Was Hitler An Atheist ?

[stefano]

[Thurisaz]

One can argue both pro or con easily. The bastard's speeches and accursed book are just like da wholly babble, pick quotes a to e and you can "prove" it was a jebus cultist, pick quotes q to v and you can "prove" just as easily that it was an atheist. Oh, and quotes x to z "prove" it was a heathen.

 

I tend to answer to your question with "doesn't matter" today. I tend to point to the millions of people who gladly followed its orders... and who were predominantly jebus cultists. As I see it, that means much more

[OpheliaGinger]

Gott mit uns, so no.

[nightflight]

Hitler was an opportunist; he used Christian language to get support from, well, Christians. And it worked; the churches en masse supported him. I do think that he had a vague belief in "Providence", especially when things went his way.

[Ouroboros]

From the things I've read, he was like Nightflight says, an opportunist. He brought in different ideas and beliefs. He was very interested in pagan ideas, and he consulted a psychic, and during the first half of the war he played nice with the Catholic Church. I can't say if he was Christian, I think that is a stretch, but he was not an atheist for sure. He had too much religious baggage.

[stefano]

From the things I've read, he was like Nightflight says, an opportunist. He brought in different ideas and beliefs. He was very interested in pagan ideas, and he consulted a psychic, and during the first half of the war he played nice with the Catholic Church. I can't say if he was Christian, I think that is a stretch, but he was not an atheist for sure. He had too much religious baggage.

 

The Vatican helped Hitler to gain supreme power in Germany in 1933. The Centre Party (Zenstrumspartei) of Father Kaas was important in the process.

 

http://www.spirituallysmart.com/nazi.html

"The Fuhrer had come to power, thanks to the votes of the Catholic Zentrum [Center Party overseen by Jesuit Ludwig Kaas], only five years before [1933], but most of the objectives cynically revealed in Mein Kampf were already realized; this book . . . was written by the Jesuit [controlled] Father [bernhardt] Stempfle and signed by Hitler. For . . . it was the Society of Jesus which perfected the famous Pan-German programme as laid out in this book, and the Fuhrer endorsed it." {10} [Emphasis added] Edmond Paris, 1965 French Historian The Secret History of the Jesuits

 

On 30 January 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor. On 23 March 1933 his government was given legislative powers through the Enabling Act and was passed by all Reichstag except the Social Democrats and Communists (whose deputies had already been arrested). Hitler had obtained the votes of the Centre Party, led by Prelate Ludwig Kaas, by issuing oral guarantees of the party's continued existence and the autonomy of the Church and her educational institutions. He also promised good relations with the Holy See, which some interpret as a hint on a future concordat.(In other Words, a Catholic Priest was largely responsible for putting Hitler in power)

 

Signing the Concordat is Cardinal Pacelli (later to become Pope Pius XII). By 1933, he was the Vatican Secretary of State. Far Left is Prelate Ludwig Kaas, leader of the Centre (Zentrum) Party). Seated second from his left is Franz von Papen who was a German nobleman, Catholic politician, General Staff officer, and diplomat, who served as Chancellor of Germany (Reichskanzler) in 1932.. Standing at the far right can be seen the little known Vatican prelate, Montini, later to become Pope Paul VI.

 

 

 

On 30 January 1933 Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor. On 23 March 1933 his government was given legislative powers through the Enabling Act and was passed by all Reichstag except the Social Democrats and Communists (whose deputies had already been arrested). Hitler had obtained the votes of the Centre Party, led by Prelate Ludwig Kaas, by issuing oral guarantees of the party's continued existence and the autonomy of the Church and her educational institutions. He also promised good relations with the Holy See, which some interpret as a hint on a future concordat.

 

In April, he sent his vice chancellor Franz von Papen, a Catholic nobleman and former member of the Centre Party, to Rome to offer negotiations about a Reichskonkordat. On behalf of Cardinal Pacelli, Ludwig Kaas, the out-going chairman of the Centre Party, negotiated the draft of the terms with Papen. The concordat was finally signed, by Pacelli for the Vatican and von Papen for Germany, on 20th July. One of Hitler's key conditions for agreeing to the concordat, in violation to earlier promises, had been the dissolution of the Centre Party, which occurred on July 6.

 

The Reichskonkordat was ratified on September 10, 1933. In the Concordat, the German government achieved a complete proscription of all clerical interference in the political field (articles 16 and 32). It also ensured the bishops' loyalty to the state by an oath and required all priests to be Germans and subject to German superiors. Restrictions were also placed on the Catholic organisations.

 

Shortly before signing the Reichskonkordat, Germany signed similar agreements with the major Protestant churches in Germany.

[Ouroboros]

My understanding is that there are some evidence from the Nuremberg trials that points to that they had plans to destroy Christianity and replace it with a "pure race" religion. They pretty much wanted to reinvent religion.

 

But maybe it's related to the concept I've seen with some Catholics I know, they don't consider themselves as Christian. They use the word Christians as to label Protestants, which I find kind of amusing.

[MathGeek]

Not every Catholic was for Hitler's ways and means. The Bishop of Muenster made sermons that denounced Hitler prior to WWII. Check out some of the videos that feature Catholic apologetics.

[NaturalSelection]

I don't know what he really thought but I'm pretty sure he was no atheist.

 

He most definitely used Christianity to gain power and indoctrinate the masses during the 1930s.

 

Read some of these quotes that he made in public speeches.

 

http://www.nobeliefs.com/Hitler1.htm

 

 

..and don't forget what German soldiers had on their belt buckels.."God with us".

