Why did Hitler feel he was doing the "Lord's work"& claim to be Catholic if he was atheist/pagan/Darwinist?

Question

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.

Why didn't he say he was doing "Darwin's work? or acting for the Germanic gods and goddesses?

Also, Germanic mythology doesn't have any awareness of Jews or issues with Jews, it is a Christian belief that Jews are responsible for "deicide", and Darwinism would probably call Jews an advanced lot, given how successful they are as a people, they are great entrepreneurs, Nobel Laureates etc.

Answer 1

So what in all that makes you think he was "atheist/pagan/Darwinist"? As far as I'm concerned, if he believed he was doing the "Lord's work" and "regarded himself as a Catholic until he died", then he WAS one whether catholics like it or not.

Answer 2

Hitler was the originator of the theory that the bigger the lie the more people who will believe it. Certainly Hitler had some Catholic ancestry as well as Jewish ancestry. It is probable that he was more culturally Catholic than Jewish in some ways. However, it is ironic that the Jews were the largest group interred (5+ million) and murdered in His camps and that the Catholics were the second largest group interred and murdered (3+ million). Hitler obviously had hatred for both Catholics and Jews. 80% of all Catholic priests were martyred in parts of Nazi occupied Europe.



It would appear that Hitler was really an occultist who wanted to use religion principals to control the people much like Calvin did in Geneva. But in the case of Hitler he wanted the people to worship the state system and to receive honor as the leader.



The best adage to follow here is to believe more what a person does or acts than what they say. God bless!



In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Answer 3

Hitler pretended to be a Christian until he had gained political power. Then he called Christianity a fairy story of the Jews and said that the mind can imagine nothing more nonsensical.



In Hitler's church, Mein Kampf replaced the Bible. So whatever Christianity Hitler came up was a bit distorted to begin with.



Edit: I'm not making any claims about whether Hitler was an atheist or not. I honestly don't care enough to spend a half hour of my time doing an Internet search and visiting a bunch of different websites. However, Hitler preferred Islam and Shintoism to the "meekness" and "flabbiness" of Christianity. So those atheist websites that list 101 Bible contradictions are being dishonest when they portray Hitler as a devout, mainstream Christian.

Answer 4

Let's just consider the death toll at the hands of atheistic government of Hitler in just the last century: 40 million as a result of WWII and the Holocaust - Nazi Germany



 

Try to live in Peace and leave Catholic alone. If you don't like the Catholics, then do your own thing. BUT I will tell you one true thing. If you get rid of all the people who believe in God, then the only thing left is the Antichrist. Your way was like Hitler's . He wanted to get rid on one of the oldest Religions-The Jewish People. Did he succeed ? NO.

 

If you look at history you will see there are also plenty of times people kill without having to use their religion as an excuse. I would suggest that it is not the religion, but the person who is responsible for their actions. For a person like that, they would find something else to fuel their need to dominate and bully if religion were taken out of the picture. People must take responsibility for his/her own actions and stop hiding behind causes for what he/she does and society must require it. Do not fool yourself into thinking that without religion the world would be a peaceful place.

Answer 5

I think it is an example of robust asininity when people take Hitler's word for anything.

Hitler was a filthy, lying, murderous barbarian.

What he claimed to have been is not reliable.

Hitler was not Catholic.



That Hitler was seen exiting a Catholic Church is not persuasive at all.

In the Summer, dozens of bats exit the bell tower of my parish Church every night.

Those bats are more Catholic than was Adolf Hitler.





I am Roman Catholic.

Peace be with you.

Answer 6

Hitler was also a politician who would say anything that he thought the people wanted to hear.



In the early 1930s, the Catholic bishops of Germany excommunicated any and all Catholics who joined the Nazi party, wore the uniform, or flew the swastika flag (including Adolph Hitler).

http://www.zenit.org/article-28937?l=english

http://www.ptwf.org/Projects/Education/PPXII%20Document%20Page%20.htm



Although Hitler was raised in a Catholic family, he turned away from Christianity at an early age.



Automatic excommunication happens when Catholics commit certain offensives. This happens as soon as the offense is committed.



Adolf Hitler committed the following offenses resulting in automatic excommunication:

- Apostasy - the formal renunciation of one's religion. Hitler specifically rejected the Catholic Church, as well as Christianity in general. He described himself as "a complete pagan.”

- Heresy - a doctrine in theology, religion, philosophy, or politics at variance with those of the Catholic Church. Nazism is definitely heretical to Christianity.

- A violent attack on the Pope or bishop - At Hitler orders, dozens of Catholic bishops (and hundreds of priests and millions of Catholics) were murdered. http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=472



Even if Hitler was not already excommunicated, he would have excommunicated himself many times over.



For Hitler's own words against Christianity, see: http://davnet.org/kevin/articles/table.html



For more information about excommunication, see: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05678a.htm

And: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excommunicate#Automatic_excommunication



With love in Christ.

Answer 7

We should get something straight, and that is to not simplify a historical figure's religious identity to one sentence declarations, it is more complicated than that. Hitler, just like 99% of the European population in those days was raised as a Christian (Catholic by denomination) but it is clear, if you do even the most bare bones research about the man, that his religious views were an eclectic mix of some Christian principles, Germanic paganism, Social darwinism, etc. He certainly believed in God, that much is clear, but beyond that, trying to formulate his religious views concisely proves to be a near impossibility. The governing principle in his life was "might is right" this is so abundantly clear from his actions, personal statements, and in Mein Kampf. He even lamented on one occasion that Europe was not Muslim, because he saw how cohesive muslims behave in a militaristic context, something which was lacking in Christianity which emphasized meekness, humility, love, and so forth. (Even tho Christians often do not behave this way)



Sources close to him reveal that he went along the typical religious education of a Catholic youth but grew lax in his faith when he became a young adult and eventually stopped practicing, going to church, and so on. What is also peculiar is that he expressed a certain admiration for Protestant reformation figure Martin Luther, do to Luther's antisemitism. His admiration of Luther would make no sense as a devout Catholic, and on top of this his affinity for the Muslim ideology seems to go against both Catholic and protestant sentiments he may have at one time possessed. What is clear is that he believed in God, but beyond that it's anyone's guess. His religious ideology is a mix of different faiths, non-faiths, contradictions throughout. judging from this, I sincerely doubt religion was important enough to him for him to seriously consider as a way of life, unlike his religious like devotion to National Socialism, which seemed to be his de facto religion.

Answer 8

Because he was a twisted mad-man!



Why do people insist on trying to make something out of the fact that Hitler was Catholic. So what? What he did was not Catholic, or even close to Christian-like. He can say whatever he wants...it doesn't make it so. There are millions of Catholics who have lived good lives, following Christ, and have never killed anyone. Why does the horrific actions of one crazy man, justify an attack on Catholicism?



Just for the record, Hitler said many things against Christianity as well...it depended on this audience. He was no fool. He knew he needed the cooperation of those who believed in in God and so it was necessary to invoke God's name in order to get what he wanted.



Hitler may in public have claimed to be doing the will of God, but records of his private conversations show otherwise:



10th October, 1941, midday

"Christianity is a rebellion against natural law, a protest against nature. Taken to its logical extreme, Christianity would mean the systematic cultivation of the human failure." (p 43)



19th October, 1941, night

"The reason why the ancient world was so pure, light and serene was that it knew nothing of the two great scourges: the pox and Christianity."



13th December, 1941, midnight

"Christianity is an invention of sick brains: one could imagine nothing more senseless, nor any more indecent way of turning the idea of the Godhead into a mockery.... .... "When all is said, we have no reason to wish that the Italians and Spaniards should free themselves from the drug of Christianity. Let's be the only people who are immunised against the disease." (p 118-119)



27th February, 1942, midday

"It would always be disagreeable for me to go down to posterity as a man who made concessions in this field. I realize that man, in his imperfection, can commit innumerable errors-- but to devote myself deliberately to errors, that is something I cannot do. I shall never come personally to terms with the Christian lie." "Our epoch in the next 200 years will certainly see the end of the disease of Christianity.... My regret will have been that I couldn't... behold ." (p 278)



http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/mischedj/ca_hitler.html

Answer 9

Hitler was a master politician- evil, but a political genius. He convinced millions to torture and murder millions, that it was their fault- and to invade their neighboring countries with conviction. Hitler pinned crimes on the Jews as a scapegoat, because there was already some ill will towards them, and what better way than to come from the side of being a completely different faith? Rally more believers.

Answer 10

Hitler was baptized and raised Catholic. He never participated in any church activities after he reached 12-13 years old. He later claimed to be Catholic but obviously never practiced that faith HItler dabbled in several non catholic religions, Atheism and paganism, but there was no proof that he was ever serious about any one of them. One historian suggested Hitler studied them all with the hopes of building his own faith for the Nazi State. I served as a US infantryman in europe during WW2. I was there for several of th ewar crimes trials.

