Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Soliton
I don't know where you get that BS about the Catholic Church from. Hitler was a product of protestantism in Germany. While he won the vote of protestant voting districts in Germany he overwhelmingly lost Catholic voting districts.

Luther and Protestant Support of the Nazi Government

Martin Luther: Hitler's Spiritual Ancestor

48 posted on 05/01/2008 4:04:32 PM PDT by big'ol_freeper ("Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary use words". ~ St. Francis of Assisi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies ]


To: big'ol_freeper
Hitler was a product of protestantism in Germany

What a load of. One could argue that "traditional" German antisemitism was historically rooted in Luther, but Hitler (who was born and raised in Catholic Austria) was a product of pre-WW1 Austrian pan-Germanist antisemitism and occultism. The worship of pre-Christian Germanic heroism was essential.

54 posted on 05/01/2008 4:09:46 PM PDT by SolidWood
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies ]

To: big'ol_freeper

Hitler was raised a Catholic in Bavaria, a predominantly Catholic region of Germany.

You will find it in Mein Kampf: “Therefore, I am convinced that I am acting as the agent of our Creator. By fighting off the Jews, I am doing the Lord’s Work.”

Hitler said it again at a Nazi Christmas celebration in 1926: “Christ was the greatest early fighter in the battle against the world enemy, the Jews ... The work that Christ started but could not finish, I — Adolf Hitler — will conclude.”

In a Reichstag speech in 1938, Hitler again echoed the religious origins of his crusade. “I believe today that I am acting in the sense of the Almighty Creator. By warding off the Jews, I am fighting for the Lord’s work.”

Hitler regarded himself as a Catholic until he died. “I am now as before a Catholic and will always remain so,” he told Gerhard Engel, one of his generals, in 1941.

There was really no reason for Hitler to doubt his good standing as a Catholic. The Catholic press in Germany was eager to curry his favor, and the princes of the Catholic Church never asked for his excommunication. Religions encourage their followers to hold authority in unquestioning respect; this is what makes devout religionists such wonderful dupes for dictators.

When Hitler narrowly escaped assassination in Munich in November, 1939, he gave the credit to providence. “Now I am completely content,” he exclaimed. “The fact that I left the Burgerbraukeller earlier than usual is a corroboration of Providence’s intention to let me reach my goal.” Catholic newspapers throughout the Reich echoed this, declaring that it was a miraculous working of providence that had protected their Fuhrer. One cardinal, Michael Faulhaber, sent a telegram instructing that a Te Deum be sung in the cathedral of Munich, “to thank Divine Providence in the name of the archdiocese for the Fuhrer’s fortunate escape.” The Pope also sent his special personal congratulations!

Later the Pope was to publicly describe Hitler’s opposition to Russia as a “highminded gallantry in defense of the foundations of Christian culture.” Several German bishops openly supported Hitler’s invasion of Russia, calling it a “European crusade.” One bishop exhorted all Catholics to fight for “a victory that will allow Europe to breathe freely again and will promise all nations a new future.”

Biographer John Toland wrote of Hitler’s religion: “Still a member in good standing of the Church of Rome despite detestation of its hierarchy, he carried within him its teaching that the Jew was the killer of god. The extermination, therefore, could be done without a twinge of conscience since he was merely acting as the avenging hand of god — so long as it was done impersonally, without cruelty. Himmler was pleased to murder with mercy. He ordered technical experts to devise gas chambers which would eliminate masses of Jews efficiently and ‘humanely,’ then crowded the victims into boxcars and sent them east to stay in ghettos until the killing centers in Poland were completed.”


57 posted on 05/01/2008 4:14:47 PM PDT by Soliton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies ]

To: big'ol_freeper

Adolf Hitler was baptized into the Catholic faith in his native Austria. At one point, I believe he was either an altar boy, or attended a Catholic school. That having been said, Hitler did not consider himself a Catholic as an adult.


173 posted on 05/01/2008 9:43:50 PM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson