Posted on 05/17/2004 11:14:22 PM PDT by Susannah
Just curious if Hitler was raised with a particular denomination of religion. And, if so, did his church excommunicate him?
Unfortunately, I think he was raised Catholic, but he didn't live by it.
"I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so."
- Adolf Hitler, 1941.
Pagan?
Clinton-Christian?
Kerry-Catholic?
Catholic
Try Google. Type in "Hitlers religion"
Hitler was born into a Roman Catholic family but as he reached adulthood he drifted away from organized religion.
He worshiped German superiority.
Thanks for the input. A load of liberals, including Canadians (on another forum I've posted at) like to use Hitler's Christianity as one of their examples of why Christianity doesn't mix with politics and has killed more people than other religions.
Well, do them a favor and ask them how many people have died at the hands of a Muslim god.
See what they have to say.
C.O'D.
Actually, all three religions based on the old testament have caused humanity a lot of grief, but specially Islam and Christianity. Contrast that to Buddhism - not a single war since Ashoka in 500 BC (and Buddhism is about 600 years older than Christianity).
The problem is that any religion that says "my way is the only way" will lead to conflict. Somewhat ironic that Islam and Christianity are now headed to a terminal showdown.
Hitler was enthralled by the operas of Richard Wagner, and he identified with Wagner's heroes such as Siegfried, Parsifal and Lohengrin.
What are you doing slumming in a forum like that? Hope you wash your keyboard before you come over here. ~</;o)
That is like saying humans have caused a lot of grief because there are some other species that are extinct as a result. We are who we are. I believe we commonly value civilization. Civilizations are always based on something spiritual that binds the folks together. Civilizations achieve things. When civilizations clash, there is war; this is in the nature of humans.
The problem is that any religion that says "my way is the only way" will lead to conflict.
You are going to get conflict. It is unavoidable. The modern innovation is to create a secular state based in a culture. Religious officials are not afforded state power by dint of their offices.
Hitler was never excommunicated from the Catholic Church according to most claims I've read, although in 1930 the Church declared that "Belonging to the National Socialist Party of Hitler is irreconcilable with the Catholic Conscience."
The Catholic Church strongly opposed the Nazis in the 1932 election. The vast majority of German Catholics did not vote for Hitler, who in fact did not win the election. The Nazis did, however, make up a significant chunk of the Reichstag and Hindenburg - who won the presidency -- did appoint Hitler as chancellor who used that post to acquire absolute power which led to the notorious concordat of 1933.
Still the Catholic Church was contemporarily recognized as Hitler's most prescient critic.
It has been established beyond doubt as that Hitler's plan was to destroy Christianity.
Good reply.
Additionally, razo seems to be counting only "wars" as a sign of wickedness. They are not (indeed, sometimes are very good and honorable). What's the best indicator of the humanity of any given people or culture or religion is HOW THEY TREAT THEIR OWN PEOPLE AND OTHERS GENERALLY on an every-day basis. Moslem countries are horribly infamous for incredible cruelty in the *absence* of war.
Of course, this stems from their "leader", who was no sweetheart and didn't say things much nicer, either. And therein lies the difference - look at the root of the religion. I challenge any1 to find Christ was anything but a gentle, "non-judgemental" (yet firm and defiant) teacher.
You make a good point, and I agree with you that both Christianity and Islam are similar in their "my way or the highway" approach - but I'd be interested in seeing even an approximate estimation of how many people died at the "Will of Allah" as compared to the "Will of God".
Obviously, both have had tremendous uprisings (their own Crusades, etc.), but what's going on today is different in my eyes.
Christian thinkers are taking quite the Reactionary approach to how we should with Muslim fanatics, as I believe 9/11 and our subsequent actions show us.
I could be wrong - surely, I wouldn't presume to dictate something that others may find offensive, but it's just my opinion.
C.O'D.
I agree that some wars are good - for example, our (US) entry and participation in WWI, WWII, Korean war. However, these wars were NOT in the name or for sake of religion. They were for liberty and freedom. I challenge you to show me ONE war fought in the name of religion that led to long term peace.
Regarding the two religions, I agree with you to some degree, and did take some time to read the Koran and Bible. The Old Testament is not very different from Koran. The real difference between Christianity and Islam is in the "prophet" and the New Testament. In fact, if Jesus had not himself accepted the old testament, I would have said that he was repudiating the "jealous God" for a "loving God" and starting something entirely new and different, compassionate (turn the other cheek) instead of vengeful (an eye for an eye).
An exercise comparing the number of people who died due to the two religions would be quite a gruesome task. For example, the conquistadors killed 90% of Incas (27 million folks), 80% of Aztecs (about 25 million) - all in the name of gold, glory, and God. Add to that the number of slaves killed in Africa, the Irish catholics vs protestant deaths, and the numbers begin to add up.
Regarding Islam, it would be hard to fathom their butchery. In Delhi alone, 50% of the population was killed by TimurLane. The brutality of Mohammad Ghazni, Mohammad Ghouri, etc is too much to enumerate.
The one big difference is that Christians have begun to realize what Jesus said and are heading in that emancipated direction. Islam, on the other hand, will forever be stuck in a medieval savagery.
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