Other examples of strange logic    To choose one point out of many, the section "Hitler's religious beliefs and fanaticism" claims that Hitler "certainly believed in the bible's God." Now, does any serious person think that Hitler believed the Old Testament was the word of God? That God appeared to Abraham and made a special covenant with him, by which all the peoples of the earth would be blessed? That those who blessed Abraham and his descendants, the Jews, would be blessed, and those that cursed them would be cursed? That God delivered the Jews from captivity in Egypt, appeared to Moses, gave him divine rules and commandments, led the children of Israel to the promised land, and established them there?    Does any serious person think that Hitler believed God came to earth in human form in the person of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of the world and rose from the dead, so that those who believe in him can be cleansed by his blood and receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven?    Mr. Walker claims that Hitler believed in the God of the bible, and then attempts to substantiate it with words from Hitler's speeches and from Mein Kampf that show Hitler to have had many ideas directly contrary to the bible's teachings. That is a peculiar sort of logic, to strongly assert a point, and then present evidence to the contrary.    Looking briefly at this section, which has a few quotes from speeches but many quotes from Mein Kampf, we find - as has been said before - that there are no distinctly Christian or biblical doctrines in any of Hitler's words. That God exists, or that he created the world, and influences it providentially, are not distinctly Christian. Jews and Moslems can believe the same, as did many German secular philosophers of the 19th century who rejected Christianity but still felt that there was something up there, guiding the world to a higher development through the use of great men and nations.    There are no quotes from Mein Kampf containing essential Christian doctrines. There are some paraphrases of or reference to bible verses (not used to advance any Christian teaching) and some references to "Providence" and "Fate" - but this has been discussed before. Let us look at some of the unbiblical doctrines revealed in this section, cited by Mr. Walker to prove Hitler's Christianity but in fact achieving the opposite.    One comment shows hostility to Protestantism. He first says something good about it, but then adds: "...it (Protestantism) combats with the greatest hostility any attempt to rescue the nation from the embrace of its most mortal enemy, since its attitude toward the Jews just happens to be more or less dogmatically established" (Vol. I chapt. 3). Protestants resist attempts to rescue the nation from its most mortal enemy, the Jew. Is Mr. Walker aware of Protestant objections to the Aryan paragraph that forbade converted Jews from serving as pastors? Of traditional Protestantism's defense of the Jewish Old Testament as the word of God?    There is also a quote objecting to religious antisemitism that is not based on racial knowledge. Hitler's antisemitism was racial, something unknown in the bible and in centuries of Christian cultural domination. Here we have the pagan origins of National Socialism plainly visible. "The anti-Semitism of the new movement [Christian social movement] was based on religious ideas instead of racial knowledge" (Vol. I chapt. 3). Hitler's lengthy comments on the Jews in Mein Kampf show a racially based antisemitism, not a religious one.    Another quote: "Only in the steady and constant application of force lies the very first prerequisite for success" (Vol. I chapt. 3). This relates to passages from Mein Kampf mentioned in chapter one. Life is a struggle in which only the strong survive - how does this prove Hitler was a Christian?    A quote from Vol. I chapt. 6 refers to God's grace smiling on the German armies in the First World War - not a biblical concept. Another quote from Vol. I chapt. 8 (already referred to in this essay) shows Hitler's concept of Christianity: Christianity's significance "lies in the universal development of culture, ethics, and morality." This is pure Hegel, pure theological liberalism, which dismissed doctrines about Christ, sin, eternal life, and focused only on ethics. To prove Hitler's Christianity Mr. Walker gives a quote showing that Hitler had a purely secular and humanist concept of "the religion of love."    Then there is a quote in which Hitler refers to the "great men" of history and compares them to Marathon runners crowned with a laurel wreath. The exact parallel between Hitler's concept of the "great man of history" and Hegel's is ignored by Mr. Walker. Instead, he finds a verse in the bible where Paul refers to those who run to win a prize (I Corinthians 9:24-27). Hitler was referring to a very few great men who come along "once in centuries" - Paul was referring to Christians. Hitler was referring to an earthly crown of human glory, such as that worn by Napoleon or Caesar - Paul was referring to an immortal crown won by those who lived for Christ.    