3. Nazi photos    In this section Mr. Walker presents more than thirty photos to show that Hitler was a Christian and was supported by Christians. Many of the photos only illustrate the well-known historical fact that the German churches, both Protestant and Catholic supported Hitler.    This support can be interpreted to mean one of four things: (a) that Hitler was a Christian and his beliefs were compatible with Christianity; (b) that many Christians thought Hitler was a Christian but were gullible and deceived; (c) that many Christians abandoned traditional Christianity and replaced it with a new faith which they wrongly said could be reconciled with the old one; or (d) Christians were living in a totalitarian dictatorship where support for the dictator was obligatory, and dissent meant imprisonment, abuse, even torture and death. This chapter of the essay has been discussing the first option. The remaining three can be discussed in chapter four.    A comment of Mr. Walker's next to a photo of Ludwig Mueller is significant. Mr. Walker states "Although Hitler had problems with the Catholic Church and eventually wanted to replace Catholicism with his brand of Christianity, the very fact that Hitler wanted a united German Church proves that he supported Christianity." Hitler's desire to unite the churches - like Chairman Mao - has been discussed; but would the Vatican have signed the Concordat with Hitler and supported him in any way if the Catholics had known that Hitler intended to replace the Catholic Church with a new brand of Christianity? Mr. Walker all but admits here that in supporting Hitler the Catholics were deceived.    I agree with Mr. Walker here. Hitler did want to introduce a new brand of Christianity - a Christianity in which Christ was not the son of God, part of the Trinity, but rather a mere human, a patriot who fought to liberate mankind from the Jews, who died but did not rise again. His death was a symbol only of struggle to the bitter end. This Christianity furthermore would teach that the Germans were the master race, a chosen people destined by Fate / Providence / Heaven / the Almighty / God / the Supreme Being to lead mankind to new heights under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, the new Messiah.    This "positive" or "German" Christianity was however merely preparatory for the new revelation, useful as a transitional means of eliminating the old Christianity. We are given an idea of what this new revelation would be by one of Heinrich Himmler's confidants, Felix Kersten. Writing after the war, he related the following comments by Himmler, made after he had remarked on some religious books in Himmler's library: I am to prepare a new Nazi religion. I am to draft the new Bible, the Bible of the faith.... The Fuhrer has decided that, after the victory of the Third Reich, he will abolish Christianity throughout Great Germany, and establish the faith on its ruins. The latter will preserve the idea of God, but it will be very vague and indistinct. The Fuhrer will replace Christ as the savior of humanity. Thus, millions and millions of people will say only Hitler's name in their prayers, and a hundred years from now nothing will be known but the new religion, which will endure for centuries. [http://www.kimel.net/christi.html] Mr. Walker would no doubt dismiss this source as hearsay, but since he accepts Wagener's comments, when Wagener presents Hitler as a peaceful man troubled by SA violence and talking about the love of Christ, it appears that his criteria for deciding the authenticity of quotes are purely subjective. Anyway, this essay does not rely on the Kersten quote to substantiate its main points, but refers to it as plausible, and in partial agreement with Mr. Walker's own contention - that Hitler wanted to replace the established churches with his own invention.    Returning to Mr. Walker's photos, there is one of a military chaplain with a group of soldiers. The accompanying comment reveals the hostility to religion that permeates the entire website and clouds Mr. Walker's judgement: Most wars are justified on religious grounds. Of course if a soldier felt uneasy about slaughtering others, they could always turn to a chaplain who would then patiently explain to them that killing is allowed by God and about the righteous morality of war. He might then give a few Biblical examples of God ordained killings. And then he might tell them that Jesus will forgive them and send them to Heaven if they should happen to die. Mr. Walker seems to believe that if we could eliminate religion, all of mankind could live together in one big happy family - a family in which everyone was in agreement with him. Thus, religious believers are an obstacle to world peace - and how shall we deal with this obstacle? Stalin sought to remove Christianity forcibly. Perhaps Mr. Walker would do the same if he had the power, who knows? He has compared Christians to heroin addicts, and the state is justified in taking action to prevent the use of heroin, isn't it? What if Mr. Walker believes that the danger of Christianity, like any other danger, should be forcibly dealt with by the power of the state? What if protestations to the contrary were only deceptions, to be dropped once the reigns of power were firmly in his hands? He is concerned about Christians trying to get power - there are grounds for concern if people like Mr. Walker should ever come to power.    The bible does say that God has given the governments the power of the sword to keep the peace. If there were no police, society would be in chaos. The criminals would rule and civilization would be impossible. If there were no armed forces we would have to submit to those (whether Nazi or Communist or radical Islamist) that sought to impose their views by force. Thus, some wars can be justified on religious grounds. But did Hitler justify his wars on religious grounds? Didn't he justify his wars on the basic law of nature, that force is the only determining factor, that life is a struggle - which views he derived not from the bible but from the objective and scientific study of nature?    Moreover, soldiers for thousands of years of recorded history in many different regions of the world have been capable of killing without the religious encouragements cited by Mr. Walker. The Japanese in WWII, the Vikings, the Mongols, the Huns, the atheistic and secular humanistic Russians, the ancient Mayans, all of these and many other peoples have had wars and slaughters without the assurance of forgiveness of sins. To blame the sins and evils of the world on Christianity, or on religion, and to assert that people are free to commit all the crimes they like and then they can "believe in Jesus" and go to heaven is simplistic, to put it mildly. Certainly, many mothers in the modern age, millions of them, have found the strength to throw their babies in the garbage without any concern for forgiveness of sins - a brutal slaughter wrought in the name of secularism which we can be sure does not trouble Mr. Walker in the slightest.    