession 9. procuring an abortion. 5) Be all that because it ought to reason ought to finally dictate to you that philosophy and teachings like turn the different cheek, forgive all people who vex you - even your enemies, the myth of the reliable Samaritan (overlaying race relatives), the meek shall inherit the earth, blessed are the peacemakers by to blessed are the merciful could make any good Nazi purely vomit in disgust. Cheers, Michael Kelly Edit - a) by skill of ways the main asinine fact that usually comes up right it extremely is that Hitler replaced into Catholic, not Christian. The Nazis had little toleration for such ineptness and could have the two shot or a minimum of buried their jack boots interior the buttocks of such human beings. besides it fairly is yet another tale! b) could you teach me the place the Vatican gave large help morally and financially to the Nazis and please cite good components for this fabric.
Hitler was baptized Catholic and used Christianity very cleverly in his rise to power. However, once he was firmly in power, his desire to cobble together a German folk religion based on the supremacy of the Aryan "race" and developed along the lines of theosophy has been well established.
To me the question isn't whether he was Christian, atheist, whatever, since no group can be held responsible for the conduct of one of its members. The question should be, "Why did so many German Christians go along with him?" Without the group's cooperation, Hitler would have been a complete dud.
Isn't it bad enough that George Bush is a Christian! Why dredge up Hitler? Oh, Xians wouldn't do that? What about the Crusades (without which we would not have had 9/11)? What about the Salem Witch Trials? What about the murder of Matthew Sheppard? What about the Westboro Baptist Church? Xianity is the evil of the age. Islamists are little old ladies at a tea by comparison!