originally posted by: Skadi_the_Evil_Elf
... They support war as "the lords will". ...
Nothing new there, it's also not limited to "fundementalist end times b=nuts".
Nowhere was this better illustrated than in Nazi Germany, whose citizens at the beginning of World War II claimed to be 94.4 percent Christian. Of all
places, Germanyââbirthplace of Protestantism and praised in 1914 by Pope Pius X as home of âthe best Catholics in the worldâââshould have
represented the very best that Christendom had to offer.
Significantly, Catholic Adolf Hitler found readier support among Protestants than among Catholics. Predominantly Protestant districts gave him 20
percent of their votes in the 1930 elections, Catholic districts only 14 percent. And the first absolute majority for the Nazi Party in state
elections was in 1932 in Oldenburg, a district 75 percent Protestant.
Equally significant is what finally solidified lagging Catholic support behind Hitler. German historian Klaus Scholder explains that âby tradition
German Catholicism had especially close ties with Rome.â Seeing in Nazism a bulwark against Communism, the Vatican was not averse to using its
influence to strengthen Hitlerâs hand. âFundamental decisions shifted more and more to the Curia,â says Scholder, âand in fact Catholicismâs
status and future in the Third Reich was finally decided almost solely in Rome.â
The part Christendom played in both world wars led to a severe loss of prestige. As the
Concise Dictionary of the Christian World Mission
explains: âNon-Christians had before their eyes . . . the evident fact that nations with a thousand years of Christian teaching behind them had
failed to control their passions and had set the whole world ablaze for the satisfaction of less than admirable ambitions.â
And it's not just limited to Christendom either. During World War II, while Catholics and Protestants in Great Britain and the United States were
killing Catholics and Protestants in Italy and Germany, Buddhists in Japan were doing the same to their Buddhist brothers in southeast Asia.
Hitler was a baptized Roman Catholic, as were many of the leaders in his government. Why werenât they excommunicated? Why didnât the Catholic
Church condemn the horrors that these men were committing? Why did Protestant churches also keep silent?
Did the churches really remain silent? Is there proof that they supported Hitlerâs war efforts?
Catholic historian E. I. Watkin wrote: âPainful as the admission must be, we cannot in the interest of a false edification or dishonest loyalty deny
or ignore the historical fact that Bishops have consistently supported all wars waged by the government of their country. . . . Where belligerent
nationalism is concerned they have spoken as the mouthpiece of Caesar.â
When Watkin said that bishops of the Catholic Church âsupported all wars waged by the government of their country,â he included the wars of
aggression waged by Hitler. As Roman Catholic professor of history at Vienna University, Friedrich Heer, admitted: âIn the cold facts of German
history, the Cross and the swastika came ever closer together, until the swastika proclaimed the message of victory from the towers of German
cathedrals, swastika flags appeared round altars and Catholic and Protestant theologians, pastors, churchmen and statesmen welcomed the alliance with
Hitler.â
Catholic Church leaders gave such unqualified support to Hitlerâs wars that the Roman Catholic professor Gordon Zahn wrote: âThe German Catholic
who looked to his religious superiors for spiritual guidance and direction regarding service in Hitlerâs wars received virtually the same answers he
would have received from the Nazi ruler himself.â
That Catholics obediently followed the direction of their church leaders was documented by Professor Heer. He noted: âOf about thirty-âtwo million
German Catholicsââfifteen and a half million of whom were menââonly seven [individuals] openly refused military service. Six of these were
Austrians.â More recent evidence indicates that a few other Catholics, as well as some Protestants, stood up against the Nazi State because of
religious convictions. Some even paid with their lives, while at the same time their spiritual leaders were selling out to the Third Reich.
As noted above, Professor Heer included Protestant leaders among those who âwelcomed the alliance with Hitler.â Is that true?
Many Protestants have writhed in self-âincrimination for remaining silent during Hitlerâs wars of aggression. For example, 11 leading clergymen
met in October 1945 to draw up the so-âcalled Stuttgart admission of guilt. They said: âWe accuse ourselves for not having been more courageous in
confessing our convictions, more faithful in saying our prayers, more joyful in expressing our faith, and more ardent in showing our love.â
Paul Johnsonâs
History of Christianity said: âOf 17,000 Evangelical pastors, there were never more than fifty serving long terms [for not
supporting the Nazi regime] at any one time.â
Martin Niemoeller, a Protestant church leader who himself had been in a Nazi concentration camp, later confessed: âIt may be truthfully recalled
that Christian churches, throughout the ages, have always consented to bless war, troops, and arms and that they prayed in a very unchristian way for
the annihilation of their enemy.â He admitted: âAll this is our fault and our fathersâ fault, but obviously not Godâs fault.â
Susannah Heschel, a professor of Judaic studies, uncovered church documents proving that the Lutheran clergy were willing, yes anxious, to support
Hitler. She said they begged for the privilege of displaying the swastika in their churches. The overwhelming majority of clergymen were not coerced
collaborators, her research showed, but were enthusiastic supporters of Hitler and his Aryan ideals.
The reason the churches were silent becomes clear. It is because Christendomâs clergy and their flocks had abandoned the teachings of the Bible in
favor of supporting the political state. In 1933 the Roman Catholic Church concluded a concordat with the Nazis. Roman Catholic cardinal Faulhaber
wrote to Hitler: âThis handshake with the Papacy . . . is a feat of immeasurable blessing. . . . May God preserve the Reich Chancellor
[Hitler].â
Indeed, the Catholic Church and other churches as well became handmaidens of the evil Hitler government. Even though Jesus Christ said his true
followers âare no part of the world,â the churches and their parishioners became an integral part of Hitlerâs world. (John 17:16) As a result,
they failed to speak out about the horrors against humanity that were committed by the Nazis in their death camps.
True, a few courageous individuals from the Catholic, Protestant, and various other religions stood up against the Nazi State. But even as some of
them paid with their lives, their spiritual leaders, who claimed to serve God, were serving as puppets of the Third Reich.
You won't hear anything about any of that on the Discovery Channel or National Geographic when they're showing yet another WWII documentary (don't
know if it's the same in your country, but those are the channels those documentaries are always on in my country, and they are repeated ad nauseam).
Nor will they teach any of this in school when WWII is discussed.
edit on 4-11-2023 by whereislogic because: (no reason given)