believer´s opinion on not believers going to church?
Atheists were virtually nonexistant in the human race until the mid 20th centurey.
Utter nonsense indeed. The term atheism was coined in the 16th century, but materialist, non-theist philosophy is much older and was first recorded in the 5th century BCE. Many pre-Socratic philosophers, such as Diagoras, Critias, Democritus, Prodicus and Protagoras, were materialists who didn't believe in gods, i.e. atheists.
Joker
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Exactly. Stalin sought to eradicate all institutions, beliefs and ideologies that were incompatible with his own ideological belief system. A belief system that wasn't atheism but communism. He didn't wage war against religion in the name of atheism, he tried to replace all competing world views with his own communist world view.
At least I can admit people have killed in the name of their religion you fail to realize that people can kill in the name of atheism which is what stalin did both in the name of communism and atheism.
Hitler was not an atheist. Like all the other European fascist dictators of the 20th century -- Mussolini, Franco, Pavelić, Tiso, Codreanu etc. -- he was a Catholic Christian and had the backing of the Vatican. Pope Pius XI even signed a treaty (concordat) with the Nazi regime. The same pope said about Mussolini "God has called such a man for Italy; he saw what his country needed". His successor, pope Pius XII, personally congratulated the fascist leader Franco after he had overthrown the Spanish Republic and spoke of a "glorious victory that the Catholic Church has so hoped for."
Stalin, Pol Pot, and other communist leaders murdered for the sake of political ideology, not atheism. So did Hitler of course. His war and his attempted genocide was only partially motivated by religion. His ideology was mainly a political one, and many left-wing atheists ended up in concentration camps under the Nazi regime (Hitler abhorred atheism and prohibited atheists from joining the Nazi party).
Joker
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Hitler was not an atheist. Like all the other European fascist dictators of the 20th century -- Mussolini, Franco, Pavelić, Tiso, Codreanu etc. -- he was a Catholic Christian and had the backing of the Vatican. Pope Pius XI even signed a treaty (concordat) with the Nazi regime. The same pope said about Mussolini "God has called such a man for Italy; he saw what his country needed". His successor, pope Pius XII, personally congratulated the fascist leader Franco after he had overthrown the Spanish Republic and spoke of a "glorious victory that the Catholic Church has so hoped for."
Stalin, Pol Pot, and other communist leaders murdered for the sake of political ideology, not atheism. So did Hitler of course. His war and his attempted genocide was only partially motivated by religion. His ideology was mainly a political one, and many left-wing atheists ended up in concentration camps under the Nazi regime (Hitler abhorred atheism and prohibited atheists from joining the Nazi party).
Hitler was a occultist their is a lot of evidence that supports he was a occultists look up the secrets of the third rieich also it was non theists calling him a christian to attack the christian religion.
Exactly. Stalin sought to eradicate all institutions, beliefs and ideologies that were incompatible with his own ideological belief system. A belief system that wasn't atheism but communism. He didn't wage war against religion in the name of atheism, he tried to replace all competing world views with his own communist world view.
At least I can admit people have killed in the name of their religion you fail to realize that people can kill in the name of atheism which is what stalin did both in the name of communism and atheism.
Nobody has ever killed in the name of atheism alone. Unlike communism or religion, atheism is not an ideology. It is the absence of something, not an agenda. Communism happens to be an anti-religious ideology, but atheism is not the defining characteristic of communism.
Joker
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Exactly. Stalin sought to eradicate all institutions, beliefs and ideologies that were incompatible with his own ideological belief system. A belief system that wasn't atheism but communism. He didn't wage war against religion in the name of atheism, he tried to replace all competing world views with his own communist world view.
At least I can admit people have killed in the name of their religion you fail to realize that people can kill in the name of atheism which is what stalin did both in the name of communism and atheism.
Nobody has ever killed in the name of atheism alone. Unlike communism or religion, atheism is not an ideology. It is the absence of something, not an agenda. Communism happens to be an anti-religious ideology, but atheism is not the defining characteristic of communism.
And Also christians and catholics many proestants died in the holocaust and Hitler betrayed the catholic church when he went against the treaty. But you fail to understand the fact that Stalin was a atheist that it is death by association and will make people who are atheists look bad because a lot of evil men where atheists.
But then again theists are not all good most of them if not half of them are corrupt and use their religion and poltical views to support their cause with evil intent.
