RE: Who Kills More, Religion or Atheism?
June 25, 2011 at 7:34 pm
(This post was last modified: June 25, 2011 at 7:37 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(June 25, 2011 at 5:21 am)DaveD Wrote: It doesn't really matter what Hitler thought himself, though his own words tend to suggest he was very religious. His references to religion persuaded many others to carry out plenty of killings for him.
And at least one of his contemporaries thought him religious enough to do business with.
![[Image: HitlersPope2.jpg]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i142.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fr107%2FDaveD_05%2FHumour%2FHitlersPope2.jpg)
Actually, in a dinner monologue in 1941, hitler expounded on his view of christianity in relation to Germany and the Aryan race to Josef goebbels, his propaganda minister. Hitler was recorded as saying nazified Aryan mythology should systematically supplant Christianity amongst Germans in the future German empire because this mythology is so designed as to harden Aryans, built cohesion amongst Aryans and maximize the instinct to dehumanize non-Aryans. Hitler was also recorded as saying the Christianity should be encouraged and supported amongst non-Aryans because it would keep non-Aryans stupid and easily manipulatable by Aryans.
(June 25, 2011 at 4:23 pm)Shell B Wrote:(June 25, 2011 at 10:38 am)Tiberius Wrote: I want to disagree here, not with the content of the argument (i.e. I do believe that Hitler was a Christian), but more with the form of the argument itself. There are plenty of examples of people hiding their true beliefs, and labeling themselves as another, in order to gain power, or to escape prosecution.
Salman Rushdie tried it in order to escape the fatwa that had been placed on him after the publication of The Satanic Verses.
And yes, he did eventually admit it was a lie, but the fact that Hitler didn't do this is irrelevant, given his relatively early death.
I admit, it isn't a perfect argument, but Hitler didn't need to hide his true beliefs to gain power or to escape prosecution. He could very well have been lying, but I guess my contention here is that he never admitted to doing so, so I am inclined to assume that he considered himself a Christian.
He was not. He expressed many times his loathing and contempt for Christianity as the religion that weakens and corrupts people. He also believes liberation from Christianity should be a privilege restricted to Aryans so as to maximize the competitive advantage of the Aryans.