To compare Paul's spiritual crown, given to those who live for Christ, with the crown of Caesar or Alexander the Great, shows a mind that grasps at the most slender similarities while missing the entire substance of Hitler's message. This is called straining at gnats and swallowing camels. Would that Hitler had been influenced by I Corinthians, all of it, including chapter 13. He might have learned to be a patient, modest, kind man who rejoiced not in sin and evil but in truth.    Another quote from Vol. I chapt. 8 proving not Hitler's belief in the bible but the exact opposite is one about "fulfillment of the mission allotted to it (the fatherland) by the creator of the universe." And what is this mission? To repent of sin, believe in Jesus, be forgiven, and go to heaven? Hardly. The creator's mission, according to the gospel of Hitler, is to "safeguard the existence and reproduction of our race...and the purity of our blood." This is confirmed by another quote given by Mr. Walker from Vol. I chapt. 10, where Hitler defines sin as "profanation of the blood and the race" - and it is claimed that this proves Hitler's Christianity.    Hitler goes on to say in the same chapter, also quoted by Mr. Walker, that "Blood sin and desecration of race are the original sin in this world...." Does this show a belief in the truth of Genesis, or a belief in the many biblical teachings about sin? Mr. Walker's reasoning seems to be "Oh! Hitler used the words 'original sin'! That proves he was a Christian!"    Other quotes prove nothing. Hostility to immorality and degrading entertainments are supposedly similar to those of the Religious Right (unlike the Anti-religious left which revels in pornography). I worked as an English teacher in China and saw extremely strong official statements about the degrading effects of pornography from the Chinese Communist government. There is a quote about artists being "graced by God" - but God's grace has to do with faith in Christ, not artistic talent. This is sheer paganism, using some religious language that deceived many gullible Germans and is still deceiving gullible people today. Hitler is dead, but his lies and tricks live on.    There is a condemnation of those who misuse religion for political ends. This sounds pretty good, except Hitler often accused people of the very things he was doing himself. The Jews were cruel, devious, cunning, plotting to take over the world; the Poles were attacking Germany; the Czechs were making life miserable for Germans - Hitler did the very thing he objected to in others, and his talk about the misuse of religion here sounds very pious - to those who take Hitler's words at face value.    Here are other ideas of Hitler which by a strange logic Mr. Walker presents as showing Hitler's Christianity: ~ lowering the level of race is a sin against God. ~ the Jewish nation is a racial, not a religious entity (this is proof that Hitler believed in the God of the bible?). ~ the Jew is the symbol of all evil (Paul said, "I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin"). ~ the greatness of Christianity lay not in its truth but in its "inexorable fanaticism"; Christianity is a religion of "fanatical intolerance" (Vol. II chapt. 5). Does Jim Walker see eye-to-eye with Hitler here? ~ religious education should not be abolished without providing an equivalent. (History shows what that equivalent was - a new religion of race and faith in the Fuhrer). ~ the state is a living organism that leads the nation to freedom (not as the bible says an instrument of God to punish evildoers and keep the peace). The state as an organism is secular German volkish philosophy. ~ opposition to Christian missions to Africa, and the statement that it is better to teach parents to adopt an orphan than to preach the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (Mr. Walker and all good humanists will be in solid agreement with Hitler's thinking here). ~ a reference to humans as created by God is used to prove that Hitler was a Creationist. But, if all who believe in Creationism are linked in this way to Hitler, then all atheists are linked in the same way to Stalin. ~ one quote provided by Mr. Walker supposedly proving Hitler's Christianity shows the exact opposite. Hitler believed Catholicism was unscientific! "...the Catholic Church...comes into collision with exact science and research" (Vol. II chapt. 