So if a atheist kills a theist then he didn't do it for atheism but if a theist kills a atheist he did it in the name of religion? Don't you find that to be a little unfair.
No, he wasn't. Hitler was a Catholic and campaigned as a Christian. In fact, the Nazis handed out flyers at the election in 1932 that read "Catholics! Vote for the faithful Catholic Adolf Hitler!"
It is true that some members of the Nazi party were also members of the Thule Society and dabbled in occultism, such as Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg. But not Hitler himself. He is actually on record for saying "I don't want any conflict with the churches or the clergy. The myths of Mr. Rosenberg are not part of our party agenda". Hitler also frequently evoked god and Jesus in his speeches, quoted the Bible, called the Nazi party a Christian movement, and was strongly opposed to atheism (which he viewed as a left-wing fad) and to secular schools without religious education.
Joker
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No, he wasn't. Hitler was a Catholic and campaigned as a Christian. In fact, the Nazis handed out flyers at the election in 1932 that read "Catholics! Vote for the faithful Catholic Adolf Hitler!"
It is true that some members of the Nazi party were also members of the Thule Society and dabbled in occultism, such as Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg. But not Hitler himself. He is actually on record for saying "I don't want any conflict with the churches or the clergy. The myths of Mr. Rosenberg are not part of our party agenda". Hitler also frequently evoked god and Jesus in his speeches, quoted the Bible, called the Nazi party a Christian movement, and was strongly opposed to atheism (which he viewed as a left-wing fad) and to secular schools without religious education.
If that is the case he didn't do it for a religious reason only used religion to gain politcal power once he did he shut down churches christians died in the holocuast as well as jews did some catholics too but look up hitler and the occult and see for yourself.
I am surprised that you have never heard of that Crazycatlord and you live in the fatherland Germany haven't they had history channel speicals on hitler and the occult over their? They have in America anyone can claim to be religious how ever he was called the thrid anti-christ you can find quotes of him wanting to destroy christanity on the internet just by googling it.
He was a occultist the swastica was a german pagan symbol like the other nazi symbols where.
Exactly. Stalin sought to eradicate all institutions, beliefs and ideologies that were incompatible with his own ideological belief system. A belief system that wasn't atheism but communism. He didn't wage war against religion in the name of atheism, he tried to replace all competing world views with his own communist world view.
At least I can admit people have killed in the name of their religion you fail to realize that people can kill in the name of atheism which is what stalin did both in the name of communism and atheism.
Nobody has ever killed in the name of atheism alone. Unlike communism or religion, atheism is not an ideology. It is the absence of something, not an agenda. Communism happens to be an anti-religious ideology, but atheism is not the defining characteristic of communism.
And Also christians and catholics many proestants died in the holocaust and Hitler betrayed the catholic church when he went against the treaty. But you fail to understand the fact that Stalin was a atheist that it is death by association and will make people who are atheists look bad because a lot of evil men where atheists.
All sorts of people died in the holocaust, including Christians. But there was no systematic extermination of Christians, unlike the mass extermination of Jews. Christians weren't interned and killed simply for being Christians, but for opposing the Nazi regime in some form or another (which is very laudable of course), for being members of the wrong political parties, or for not fitting the Nazi ideal because of having Jewish ancestry or physical or mental handicaps.
As for Stalin: Yes, he was an atheist. And Hitler was a nonsmoker. Does that make all nonsmokers look bad? Are people accessary to the holocaust simply because they aren't addicted to nicotine? Of course not. That notion is ridiculous. So is the idea that people who don't believe in supernatural entities have anything in common with Stalin, for no other reason than being atheists.
PS: How exactly did Hitler violate the treaty / concordat with the Vatican?
No, he wasn't. Hitler was a Catholic and campaigned as a Christian. In fact, the Nazis handed out flyers at the election in 1932 that read "Catholics! Vote for the faithful Catholic Adolf Hitler!"
It is true that some members of the Nazi party were also members of the Thule Society and dabbled in occultism, such as Himmler and Alfred Rosenberg. But not Hitler himself. He is actually on record for saying "I don't want any conflict with the churches or the clergy. The myths of Mr. Rosenberg are not part of our party agenda". Hitler also frequently evoked god and Jesus in his speeches, quoted the Bible, called the Nazi party a Christian movement, and was strongly opposed to atheism (which he viewed as a left-wing fad) and to secular schools without religious education.
