Posted on 08/12/2005 3:00:22 PM PDT by Sam Gamgee
I find it curious that we hear so much about Stalin's warfare against religion - to the extent he had Orthodox Churches demolished? But why didn't Hitler attack the Church? Is the German Church guilty of sitting idly by while Hitler massacred Poles and Jews - and said nothing? Hitler was in no way a Christian - he embraced the occult.
Hitler did attack the church indirectly by enforcing all sorts of ridiculous paralyzing financial transactions, laws against proseletyzing, imprisonment when anyone dared to speak or even hint at opposition.
Germany already had a history of anti-Catholic persecution under Otto von Bismarck and the Rheinland in particular came under persecution in the 1870's. Priests were often in hiding from the Berlin regime which was (supposedly Lutheran), but also managed to find the more conservative Lutherans unacceptable and persecuted them too. The laws which these persecutions came under were known as the "May laws." Eventually they were all overturned as it caused chaos.
There were more Christians, homosexuals and gypsies killed than perhaps even the Jews. Their were many many millions dead that weren't Jewish.
Hitler was killing many for control and his bent views. He also had the Vatican surrounded and they were fortunate to not be invaded.
I can only think that Hitler realized that if he invaded the Vatican, the rest of the Catholics around the world would strike against him and he wanted to conquer on his terms, not theirs.
In the end, he was a bastard and today Israel has quite a battle on Her hands and I stand by Her 100%.
It's also worth noting that Hitler's mommy was a devout Catholic. This may have had some influence in how he went about attacking the church.
Night of 11th-12th July, 1941
"National Socialism and religion cannot exist together....
"The heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity. Bolshevism is Christianity's illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew. The deliberate lie in the matter of religion was introduced into the world by Christianity....
"Let it not be said that Christianity brought man the life of the soul, for that evolution was in the natural order of things."
10th October, 1941, midday
"Christianity is a rebellion against natural law, a protest against nature. Taken to its logical extreme, Christianity would mean the systematic cultivation of the human failure."
14th October, 1941, midday
"The best thing is to let Christianity die a natural death.... When understanding of the universe has become widespread... Christian doctrine will be convicted of absurdity....
"Christianity has reached the peak of absurdity.... And that's why someday its structure will collapse....
"...the only way to get rid of Christianity is to allow it to die little by little....
"Christianity the liar....
"We'll see to it that the Churches cannot spread abroad teachings in conflict with the interests of the State."
19th October, 1941, night
"The reason why the ancient world was so pure, light and serene was that it knew nothing of the two great scourges: the pox and Christianity."
21st October, 1941, midday
"Originally, Christianity was merely an incarnation of Bolshevism, the destroyer.... "The decisive falsification of Jesus' doctrine was the work of St.Paul. He gave himself to this work... for the purposes of personal exploitation.... "Didn't the world see, carried on right into the Middle Ages, the same old system of martyrs, tortures, faggots? Of old, it was in the name of Christianity. Today, it's in the name of Bolshevism. Yesterday the instigator was Saul: the instigator today, Mardochai. Saul was changed into St.Paul, and Mardochai into Karl Marx. By exterminating this pest, we shall do humanity a service of which our soldiers can have no idea."
13th December, 1941, midnight
"Christianity is an invention of sick brains: one could imagine nothing more senseless, nor any more indecent way of turning the idea of the Godhead into a mockery....
"When all is said, we have no reason to wish that the Italians and Spaniards should free themselves from the drug of Christianity. Let's be the only people who are immunised against the disease."
14th December, 1941, midday
"Kerrl, with noblest of intentions, wanted to attempt a synthesis between National Socialism and Christianity. I don't believe the thing's possible, and I see the obstacle in Christianity itself....
"Pure Christianity-- the Christianity of the catacombs-- is concerned with translating Christian doctrine into facts. It leads quite simply to the annihilation of mankind. It is merely whole-hearted Bolshevism, under a tinsel of metaphysics."
9th April, 1942, dinner
"There is something very unhealthy about Christianity."
27th February, 1942, midday
"It would always be disagreeable for me to go down to posterity as a man who made concessions in this field. I realize that man, in his imperfection, can commit innumerable errors-- but to devote myself deliberately to errors, that is something I cannot do. I shall never come personally to terms with the Christian lie."