[SilentLoner]

Article 24 of the Nazi manifesto states that "The party stands for positive Christianity", and Hitler used Christian rhetoric in many of his speeches. (The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich; Shirer, William; pg. 235)

 

"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." (Mein Kampf; Hitler, Adolph; Vol. 1, Chapter 2)

 

"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them… In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice... For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.” (The Speeches of Adolf Hitler Vol. 1; Baynes, Norman H.; pg. 19-20)

 

"Who says I am not under the protection of god?"

-Adolf Hitler

[stefano]

Nazis with the leader of Slovakian nazi-puppet-state, Monsignor Jozef Tiso (clerofascist)

 

 

[Abiyoyo]

I don't think he was an atheist; yet I do say he is a good example of taking a religious writing to an extreme. He accredited Christ, persecuted the Jews. He was pretty much always obsessed with power; and from what they say it looks like to me he read the Gospels in that context, seeing Christ as a power figure, instead of a spiritual figure. Ironically, Martin Luther supposedly influenced him as well with his Jewish disposition.

[The-Captain]

I'd say he believed in power. If something seemed to offer it he believed it. And from what I've read of him it sounds like he really did believe in these various things, albeit in a twisted manner. So like you all said, an opportunist.

[Ouroboros]

And the funny thing is that he also believed in Social Darwinism. Basically, taking evolution and misinterpret that one too. I think that's the part that makes some Christians think that Hitler was an atheist, because they confuse Social Darwinism with Evolution and also with non-Christian.

[R. S. Martin]

And the funny thing is that he also believed in Social Darwinism. Basically, taking evolution and misinterpret that one too. I think that's the part that makes some Christians think that Hitler was an atheist, because they confuse Social Darwinism with Evolution and also with non-Christian.

 

I have seen Christians then take it one step further and accuse Darwinism of being the cause of Nazism. For this reason, the argument goes, ID is the more reasonable and moral world view. However, these same Christians believe that if God commanded the ancient Israelites to do it, it was just fine for them to kill off all the ancient Canaanites.

 

Joshua. Moses. Hitler.

 

Christian. Atheist. Pagan. Israelite.

 

Who cares about the religion, ethnicity, or nationality if they believe in genocide?

[hereticzero]

Well of course he was a Christian. God was on his side. Hitler himself claimed to be Christian just like George Bush claimed to be Christian.

[Casey]

..and don't forget what German soldiers had on their belt buckels.."God with us".

 

True, but that was there long before Hitler. Some sources would indicate its use on military belt buckles predates the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Then too, it was a motto which appears on the Prussian coat of arms (1709, second version):

 

(Source: Wikipedia)

 

By the time of the Great War, this had evolved into:

 

(Source)

From top to bottom the buckle has the motto, underneath that appears the Wilhelmine Crown and under that a spray of oak leaves, signifying victory. It should be noted that the different German States involved in the Great War had different slogans.

 

For instance, as Adolf Hitler served during the Great War in the List Regiment, which was a Bavarian unit, this may well have been the buckle he wore:

 

(Source)

The motto translates as Strength in Loyalty

 

The Wehrmacht's Second World War buckle was this one:

 

"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!"

 

The SS and the Luftwaffe (Air Force) had different buckles, the Luftwaffe had no slogan on theirs, while the SS Other Ranks buckle had "Meine Ehre Heisst Treue" (My Honour is Loyalty) on it.

Casey

[Shion]

From what I have read of Hitler and his writing, he seems a man confused himself on the nature of the world, religion, himself. He reads like an angry adolescent. Sometimes wanting a cosmic father/mother, other days proclaiming his own right to godhood or something similar. Either way, you can tell this man was delusional, but charismatic enough to lead large masses of people into the same nightmare.

 

In an odd way, and I know I am digressing, there is a strange mirror image between Hitler and Christ: delusional uncertain men, charismatic, one wants destruction and rebirth, the other rebirth and destruction. Each proclaimed something akin to godhood. Each died in a martyresque way. If the dice had rolled differently would there be a Church of Hitler?

 

I think it is somewhat clear, Hitler did not know himself, what he truly believed.

[Mr. Neil]

I thought it was pretty much established that Hitler believed in Lamarckism, anyway. If you read Mein Kampf, it becomes increasingly obvious that Hitler's beliefs about biology and planning the master race had more in common with an X-men comic book than it did with Origin Of Species.

 

In fact, I would go even farther to say that Hitler's principles on evolution were exactly opposite from those of Darwin. If you want to improve the gene pool, the first thing you do is to embrace racial diversity in breeding. Committing genocide is not evolutionarily beneficial.

[Thurisaz]

I would like to remind everyone of the fact that even today, most of my fellow Germans seem to think that Darwin taught "Überleben des Stärkeren" ("Survival of the strongest")... not the fittest.

 

If you start from that position, the nonsense about "Aryans™ need to eradicate Teh Ebil Joos™" tends to sound a bit more reasonable.

 

To be completely honest, I believed that too until I ran into morontheists and started to examine the current position of evolutionary biology, just to know what all the fuzz is about.

[Ouroboros]

I thought it was pretty much established that Hitler believed in Lamarckism, anyway.

And social Darwinism. He thought by "weeding" out the gene pool, he would be the hand of God guiding evolution to a better race. Basically, he would be the environment, controlling the conditions, and guiding evolution to a better mankind. Basically he thought he knew what was best for mankind in general. He thought that a strong Arian race was what God wanted, so he would make it so. But evolution doesn't work that way, and obviously he was the one weeded out instead.