If that is the case he didn't do it for a religious reason only used religion to gain politcal power once he did he shut down churches christians died in the holocuast as well as jews did some catholics too but look up hitler and the occult and see for yourself.
I am surprised that you have never heard of that Crazycatlord and you live in the fatherland Germany haven't they had history channel speicals on hitler and the occult over their? They have in America anyone can claim to be religious how ever he was called the thrid anti-christ you can find quotes of him wanting to destroy christanity on the internet just by googling it.
He was a occultist the swastica was a german pagan symbol like the other nazi symbols where.
First off, I don't live in the "Fatherland". Although the term wasn't coined by the Nazis, it is historically tainted with negative connotations. I live in Germany, and that's why I know a thing or two about German history. I also know that a lot of gross misinformation about the Third Reich has been spread and published in the USA, which ranges from right-wing Christian claims like "Hitler was an atheist / pagan / occultist who tried to stamp out Christianity" to outright holocaust denial. I find all these attempts to rewrite history equally offensive.
If you happen to speak German or manage to find an English translation, I suggest that you pick up the books "Die Kirchen im Banne des Nationalsozialismus" (the churches under the spell of national socialism) by Helmut Steuerwald, "Der Glaube des Adolf Hitler. Anatomie einer politischen Religiosität" (the faith of Adolf Hitler. Anatomy of a political religiosity) by Friedrich Heer, "Die gelbe Farbe - Die Entwicklung der Judenfeindschaft aus dem Christentum" (the color yellow - the evolution of antisemitism out of Christianity) by Elisabeth Endres, and "Mit Gott und dem Führer" (with god and the Führer) by Karlheinz Deschner. Or read Hitler's own book "Mein Kampf", which is full of religious statements and leaves no doubt that he saw himself as a Christian.
Joker
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Exactly. Stalin sought to eradicate all institutions, beliefs and ideologies that were incompatible with his own ideological belief system. A belief system that wasn't atheism but communism. He didn't wage war against religion in the name of atheism, he tried to replace all competing world views with his own communist world view.
At least I can admit people have killed in the name of their religion you fail to realize that people can kill in the name of atheism which is what stalin did both in the name of communism and atheism.
Nobody has ever killed in the name of atheism alone. Unlike communism or religion, atheism is not an ideology. It is the absence of something, not an agenda. Communism happens to be an anti-religious ideology, but atheism is not the defining characteristic of communism.
And Also christians and catholics many proestants died in the holocaust and Hitler betrayed the catholic church when he went against the treaty. But you fail to understand the fact that Stalin was a atheist that it is death by association and will make people who are atheists look bad because a lot of evil men where atheists.
All sorts of people died in the holocaust, including Christians. But there was no systematic extermination of Christians, unlike the mass extermination of Jews. Christians weren't interned and killed simply for being Christians, but for opposing the Nazi regime in some form or another (which is very laudable of course), for being members of the wrong political parties, or for not fitting the Nazi ideal because of having Jewish ancestry or physical or mental handicaps.
As for Stalin: Yes, he was an atheist. And Hitler was a nonsmoker. Does that make all nonsmokers look bad? Are people accessary to the holocaust simply because they aren't addicted to nicotine? Of course not. That notion is ridiculous. So is the idea that people who don't believe in supernatural entities have anything in common with Stalin, for no other reason than being atheists.
PS: How exactly did Hitler violate the treaty / concordat with the Vatican?
No of course not Hitler was also a Vegan but religious people always deal with guilt by asscoation hence preists that molest children ect.
If you have read the book the rise and fall of the third reich it goes into detail about how Hitler violated the treaty with the vatican.
Mussolini was a anti-theists when people in politcal power have a agenda against the religious it is to wipe out the devot belivers in faith to make way for new forms of thought not atheism atheism isn't a religion nor a belief it is just a form of skeptism of Gods or the supernatural in general.
Also look at this link it will explain how Hitler violated the treaty http://jesuswouldbefurious.org/Catholic ... ordat.html
There are very interesting quotes on this site, which don't jive with the notion that Hitler worked against the Christian churches. This is consistent with other information that I've read about the close, mutually beneficial relationship between the churches and the Nazi regime.
"Between 1933, when he took office, and 1938 it rose from 150,000,000 marks a year to 500,000,000. 'What was your subsidy to the Churches', he asked of France, Britain, and America? He had never closed a church, and he left the Roman Church the richest land-owner in south and west Germany. It drew 1,500,000,000 marks a year from its property alone. (German papers give its wealth as $20,000,000,000). All that he asked was that priests should behave themselves as respectably as other citizens. "Paederasty and the corruption of children," he said, "are punished by law like other crimes in this state." The roars of applause in this case expressed the sentiment of practically the whole of Germany."