Answer 11

Hitler followed some bizarre hybrid of pseudo-Norse mythology and Christianity...he was a Christian, even claiming that Jesus was of Celtic origin, making more sense of the 'Christ-killer' argument against the Jews I guess. Also, as Christopher Hitchens noted, he was never excommunicated from the Catholic Church...Christianity, specifically Catholicism, played a huge role in the Third Reich

Answer 12

Hitler’s religious beliefs were obscure. At times he seemed attached to Norse Mythology and occult practices like astrology. He is reported to have said “Richard Wagner is my religion”. His speeches were peppered with religious terminology like “providence”, “salvation” and “the Lord’s work”, but, by his own admission, he was a thoroughly cynical propagandist. It can’t be stated with certainty that he was an atheist, but it can be stated that he was neither a Catholic nor any kind of Christian.



Hitler hijacked churches by stacking them with his own priests and pastors, and invoked the name of God in his speeches and writings, although he was clearly not a believer.



This even led to a disgracefully anti-Semitic and anti-Christian butchering of the Bible. This was so that he could fool many Christians into believing that he was actually on their side. But at the same time he secretly killed real Christians or threw them into the concentration camps, including the Christian White Rose resistance movement that came out of University campuses in Germany. Led by Sophie Scholl, who is a modern-day hero in Germany, these Christians actively campaigned against the Nazis and became martyrs in the process when they were guillotined for their beliefs.



It doesn’t really matter what Hitler said about “doing God’s work” in his public speeches, because politicians lie all the time in order to get votes from particular groups, or to maintain their popularity.



Perhaps a devious politician seeking power in a nominally Christian country, like 1930's Germany, would affect the trappings of religion to maintain popularity?



During his ascent to power, Hitler needed the support of the German people—both the Bavarian Catholics and the Prussian Lutherans—and to secure this he occasionally used rhetoric such as “I am doing the Lord’s work.”



To claim that this rhetoric makes Hitler a Christian is to confuse political opportunism with personal conviction. Hitler himself says in Mein Kampf that his public statements should be understood as propaganda that bears no relation to the truth but is designed to sway the masses.



And what did Hitler do once he had absolute power?

He denounced Christianity, proving that he was an opponent of Christianity!



The Nazis stopped Germans from celebrating Christmas, and the Hitler Youth recited a prayer thanking the Fuhrer rather than God for their blessings.



Clergy regarded as “troublemakers” were ordered not to preach, hundreds of them were imprisoned, and many were simply murdered. Churches were under constant Gestapo surveillance.



The Nazis closed religious schools, forced Christian organizations to disband, dismissed civil servants who were practicing Christians, confiscated church property, and censored religious newspapers.



Hitler's life and actions show that he was rabidly anti-Christian. You could not commit the crimes Hitler did and be a follower of Christ. If he was following a god and doing what he believed was "god's work", it was a false god and certainly not the God of the Bible.

Answer 13

So it seems that Hitler is very good at making LAME EXCUSES that only stupid bastards will readily buy, and him in an exercise to show that he is more sickening than those people in 2-girls-1-cup.



Man, he is sick. Sickening actually.

Answer 14

He was a very evil man.

Romans 6:23

SDA

Answer 15

Ah, I get it! Hitler was evil so he HAS to be an atheist, not a tyrant with a messiah complex, because Christians are good in every way possible and can do no wrong, even with prejudice towards people's beliefs.



Absolutely priceless.

Answer 16

No, he was a liar. He was no Catholic. Atheists use Hitler to promote their propaganda. How pathetic...

Answer 17

My theory is he was brainwashed by christians. Cuz I've heard he was also gay in his earlier years. He once also said god spoke to him. In a battle field god gave him guidance and let him escape some bomb attack or something explosive on a smaller scale. So I won't completely rule out that he was lying about supposedly "doing god's work".

Answer 18

Hitler was a devout Catholic who never forgot what the Priests and Nuns told him when he was little, that those nasty Jews murdered his hero Jesus Christ. The seed that was planted grew in his mind until he was powerful enough to get even.

Answer 19

Because Hitler was crazy, I mean why else would you kill millions of innocent people?

Answer 20

That guy who said that about atheists is about to find out if hell is real

Answer 21

If you keep writing this drug-induced crap, nobody will take you seriously anymore.



Sleep it off.

Answer 22

He was not a Darwinist or an atheist. He was a conspiracy theorist.

Answer 23

he was Catholic, only creationists claim he beleived in evolution, there is a good chance he was a creationist.

Answer 24

Because, like most atheists, Hitler was pure evil. The only way he could hide his evilness and get elected as chancellor of Germany was to act like a good, caring christian.