C. Illogical arguments    A third element is a profound illogic, that stresses the most tenuous similarities between Hitler's thought and Christian teaching while ignoring the most blatant differences. It would take a book to deal with all of the examples of this in Mr. Walker's site. I would like to mention some examples, however - not for refutation, though some refutation will be presented, but to illustrate a propagandistic mindset that is motivated more by hostility than by a desire to arrive at real understanding. It will also shed some light on the mind of Hitler, to contrast his views with eternal biblical truths - so this analysis might not be as tedious as I had at first feared.    Nothing reveals what I consider to be Mr. Walker's peculiar logic more clearly than the fact that he studied the life and the teachings of Jesus, and the life and the teachings of Hitler, compared them - and came to the conclusion that Hitler was like Jesus! He doesn't even mention differences. Before looking at his arguments, I would like to list differences between Jesus and Hitler that any truly objective study would have taken into consideration.    ~ Jesus never attained or tried to attain political power. Hitler did. ~ Jesus practiced non-violence. He told his followers not to fight for him and passively allowed himself to be killed. Hitler did not advocate or practice non-violence. ~ Jesus is deeply loved, respected, and believed in by countless millions of people throughout the world. Hitler is universally regarded with disgust by all decent people. ~ Jesus' teachings spread throughout the world and have lasted nearly two thousand years. Hitler's false ideology collapsed in an extremely short time and is now believed in by almost no one. ~ Christianity spread in the first crucial centuries of its existence by faith and persuasion alone, in spite of persecution. National Socialism was spread and supported by force and violence. ~ Jesus emphasized forgiveness and love for others. Hitler advocated pitiless cruelty. ~ Jesus taught that there is a world to come after this one, an eternity in heaven or in hell. Hitler never showed any concern for such things. ~ Jesus' kingdom is not of this world ("My kingdom is not of this world, John 18:36); Hitler's kingdom was of this world. These are simple facts. Two other differences are matters of faith: ~ Hitler died and remains dead, while Jesus died and rose again. ~ Hitler was only a man, and a sinful one, while Jesus is the divine and sinless Son of God.  But, Mr. Walker does not see these differences. He sees only similarities. What similarities does he see? He found quite a few of them - they are all in the section "Hitler compared to God/Jesus/Christians." They are: ~ Jesus said we should not be troubled by wars and rumors of wars (Mark 13:7-8); Hitler was not troubled by war either. ~ Jesus used a whip to drive the money-changers out of the temple; Hitler sometimes carried a whip, and Dietrich Eckart heard Hitler say that he wanted to clean the corruption out of Berlin the way Christ cleared out the temple. ~ Jesus came to bring not peace but a sword (Matthew 10:34) and Hitler also brought war. ~ Jesus brought division (Luke 12:51) and so did Hitler. ~ Jesus said that his enemies should be killed ("But those mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me," Luke 19:27) and Hitler killed or imprisoned his enemies. ~ Jesus was betrayed, and Hitler was also betrayed by "many of his generals." This also means that the apostles were like Hitler's generals. ~ Jesus will reign for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:6), and Hitler wanted his Reich to last for 1,000 years. ~ Hitler on his way to prison compared himself to Christ ~ Mr. Walker finds one more point of similarity, which I confess I don't understand. I quote it verbatim. First, part of John 18:36 is cited. I give the whole verse, but underline the part cited by Mr. Walker. Perhaps he left out the first part because it emphasized a major difference between Hitler and Jesus. The verse is: "Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." Comparing this to Hitler, Mr. Walker states (and I repeat his short comment verbatim and in its entirety), "Of course Hitler lived in this world and, indeed, his followers fought for him against the Jews."    The superficiality of these supposed similarities contrasts greatly with the spiritual depths of the aforementioned differences. A vast gulf, as far as the east is from the west, separates the divine and eternal truths of Christ and his sinless life from the lies and hatred of Hitler. It is unfortunate that Mr. Walker pored so diligently over the New Testament, looking for every hint or scrap that might be used to attain his preconceived end, but was untouched by the glorious message of eternal life, forgiveness of sins, and spiritual communication through Christ with the one true God who created the heavens and the earth.    Let us look more closely at the great differences that lie behind Mr. Walker's shallow and inconsequential similarities. First, it is true that Christians should not be troubled by wars and rumors of wars. This is because we know that our lives are in God's hands. He will keep us safe as long as he sees fit, and, when we do depart, we go to be with Christ. "To die is gain," as the bible says, and we should not fear those that can only destroy the body but after that have nothing they can do to us. Hitler's reasons for not fearing war were considerably different. He viewed war as good. He saw struggle and conflict as the very foundation of our existence, as we have seen, and thought that war would exalt and purify the strong, and crush the weak. He also saw it as a legitimate means to achieve the end of German domination. Jesus said "Blessed are the peacemakers." To not be troubled by war is vastly different from being enthusiastic about it, and deliberately starting it.    Secondly, Jesus once used a whip and Hitler carried a whip. Hitler also spoke of being like Jesus in this respect (we will accept the Eckart quote for the sake of discussion, though Mr. Walker goes to great lengths to explain away statements of Hitler's expressing his hatred of Christianity). This gets back to the previously mentioned analogy of the policeman and the bankrobber. They both carry a gun - are they the same? One has an authority and a right that the other does not, and one uses the gun for necessary and useful purposes while the other does not. Moreover, if the New Testament account is true, as I believe it is, Jesus as the Son had the right to clear out his own Father's house. I don't need to point out that no one was killed in that incident.    