"Our epoch in the next 200 years will certainly see the end of the disease of Christianity.... My regret will have been that I couldn't... behold ."
"Israel has quite a battle on Her hands and I stand by Her 100%"
As do many more than even Israel can imagine!
From Hitler's own perspective, he saw Christianity as a dying, increasingly irrelevent force that would be replaced by German paganism and nationalism. Nevertheless, with the urging of Goebbels, he used propaganda to drum up support among Catholics and Lutherans, playing the anti-semitic and anti-communist card to great effect among the German sheeple, er, people.
probably a lot of non-homosexuals, too. My guess is, way more. So? It is also said that some of the leadership in the Third Reich was homosexual, which seems compatible with the sort of vindictive sadism of that gripped the movement.
interesting account. chiefly tells of what awful evil can come from seemingly not-so-awful-clearly-militant movements unchecked. I'm thinking of Howard Dean.
Of course he attacked the church. There were huge numbers of Christians killed for aiding the Jews, and for their refusal to bow the knee to the Third Reich.
He may not have attacked the organized infrastructure which surrounded the church, but so what. The true church is the body of believers, not the religious trappings of an organization.
"The Fuhrer is deeply religious though completely anti-Christian. He views Christianity as a symptom of decay. Rightly so, it is a branch of the Jewish race."
---Joeseph Goebbels
He was probably referencing the charity and sharing of resources and property common among the early church. The difference is that Marxism is forced 'generosity' by the control freak state, whereas Christian charity is an individual choice.
This is, of course the silly tactic of the socialist Democrats, as they try to 'steal the God issue' from the Republicans. They're as ignorant as the socialist Nazis.
Dear Sam Gamgee,
As you can see from the little here, Hitler didn't precisely love the Catholic Church. In fact, he desired to kidnap and kill Pope Pius XII, but was dissuaded from that course of action by senior men in his government.
As for Pope Pius XI and Pope Pius XII, although each seems to have had a visceral hatred for National Socialism, nonetheless, in the early years of the German fascist regime, the Vatican tried to treat the German government with the respect generally due to governments by the Church, even governments that fall short of Catholic ideals.
After all, although our own system is hardly like that of the Nazis, nonetheless, in our own nation, our laws and system of "justice" fall far enough short of any sort of ideal in that we permit the murder of 1.2 million unborn human beings annually.
Nonetheless, the Vatican does not pillory us daily, nor try to raise armies to oppose the United States.
In fact, Pope Pius XI and Pope Pius XII both spoke out against much of the National Socialist program, much to the distress of Hitler. In fact, after the death of Pope Pius XI, the German government was clear in stating that the only Catholic cardinal unacceptable to the German government as the new pontiff was the hated Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli.
Thus, the conclave promptly elected Cardinal Pacelli Supreme Pontiff, who then took the name Pope Pius XII.
The popes spoke out, but using the language of diplomacy. As well, once the war broke out, the Vatican understood two things: it was important to maintain the appearance of neutrality, should, at some time during the conflict, it become necessary for the Vatican to serve as an "honest broker" in diplomatic dialogue between the warring sides; and that Hitler might abuse vulnerable populations should Vatican rhetoric become to enflamed.
As it is, when the Dutch bishops of the Catholic Church spoke out strongly against the Nazis, the Nazis took extra special care to especially clean out every last Jew in the Netherlands. The Holocaust from the Netherlands was much more nearly complete than in most of the rest of Europe.
Thus, one may wish to criticize the somewhat muted voice of the Catholic Church. However, one must also look at the task to which the Church set Herself rather than a lot of pompous, righteous, indignant words.
Indeed, even while making clear Her opposition to the German regime, She set about saving Jews. The Catholic Church, under orders from Pope Pius XII, saved between 700,000 and 860,000 Jews during World War II, gaining the praise of many Jewish leaders.
If it were not for the Catholic Church, we would speak of seven million dead rather than six million dead.
Although the words were there condemning National Socialism, nonetheless, actions speak louder than words, and the Catholic Church provided more than Her fair share of that, too.
sitetest
Really? I always get this idea that there was virtually no resistance whatsoever from within Germany. Maybe that's because we never hear about any of it?
Dear Sam Gamgee,
"Well, history seems to state that the Church brokered for the security of the Vatican."
No real history.
sitetest
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