Adolf Hitler

From FreeThoughtPedia

Hitler leaves the Marine Church in Wilhelmshaven.

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), the Führer of Nazi Germany was probably one of the most despicable men to have ever walked on earth. He was responsible for the death of millions in World War II and for the "final solution" that led to the chillingly efficient murder of six million Jews. It must also remembered that Jews were not the only victims of the ruthless Nazi killing machine. An estimated five to six million Russians, Poles, gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals - basically anyone considered sub-human - were murdered as well. Some Atheists were put in concentration camps as well, but the amount of Atheists discriminated against are extremely small compared to other minority groups.

Hitler, however, was never an atheist.

Hitler was born and baptized as a Roman Catholic. He served mass as a young boy and actually contemplated becoming an abbot. He never publicly repudiated his Catholicism, nor did he ever cease paying his dues.^[1] He wrote in his Mein Kampf (1924) (My Struggle) that "faith is the sole foundation of a moral attitude" and that an attack against religion "strongly resembles the struggle against the general legal foundations of the state."^[2] Although Hitler did persecute some Protestant churches and the Catholic Church later on^[3] he never ceased being a theist. As late as 1938, he can be heard making this statement in a speech: "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."^[4]

The Concordat between the Vatican and the Nazis, Cardinal Secretary of State, Eugenio Pacelli (later to become Pope Pius XII) signs the Concordat between Nazi Germany and the Vatican at a formal ceremony in Rome on 20 July 1933. Nazi Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen sits at the left, Pacelli in the middle, and the Rudolf Buttmann sits at the right. The Concordat effectively legitimized Hitler and the Nazi government to the eyes of Catholicism, Christianity, and the world.

Article 24 of Hitler's Nazi party programs calls for "Positive Christianity". Among the 25 points of the core values of this new Christianity, as explained by German philosopher Ernst Bergmann in 1934, is point number six which states: "The German religion is a religion of the people. It has nothing in common with free thoughts, atheist propaganda, and the breakdown of current religions."^[5]

Normally we don't label people with the same religion as their parents however we make an exception for Hitler. Hitler also said some negative things about Christianity (for example see Hitler's table talk) This may make you ask the question, 'if Hitler was a world famous scientist known for his generosity wouldn't we be the first to claim he was an atheist?' (see Did_Einstein_and_other_famous_scientists_believe_in_god?) to which the standard response is 'welcome to the world of freethought.'

[edit] References

1. . Stern, Hitler: p92
2. . Shermer, The Science of Good and Evil: p153
3. . Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: p324-333
4. . Shermer, The Science of Good and Evil: p153
5. . Shermer, The Science of Good and Evil: p153

[edit] See Also

• Pictures and stories of Hitler and support from religious leaders - A pictorial glimpse of Hitler, how his Nazis mixed religion with government, and the support for Hitler by the Protestant and Catholic Churches in Germany.