5). Once again, all humanists must nod in agreement with Hitler's wisdom here. Why would Mr. Walker even use this quote? ~ Protestants and Catholics can unite in National Socialism; never mind about the Pope, the mass, the Virgin, purgatory, prayers to the saints, doctrines of salvation or justification, church organization, forms of woship. None of that is important - just believe in the Aryans as the master race and the Fuhrer as the Messiah sent by God, and there will be real unity. This shows complete indifference to the Church. "Forget all of those differences, just be a good German and follow me." ~ the purpose of life is struggle ("...we have been put on this earth with the mission of eternal struggle for our daily bread"), a man's most "sacred right" is the "right to have earth to till with his own hands," and "the most sacred sacrifice" is "the blood that a man sheds for this earth." The blood that a man sheds fighting for his land is the "most sacred sacrifice" - this is used to prove Hitler's Christianity.    Perhaps the best example of Mr. Walker's method is found in the "Nazi artifacts" section of his site. He includes a painting supposedly by Hitler entitled "Mother Mary with the Holy Child Jesus Christ." It is a picture of a woman holding a baby, and Mr. Walker calls it "Something only a Christian could invent." Strangely, however, this picture of a woman with child that "only a Christian could invent" is found on close inspection to be totally void of any religious symbolism whatever. There is not a single halo, no manger, no wise men, not even a fat naked baby with wings.    An explanation of how a picture of a woman with a child that has no religious symbolism could only be painted by a Christian might be added by Mr. Walker as an explanation. Probably the picture isn't even genuine anyway. Hitler's clumsiness and awkwardness in drawing human figures has been noticed by more than one person, but these figures are tolerably well drawn. They are unlike any other of Hitler's paintings that I have seen. More important painters than Hitler have had paintings falsely attributed to them - it is a good way to increase the value of an otherwise worthless painting.    Mr. Walker labels this painting "SMOKING GUN!" If it is a smoking gun, it proves that Mr. Walker's desire to link Hitler to Christianity passes the bounds of ordinary reason and logic. It is sad that Mr. Walker makes such arguments. It is more sad that people will accept them - unthinkingly, uncritically, passively, all the while imagining they are being very objective because they reject religion. Ignoring many parallels with secular German thinkers; ignoring many direct contradictions of biblical teachings, including clearly secular statements; imagining similarities and congruities where there are none; presenting verses to prove Hitler's Christianity which show the opposite - all of this is the result of a deep emotional bias, not of logic.    Parenthetically, if this painting does represent anything, it might illustrate the sun-worship that was popular in some circles of an increasingly pagan modern Germany. Those who have no knowledge of the period might find it incredible that anyone in the modern era would advocate sun-worship, but this was one of the many weird ideas that floated up out of who-knows-where as the influence of Christianity declined. Professor Gasman gives some examples of this in the book already referred to, The Scientific Origins of National Socialism. He quotes the avid Darwinist Ernst Haeckel's Weltraetsel or Riddle of the Universe, a book of pseudo-science that was published in 1899 and was a best-seller during the budding Fuhrer's youth: Sun worship seems to the modern scientist to be the best of all forms of theism, and the one which may be most easily reconciled with modern Monism...Indeed, the whole of our bodily and mental life depends, in the last resort, like all other organic life, on the light and heat rays of the sun. Hence in the light of pure reason, sun worship, as a form of naturalistic monotheism, seems to have a much better foundation than the anthropistic [sic! - Gasman's note] worship of Christians and of other monotheists who conceive of their God in human form. (p.69) Professor Gasman gives other quotes illustrating this novel turn-of-the-century concept. Before quoting a few more examples, readers will perhaps recall Martin Bormann's statement about the Christians worshipping a God in human form. It is possible, as Prof. Gasman asserts, that Haeckel's vision of reality was much more foundational to National Socialist theory than most realize. Anyway, getting back to sun-worship, here are a few other examples of the fruits of human wisdom once emancipated from the bible: The sun is the best thing that we have...The sun is the mother of us all, and we must be grateful to it for everything that we are and do. We are all children of the sun. Out of its womb our planet was born. Golden sun, radiant heart of the infinite cosmos!...Thou hast allowed man to be born, thou hast permitted him to grow! Thou has awakened his spirit; thou hast created joy for him..." (pp.69-70).       