His Kampfbund [supporters/sycophants/useful idiots] are just out looking for a beer hall.
Posted on 06/26/2015 9:53:48 PM PDT by ealgeone
In 1933, Hitler signed the Reichskonkordat (Reich Concordat), a treaty with the Vatican that required the regime to honour the independence of Catholic institutions and prohibited clergy from involvement in politics.[135] However, the regime continued to target the Christian churches and to try to weaken their influence. Throughout 1935 and 1936, hundreds of clergy, nuns, and lay leaders were arrested, often on trumped up charges of currency smuggling or sexual offences.[136][137] Goebbels widely publicised the trials in his propaganda campaigns, showing the cases in the worst possible light.[136] Restrictions were placed on public meetings, and Catholic publications faced censorship. Catholic schools were required to reduce religious instruction and crucifixes were removed from state buildings.[138][b] Hitler often vacillated on whether or not the Kirchenkampf (church struggle) should be a priority, but his frequent inflammatory comments on the issue were enough to convince Goebbels to intensify his work on the issue in the first half of 1937.[139]
In response to the persecution, Pope Pius XI had the "Mit brennender Sorge" ("With Burning Concern") Encyclical smuggled into Germany for Passion Sunday 1937 and read from every pulpit. It denounced the systematic hostility of the regime toward the church.[140][141] In response, Goebbels renewed the regime's crackdown and propaganda against Catholics.[142] His speech of 28 May in Berlin in front of 20,000 party members, which was also broadcast on the radio, attacked the Catholic church as morally corrupt. As a result of the propaganda campaign, enrolment in denominational schools dropped sharply, and by 1939 all such schools were disbanded or converted to public facilities. Harassment and threats of imprisonment led the clergy to be much more cautious in their criticism of the regime.[143] Partly out of foreign policy concerns, Hitler ordered a scaling back the church struggle by the end of July 1937.[144]
How ironic.
Bkmrk.
Riley, in an exclusive interview with Daily Mail online, said: ‘I have spoken with the President and the Vice President about this. And I have talked to the White House too.
‘One of the things we need to do is for the national government to give resources to expose these hate groups.
‘In America we worship the first amendment and any body can say anything they want.
‘But we need to shine the spotlight on them. . . so at least we know where they are among the public.
‘Neighbors should be able to know that the person living next to them is an absolute bigot. So there is a lot of work to do.’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3304867/posts?page=1
Keep in mind that during this exact period, there was a civil war in Spain, in which over 6000 Catholic clergy were murdered by the Republican (communist) government. This included priests, nuns, brothers, and 16 of 18 bishops.
Of course, that war has been falsely cast as a war between the popular “democratic” Republicans and evil Fascists led by Franco, his generals, and the Catholic Church — with the full support of Nazi Germany. (just take a glance at the Wikipedia “history” of that war)
To understand the history of what was going on with the Church and many of the totalitarian regimes in Europe at the time, I highly recommend William Carroll’s book on the Spanish Civil War, The Last Crusade.
In the diary of Joseph Goebbles, he wrote that once the war is over they would have to settle the score with the churches.
Hitler and Goebbels were both nominal Catholics. But they were certainly not practicing their faith, and Goebbles was quite hostile to Christianity. Cartoons belittled priests, and until the end of the war there were subtle digs against religion in the most important propaganda films.
I once saw in a university library a pamphlet given to Wehrmacht soldiers at Christmas season. It had nothing in it about the birth of Jesus: just evergreen trees, decorations, and things derived from the pagan Germanic past, but nothing specifically Christian. It was quite amazing.
It reminds me that Christmas time for most Americans is shopping season, hurly burly, and (at best) family get-togethers. Oh, and parties.
On NPR this morning Scott Simon, a hater, interviewed some guy affiliated with the National Cathedral who wants to two stained glass windows removed, one with Lee and the other with Grant because they contain confederate flag. Simon and his ilk will practice their form of hate using the gay “marriage” issue. Their attacks this week on the South and on the Church are just the opening salvo in CWII. They are hoping for the other side to roll over this time rather than rise up and fight. The interesting thing is that they don’t really know what the war is really about (Christianity, America, freedom). They think it is just one or two more progressive issues.
His Kampfbund [supporters/sycophants/useful idiots] are just out looking for a beer hall.
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