posted on Jun, 8 2008 @ 07:38 PM
Hitler was not what was considered to be a good catholic. He:
1. Sought to politicize the Clergy and ban certain sermons
2. Sought to minimize religious instruction as had been done in Catholic Bavaria (point 18 of 25 points)
3. Sought to change the calander away from Christian to Pagan holidays
4. Sought to enact policies at odds with the Catholic Church's moral dictates (euthanasia)
5. Sought to minimize the roll of the Church in daily life (too large a literature to recount, see: Dahrendorf and Allen)
6. Did not recognize the baptism of Jews
More over you say to read point 24 of the 25 points which says:
"24. We demand freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state so long as they do not endanger its existence or oppose the moral
senses of the Germanic race. The Party as such advocates the standpoint of a positive Christianity without binding itself confessionally to any one
denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit within and around us, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our nation can only succeed
from within on the framework: common utility precedes individual utility."
Now a few key points here. First the document (and keep in mind the 25 points though the closest the Nazi movement came to a solid ideological
statement of beliefs, was not in any sense of the word what they actually sought to bring about. This is typical. So vague as to be pointless) makes
a point of the "moral senses of the Germanic race". Why not Christian? or European? Because very clearly the purpose here was to implicitly lump
Christianity in with Judaism. Were you to push Hitler, Rosenberg, or most of the SS on teh point they would have said that fealty to the Roman Pope
who followed the teachings of 12 Jewish diciples was in and of itself contradictory to the spirit of the Germanic people. Though obviously Hitler
didn't say "elect me and I will do away with Christianity in Germany," very very clearly him and those around him wanted to minimize the Catholic
Church and replace it with Paganistic religions. So no he wasn't a good catholic.
The second key thing to focus on here is the mention of "positive Christianity". This is a very loaded term that meant that the form of
Christianity should not be the way that it had been taught. Rather than emphasizing pacifism, Christ's sacrafice on the Cross, and redemption;
positive Christianity sought to "Nazify" Christianity by focusing on Christ as opposing the Jews and organizing a social movement. This notion of
"positive Christianity" was wholly and completely opposed to the vision of the Catholic Church for 2000 years. This notion of Christianity came
about in the 19th c. with Chamberlain, Bernouf, and (sorry name escapes me, maybe LeGaurd or something like that) who sought to deemphasize the
crucifixion and recast the Christian story in Germanic/pagan sensibilities. But Rosenberg is the key philosopher that brought the word into the Nazi
lexicon.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that even though you might read point 24 (as you did) and assume it made him a good Catholic, when taken in the
larger context of what the point actually meant it is coded language for a rethinking of fundamental Christian thought.