Dinesh D'Souza Answers the Challenge of Hitler's Religious Views

According to historian Edward Bartlett-Jones, an expert on the Third Reich:

In Mein Kampf (1925) Hitler criticized the Catholic Church in its political form, which he said failed to recognize Germany's and Europe's "racial problem". His Party Charter for the nascent Nazional Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiter Partei demanded in Article 24, in contrast to strong Christian control of German's spiritual life, "complete freedom of religion" (in so far, of course, as that was not a "danger to Germany") (William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Arrow, 1991). Indeed, the official "Nazi Party Philosopher", Alfred Rosenberg, (later to be hanged at Nuremberg), appointed of course with Hitler's consent, was totally opposed to Christianity. However, Hitler the politician was also aware that to achieve power he would need to win votes from the Catholic Centre Party and could not afford total alienation.

Upon attaining office and enjoying a free hand, what line did Hitler take on religion and the Church? Five days after becoming Chancellor in 1933, Hitler allowed a sterilization law to pass, and had the Catholic Youth League disbanded (Shirer, The Rise). The latter was a measure applied to other youth organizations too, in order to free up young people to join the Hitler Youth. Parents were pressured to take their children out of religious schools. When the Church organized voluntary out-of-hours religious classes, the Nazi government responded by banning state-employed teachers from taking part. The Crucifix symbol was even at one point banned from classrooms in one particular jurisdiction, Oldenburg, in 1936, but the measure met with fierce public resistance and was rescinded. Hitler remained conscious of the affection for the Church felt in some quarters of Germany, particularly Bavaria. Later on, though, a wartime metal shortage was used as the excuse for melting church bells (Richard Grunberger, The Twelve Year Reich, Henry Holt, Henry Holt, 1979 and Richard Grunberger, A Social History of the Third Reich, Penguin, 1991).

Hitler's references to providence and God and the ritualistic pageantry of Nazism were more than likely pagan than Christian. Earthly symbols of German valour and Teutonic strength were to be worshipped - not the forgiving, compassionate representative of an "Eastern Mediterranean servant ethic imposed on credulous ancient Germans by force and subterfuge" (the phrase is Burleigh's own, in Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich: a New History, Pan, 2001).

The SS were particularly anti-Christian, and officers and men were encouraged to leave the Church, although those that refused to renounce their Christian faith were not visibly punished, perhaps because their otherwise faithful adherence to SS codes of behaviour gave the lie to any claim of true Christian affiliation. The SS also brought in its own neo-pagan rituals for marriage ceremonies and baptisms.

Original Article at: http://www.bede.org.uk/hitler.htm
Additional Information available at: http://atheismexposed.tripod.com/hitl...