Leaders of War
Food for thought: (from wikipedia)
Adolf Hitler was brought up in his family’s religion by his Roman Catholic parents, but as a school boy he began to reject the Church and Catholicism. After he had left home, he never attended Mass or received the Sacraments. However, he was never excommunicated, so he could be considered a Catholic in good standinguntil his death by suicide. This is significant when one reads claims that he persecuted Catholics, as well as Jews. If he had done so, he would have been excommunicated, and the entire nation could have been placed under interdict. This never happened.
In later life, Hitler’s religious beliefs present a discrepant picture: In public statements, he frequently spoke positively about the Christian heritage of German culture and belief in Christ. Hitler’s private statements, reported by his intimates, are more mixed, showing Hitler as a religious but also anti-Christian man. However, in contrast to other Nazi leaders, Hitler did not adhere to esoteric ideas, occultism, or neo-paganism, and ridiculed such beliefs in his book Mein Kampf. Rather, Hitler advocated a “Positive Christianity”, a belief system purged from what he objected to in traditional Christianity, and reinvented Jesus as a fighter against the Jews.
Hitler believed in a Social Darwinist struggle for survival between the different races, among which the “Aryan race” was supposed to be the torchbearers of civilization and the Jews as enemies of all civilization. Whether his anti-semitism was influenced by older Christian ideas remains disputed. Hitler also strongly believed that “Providence” was guiding him in this fight.
Among Christian denominations, Hitler favoured Protestantism, which was more open to such reinterpretations, but at the same time imitated some elements of Catholic church organization, liturgy, and phraseology in his politics.
Any other leaders come to mind that have also claimed that ““Providence” was guiding him in this fight“?
Hmmmmm. Weird. I swear I heard Bush Jr. say that too. Not that Dubya is Hitler or anything.
He sure isn’t as good of a speaker as Hitler. That is for damn sure. Clinton is closer in that regard.
Sometimes contrasting two people from different circumstances and different times leads to insights for both of those being contrasted. Compare Clinton to FDR, or Bush Jr. to Hitler, or even Bush Jr. to Lincoln. What kind of things do you find?
History repeating itself? Interesting insights into the human condition? What drives us as a species into conflict resulting in legalized murder?
It sparks the imagination.
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