[How The Cross Courted The Swastika For Eight Years, by Joseph McCabe, chapter IV.]
In return for maintaining state support for the churches, Hitler secured an agreement that the churches would not oppose the National Socialists' rise to power. Practically overnight, both churches developed active participation in advancing the goals of the Nazis. The Lutheran press began to talk of the Jews as the "natural enemies" of Christianity. The Catholic Church even agreed to an oath of fealty to be taken by all bishops, agreeing "Before God and on the Holy Gospels, I swear and promise — as becomes a bishop — loyalty to the German Reich and to the state ... and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honor it."
[ from www.freedommag.org/english/spegerm/page18.htm ]
"After the Concordat between the Nazi regime and the Holy See (i.e. "Throne") had been concluded in the summer of 1933, Cardinal Faulhaber sent a handwritten note to Hitler, stating, "What the old parliaments and parties did not accomplish in 60 years, your statesmanlike foresight has achieved in six months. ... this handshake with the papacy, the greatest moral power in the history of the world, is a feat of immeasurable blessing." These words were written some time after the Nazi regime had abolished virtually all civil liberties, had dissolved all political parties other than its own, and had decreed the removal of "non-Aryans" from public service as well as from pastoral functions, all clearly steps toward the deprivation of citizenship rights of the Jews. These actions were never protested by members of the hierarchy, and expressions such as Faulhaber's could only bolster the regime and help sustain its policies."
[ from "The Silence of the Vatican And the Plight of the Jews," by H. Brand http://www.wpunj.edu/newpol/issue30/brand30.htm ]
But yes, I guess Hitler did violate the concordat by detaining "non-Aryan" members of the Catholic clergy. However, the Vatican didn't do much in terms of protest and did never annul the concordat. I've read that pope Pius XI simply ignored later reports of concentration camps from German, Dutch and Polish clergymen. In the eyes of the Vatican, this was an acceptable trade-off for Hitler's fight against communism, which was seen as a much greater threat to the church than Hitler's pro-Christian fascist regime. Another quote from the website:
Also interesting (I already mentioned Hitler's opposition to a secular school system in a previous post):
Altogether, Hitler affirmed, he was personally convinced of the great power and significance of Christianity and he therefore would not permit the founding of another religion. . . Being a Catholic himself, he would not tolerate another Kulturkampf and the rights of the Church would be left intact.
Concerning the school question, Hitler declared that he would never accept an entirely secular school system. Character could be built only on the basis of religion. We must have believers, Bishop Berning reports him saying. "We need soldiers, devout soldiers. Devout soldiers are the most valuable, for they risk all. Therefore we shall keep the parochial schools in order to bring up believers," and in this task Church and State must co-operate closely. Hitler also promised to continue the Catholic organizations if they promoted Christian ideas and at the same time maintained a positive relationship to the state and were public-spirited. But all residues of liberalism and Marxism would have to be eliminated. Hitler ended the talk by stressing the great importance he attributed to working closely with the Catholic Church."
[ Lewy p. 51-52 ]
All in all and despite some Christian apologetic rhetoric, this website only confirms Hitler's self-identification as a Christian, the great importance that he placed on the role of the Christian churches, his view of the Nazi party as a Christian party, and the Vatican's support of the Nazi regime. The apex of Catholic Christian involvement in the holocaust is probably the administration of the concentration camp Jasenovac in Croatia by a Catholic priest of the Franciscan order, Miroslav Filipović, who was responsible for the murder of 40,000 Jews and Serbs.
Joker
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Joined: 19 Mar 2011
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 7,593
Location: North Carolina The Tar Heel State :)
There are very interesting quotes on this site, which don't jive with the notion that Hitler worked against the Christian churches. This is consistent with other information that I've read about the close, mutually beneficial relationship between the churches and the Nazi regime.
"Between 1933, when he took office, and 1938 it rose from 150,000,000 marks a year to 500,000,000. 'What was your subsidy to the Churches', he asked of France, Britain, and America? He had never closed a church, and he left the Roman Church the richest land-owner in south and west Germany. It drew 1,500,000,000 marks a year from its property alone. (German papers give its wealth as $20,000,000,000). All that he asked was that priests should behave themselves as respectably as other citizens. "Paederasty and the corruption of children," he said, "are punished by law like other crimes in this state." The roars of applause in this case expressed the sentiment of practically the whole of Germany."