In another section of his site, Mr. Walker provides a photo of Hitler with a whip, "acting like Jesus." He gives a source for the photo - it comes from a book of Nazi propaganda called The Hitler No One Knows: 100 Pictures of the Life of the F¨¹hrer, by Heinrich Hoffmann. [http://www.bytwerk.com/gpa/hitler2.htm]. Written to glorify the Fuhrer, the book has a caption with the photo explaining why Hitler carried a whip: The "whip." Enemy papers excitedly write that Hitler always carries a riding whip. In reality, it is a dog whip that the F¨¹hrer carries today as a reminder of the time when he could carry no weapon at all. Then the whip was his only defense....   Jesus did not carry a whip around with him for self defense. When Mr. Walker says Hitler is acting like Jesus here he will convince some who only judge by outward appearances and don't think critically or independently - but he will have to give account for his false words on the day of judgement. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor" - this is one of the ten commandments. What shall we say against someone who bears false witness not against his neighbor, but against Jesus, the Son of God?    Looking at the third accusation of similarity, the sword that Jesus spoke of was the sword of truth that proceeds from his mouth (Revelation 19:15). It was not a political or military sword like Hitler's Wehrmacht, which is proven by the life of Jesus and by the history of the early church.    Fourthly, and this is related to the previous point, Jesus and Hitler brought division. But leftists who assert their positions bring division also. Everyone who asserts some position brings division between those who agree and disagree. Are those who bring division by asserting that "Criticism of Darwin should not be allowed in school" or "Homosexuality is normal" behaving like Hitler? Anyway, the divison that Jesus brought was a division of belief, with freedom for those who disagreed to go their own way. Perhaps Mr. Walker imagines he is uniting humanity with his attacks on religion and leading the way toward universal brotherhood - if he could just get rid of those narrow-minded and intolerant fanatics who disagree with him. They are a menace! And so intransigent too.    Fifthly, as far as Jesus killing his enemies, neither he nor his apostles killed anyone. They allowed themselves to be killed. Jesus' statement in Luke is part of a parable. It refers to his return as God to judge the world. That will be a divine judgement, by God. God has the power to take life because it is he who gave it in the first place. A better comparison would be between Hitler and Churchill. He caused a lot of people to be killed by fighting Germany, and some people were imprisoned while he was in power - so, Churchill was like Hitler. And Hitler was like Napoleon - they both tried to conquer Europe. And NATO was like the Warsaw Pact. And a judge sentencing a duly convicted criminal to death is like a mafia boss giving orders to a hit man.    Sixthly, Jesus and Hitler were both betrayed; but Jesus' followers returned afterward, except for Judas, and became devoted and faithful followers - and their cause prevailed. Hitler's followers were permanently defeated. Such obvious differences should not have to be mentioned.    But Jesus will reign for a thousand years, and Hitler wanted his Reich to last for that same period of time! This doesn't show that Hitler was following Jesus - it showed that he wanted to equal Jesus. He failed. Jesus will not fail - and his kingdom will be one of peace and righteousness, that will be a blessing to the world. Hitler's attempt not to serve, follow, and obey Jesus, but to replace him, is illustrated by a painting in the "Nazi artifacts" section of Mr. Walker's site. It shows Hitler preaching to a small group of poor, suffering, and oppressed Germans, and is entitled "In the Beginning was the Word." This equates Hitler with Jesus, and moreover shows him as the bringer of a new gospel - not the faithful follower of an old one.    This relates to the next point, Hitler on his way to prison comparing himself to Jesus. Hitler did think he was more than an ordinary mortal, and liked to build himself up as much as possible. Comparisons of himself to Christ were great for his ego, and also useful politically as a means of increasing awe and devotion among his followers. This only demonstrates Hitler's folly and conceit. It does not demonstrate that any real spiritual similarity actually existed, any more than his assertions of Aryan supremacy prove the truth of that ludicrous doctrine. Since when does Hitler's assertion of something prove it to be true? Moreover, looking at some differences, Hitler was guilty and Christ was innocent. Hitler got a mild sentence and was released and Christ was executed. Hitler was arrested for political reasons and Christ was not.    Come to think of it, Martin Luther King was also arrested and put in jail - just like Hitler. In fact, King and Hitler had a lot of similarities: both were eloquent speakers; both had a devoted following; both were committed to improving the lot of their peoples; both were very successful. Hitler had a lot in common with Ghandi too - both widely revered, firmly committed to a cause, extremely effective in mobilizing popular support, symbols of national pride, both in opposition to England - of course, there were some differences.    Finally, Mr. Walker notes one more point of similarity. Jesus said that if his kingdom were of this world his servants would fight for him, but his kingdom was not of this world. Mr. Walker states "Of course Hitler lived in this world and, indeed, his followers fought for him against the Jews." It's true Jesus and Hitler both lived in the world - Hitler also had this in common with Walt Disney and numerous other people. That Jesus' kingdom is not of this world and that his followers did not fight for him is a difference, not a similarity between Jesus and Hitler. I don't know what Mr. Walker is saying here and I don't think he does either.