C
Carl
Guest
Was Hitler an atheist?
You judge.
Adolf Hitler’s father was an adulterer, a boozer, and a hater of the clergy, while his mother went through the motions of trying to bring religion into her son’s life. As with many other famous atheists, Adolf had a cold and empty relationship with his father. In elementary school he had thought of being a monk, but this phase passed and he was remembered as one who tormented his religion instructor. At the age of fifteen he scowled through his Confirmation service, and later in the day, according to his sponsor, “charged around the house playing Indians.” From his early Catholicism Hitler evolved toward a later preference for Lutheranism and finally a hatred for Christianity and all religions. Yet as a politician he was not reluctant to pander to religious groups if he stood to profit thereby (garnered from Adolf Hitler: Family, Childhood and Youth by Bradley F. Smith).
At the peak of dictatorial power Hitler posed for the famous photograph of himself smiling next to a bust of the “God is dead” philosopher Nietzsche. On another occasion he is reported to have presented the fascist leader Mussolini with a signed copy of Nietzsche’s works. No one should suffer from the illusion that Hitler was a Christian. In that arrogant and finally lunatic “superman” philosopher, Hitler found his perfect excuse for a Holocaust.
Text of Martin Niemoller’s remarks in the Congressional Record, October 14, 1968, page 31636):
“When Hitler attacked the Jews, I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant Church - and there was nobody left to be concerned.”
When you go about attacking every religion, doesn’t that make you something of an atheist?
We do not judge a man by his words so much as by his actions. Hitler hated all religions and tried to exterminate them. If you find passages from Hitler that seem to indicate his favoring religion, remember they are merely equivalent to the smile you might get from someone who is about to stab you in the back.
If you offer me such passages, I will provide words from his mouth that cancel out the words you have found and that show him to be the hateful bigot he was toward all religion.
I’ve been through this tiresome debate before in the New York Times on the Web. Those who speak of Hitler as a Christian must have to wonder what preachings of Christ would be consistent with the cruelty of that maniac.
You judge.
Adolf Hitler’s father was an adulterer, a boozer, and a hater of the clergy, while his mother went through the motions of trying to bring religion into her son’s life. As with many other famous atheists, Adolf had a cold and empty relationship with his father. In elementary school he had thought of being a monk, but this phase passed and he was remembered as one who tormented his religion instructor. At the age of fifteen he scowled through his Confirmation service, and later in the day, according to his sponsor, “charged around the house playing Indians.” From his early Catholicism Hitler evolved toward a later preference for Lutheranism and finally a hatred for Christianity and all religions. Yet as a politician he was not reluctant to pander to religious groups if he stood to profit thereby (garnered from Adolf Hitler: Family, Childhood and Youth by Bradley F. Smith).
At the peak of dictatorial power Hitler posed for the famous photograph of himself smiling next to a bust of the “God is dead” philosopher Nietzsche. On another occasion he is reported to have presented the fascist leader Mussolini with a signed copy of Nietzsche’s works. No one should suffer from the illusion that Hitler was a Christian. In that arrogant and finally lunatic “superman” philosopher, Hitler found his perfect excuse for a Holocaust.
Text of Martin Niemoller’s remarks in the Congressional Record, October 14, 1968, page 31636):
“When Hitler attacked the Jews, I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant Church - and there was nobody left to be concerned.”
When you go about attacking every religion, doesn’t that make you something of an atheist?
We do not judge a man by his words so much as by his actions. Hitler hated all religions and tried to exterminate them. If you find passages from Hitler that seem to indicate his favoring religion, remember they are merely equivalent to the smile you might get from someone who is about to stab you in the back.
If you offer me such passages, I will provide words from his mouth that cancel out the words you have found and that show him to be the hateful bigot he was toward all religion.
I’ve been through this tiresome debate before in the New York Times on the Web. Those who speak of Hitler as a Christian must have to wonder what preachings of Christ would be consistent with the cruelty of that maniac.