Getting back to the painting, the sun's rays which dominate a significant part of the canvas are highlighted with unusually heavy yellow brush-strokes. They shine directly onto a fertile field of growing wheat, and the fertility of the earth thanks to the sun is connected by psychological association with the fertility of the woman. But, that is only speculation on my part. Perhaps Hitler flirted in his youth with sun-worship - if he painted this painting at all, which I doubt.    One final example of a supposed similarity between Mein Kampf and the bible needs to be examined. It comes from Vol. II chapt. 2 and purportedly shows  that Hitler's concept of "holy blood" came "right out of the bible." First, there are a couple of paragraphs from Hitler, who asserts: There is "one holiest human right" which is "at the same time the holiest obligation" - "to see to it that the blood is preserved pure and, by preserving the best humanity, to create the possibility of a nobler development of these beings...." Students of the bible might wonder what possible biblical basis there could be for such wild pagan fantasies, but Mr. Walker found several places where the bible uses the word "blood" - for him, this is enough to make a connection. He first refers to Leviticus 17:11, 14. This does state that the life is in the blood - it refers to the blood of animals, and says that blood should not be eaten, though it can be used for sacrificial purposes. This has nothing to do with racial purity, which all serious students of the subject know is a nineteenth century invention.    Parenthetically, Mr. Walker sneers at the "Bronze-Age Bible authors" who "thought that the spirit of life consisted of blood." Leviticus says that "The life of the flesh is in the blood." It does not say that the life consists of blood, which is entirely different. I may be in a house - this does not mean that I consist of the house. Moreover, a Bronze-Age Bible author who knew that God created the heavens and the earth had a far deeper and more sophisticated understanding of the nature of the universe and the meaning of life than a modern secularist who thinks that everything just sort of happened accidentally, that fish somehow turned into reptiles and then into birds, while squirrels turned into bats, that the whole meaning of life is just to enjoy ourselves with no thought for the world to come.    Mr. Walker finds a second biblical reference to blood, Acts 17:24-26. He sees the use of a similar word, "blood," but does not see that belief in the passage in Acts completely destroys any possibility of racism. This passage teaches that God "made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." That this is related to Hitler's mania for racial purity says more about Mr. Walker than it does about the bible or Hitler.    He finds one last passage, Acts 20:26, where Paul says "I am pure from the blood of all men." Paul even used the word "pure" in connection with blood - clear proof that Hitler got his ideas from the bible! Except that Hitler spoke of the blood being pure, while Paul spoke of himself being pure from the blood of others. Paul is not speaking of racial purity of blood here, he is speaking of purity of conscience. He has proclaimed the truth, and so is innocent if those who reject him perish. One applies purity to blood in a racial sense, another speaks of purity of conscience from the blood (death) of others - but they both use the words "pure" or "purity" and "blood." This proves Hitler got his ideas of racial supremacy right from the bible.    I don't know what the technical term is for a logical error of that sort. There must be a name for it. It is a good thing the word "Poland" isn't mentioned in the bible - it might be used to prove that Hitler got his idea for the invasion of Poland "Right out of the bible!"    Mr. Walker's website teems, swarms, abounds, with many examples of a contorted logic. Christian support for the Gulf Wars is compared to German Christian support for Hitler's wars - as if the Bushes wanted to rule the world, and America is like Nazi Germany. Christian condoning of legal war is condemned - does this mean Mr. Walker is a committed pacifist, who feels that Hitler should have been allowed to take over the world without resistance, and that slaves should still be being sold on the auction blocks of the south today?    Did Hitler act on his beliefs, just like believers today? Feminists and gay rights activists also act on their beliefs - just like Hitler. But Hitler was intransigent, and "his intransigent attitude parallels many of the fanatical beliefs of Right-wing conservatives today." And Left-wing liberals are "transigent"? Are they willing to have objections to Darwin taught in the classroom? Are they willing concede that maybe there should be legal restrictions on abortion after all, that people who think homosexuality is disgusting and perverted might just have a point? No, they are fanatical and intolerant and try to stifle all opposing views - just like Hitler.