[How The Cross Courted The Swastika For Eight Years, by Joseph McCabe, chapter IV.]
In return for maintaining state support for the churches, Hitler secured an agreement that the churches would not oppose the National Socialists' rise to power. Practically overnight, both churches developed active participation in advancing the goals of the Nazis. The Lutheran press began to talk of the Jews as the "natural enemies" of Christianity. The Catholic Church even agreed to an oath of fealty to be taken by all bishops, agreeing "Before God and on the Holy Gospels, I swear and promise — as becomes a bishop — loyalty to the German Reich and to the state ... and to cause the clergy of my diocese to honor it."
[ from www.freedommag.org/english/spegerm/page18.htm ]
"After the Concordat between the Nazi regime and the Holy See (i.e. "Throne") had been concluded in the summer of 1933, Cardinal Faulhaber sent a handwritten note to Hitler, stating, "What the old parliaments and parties did not accomplish in 60 years, your statesmanlike foresight has achieved in six months. ... this handshake with the papacy, the greatest moral power in the history of the world, is a feat of immeasurable blessing." These words were written some time after the Nazi regime had abolished virtually all civil liberties, had dissolved all political parties other than its own, and had decreed the removal of "non-Aryans" from public service as well as from pastoral functions, all clearly steps toward the deprivation of citizenship rights of the Jews. These actions were never protested by members of the hierarchy, and expressions such as Faulhaber's could only bolster the regime and help sustain its policies."
[ from "The Silence of the Vatican And the Plight of the Jews," by H. Brand http://www.wpunj.edu/newpol/issue30/brand30.htm ]
But yes, I guess Hitler did violate the concordat by detaining "non-Aryan" members of the Catholic clergy. However, the Vatican didn't do much in terms of protest and did never annul the concordat. I've read that pope Pius XI simply ignored later reports of concentration camps from German, Dutch and Polish clergymen. In the eyes of the Vatican, this was an acceptable trade-off for Hitler's fight against communism, which was seen as a much greater threat to the church than Hitler's pro-Christian fascism. Another quote from the website:
Also interesting (I already mentioned Hitler's opposition to a secular school system in a previous post):
Altogether, Hitler affirmed, he was personally convinced of the great power and significance of Christianity and he therefore would not permit the founding of another religion. . . Being a Catholic himself, he would not tolerate another Kulturkampf and the rights of the Church would be left intact.
Concerning the school question, Hitler declared that he would never accept an entirely secular school system. Character could be built only on the basis of religion. We must have believers, Bishop Berning reports him saying. "We need soldiers, devout soldiers. Devout soldiers are the most valuable, for they risk all. Therefore we shall keep the parochial schools in order to bring up believers," and in this task Church and State must co-operate closely. Hitler also promised to continue the Catholic organizations if they promoted Christian ideas and at the same time maintained a positive relationship to the state and were public-spirited. But all residues of liberalism and Marxism would have to be eliminated. Hitler ended the talk by stressing the great importance he attributed to working closely with the Catholic Church."
[ Lewy p. 51-52 ]
All in all and despite some Christian apologetic rhetoric, this website only confirms Hitler's self-identification as a Christian, his view of the Nazi party as a Christian party, and the Vatican's support of the Nazi regime. The apex of Catholic Christian involvement in the holocaust is probably the administration of the concentration camp Jasenovac in Croatia by a Catholic priest of the Franciscan order, Miroslav Filipović, who was responsible for the murder of 40,000 Jews and Serbs.
I am just glad I am not Catholic lets put it this way Catholics are a lot like Jihadist muslims while proestants are the opposite the vatican plays a big role in politics when protestants are for separation from church and state Catholics do not view my kind as christian we are viewed as the same as non-thiests. In fact I have a lot of non thiest friends and proestant friends as well we are at war with each other because the proestants rejected the so call role of the pope we do not bow down to him.
It is a very interesting conflict we read the same book yet never get along nor like each other atheists and proestants can be friends with out bringing up religion as well.
But at least now you know he broke the treaty and that Catholics do not even view babtists methodist ect as Christian Catholics have never like our kind like I said we rejected the rule and role of the pope and refused to bow down to him.