Finally, someone who does not believe in religion might say: There is no God, no judgement, no afterlife. You die and that's all. You will not have to give any account for your actions and can commit all the crimes that you like. Furthermore, there is nothing at all wrong with killing people. Man is nothing more than matter, and killing people to benefit society is no different from removing material obstacles to make a place suitable for habitation. You can kill a million, five million people for the good of society, and it is justified. The countless millions that have been killed according to this logic do not appear on Mr. Walker's radar screen.    Mr. Walker shows a photo of Goering's "Christian" wedding - but of course we don't know what words were said in the ceremony. Nowhere does the New Testament say anything about church wedding ceremonies, but it dies say a lot about a system of ethics and behaviour unknown to Goering. Jesus didn't say "Blessed are vicious and brutal evildoers who have a wedding peformed in the church." Incidentally, there are in America non-Christians who have a church wedding strictly for sentimental reasons. Some pastors will perform such a ceremony - it is part of their job. Others will not.    There is a photo of Hitler's mother's grave - this says nothing about Hitler's philosophy and actions. Then there are some propaganda photos of Hitler praying, Hitler leaving a church, Hitler in front of a church or with a church in the background. That Hitler deliberately presented an image as a reasonable and decent man in the years before he came to power is known to those who have studied his rise to power. These photo-ops are illustrative of Nazi propaganda designed to broaden Hitler's base and smooth his path to power, and to facilitate his consolidation to power after he became Chancellor. Why are there no photos of Hitler in front of a church or coming out of a church from the period of 1939-45, or even earlier? Odd, how the church photos stopped being released when they were no longer needed.    Concerning the photo of Hitler leaving the church, we have already referred to the source for it - The Hitler No One Knows: 100 Pictures of the Life of the F¨¹hrer, by Heinrich Hoffmann. Written, it will be recalled, as Nazi propaganda to glorify the Fuhrer, the book has this comment about Hitler leaving the church: "A photograph accidentally becomes a symbol. Adolf Hitler, the supposed 'heretic,' leaves the Marine Church in Wilhelmshaven."    A number of observations can be made about this caption. For one thing, a photograph that just happened to have a strangely bright cross directly over Hitler's head was made "accidentally." Secondly, here is proof that Hitler was not a heretic - he walked out of a church! How could anyone possibly suspect Hitler of heresy when he was actually photographed walking out of a church? "Here is a photo of me leaving a church once" would not be a strong defense in a real heresy trial - and who were those people who supposed Hitler was a heretic? Could it have been people who thought that race defilement being the original sin had nothing to do with the bible?    Concerning the photo of Hitler praying, "Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart" as the bible says. No doubt some people saw the Fuhrer praying, and thought "What a devout and pious man he is." Some of Hitler's associates may have thought "I can't believe how gullible these Christians are." Hitler himself may have been thinking "I've got half an hour to get to the airport." God knows what is in our hearts when we pray, and Jesus spoke of prayers that were acceptable to God, and prayers that were not acceptable.    There is photo of Hitler with a Catholic official - the words "SMOKING GUN!" are triumphantly added. There is no photo of Hitler with Chamberlain proving Hitler to have been an Englishman, and there is no photo of Hitler meeting with a Soviet representative proving Hitler to have been a Soviet Communist. This photo shows what is well known - that the Catholic Church cooperated with Hitler. It does not show the deceit with which Hitler disarmed potentially significant opposition from the church, and then when in power did everything he could to eliminate Roman influence. There is an accompanying quote from Cardinal Bertram of Berlin, showing the well-known support of the churches for Hitler. Whether or not this policy of supporting Hitler was a biblical one is an entirely different question. Serious Christians have no trouble recognizing the fact that ecclesiastical power structures, whether Protestant or Catholic, often have gone against the teachings and the Spirit of Christ.      Perhaps someday I will make a website responding to Mr. Walker. I could include a photo section with the following items: ~ various pictures of Hitler orating, shouting and gesticulating, with accompanying bible verses: "Blessed are the peacemakers...blessed are the meek...blessed are the pure in heart...blessed are the merciful." ~ a picture of Hitler leaning over a map with the verse "You shall not covet." ~ a picture of some starving concentration camp inmates with the words "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." ~ a picture of antisemitic propaganda with the verse "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." ~ a picture of massed formations of German military power with the verse "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass." ~ a cover of Mein Kampf with the words "The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity." ~ a photograph of a German city destroyed by air raids with the words "...he (God) shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness." ~ a photo of the invasion of Russia and the words "He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head." ~ a photo of a gas chamber with the words "inventors of evil things...they which commit such things are worthy of death." ~ a photo of Hitler "praying" or coming out of a church, with the words "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." I could go on and on, but will content myself with one more example: a photo of German Christians giving the Hitler salute with the words "You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."