On the Nazification of the Churches, In Germany and Today- Written One Year Ago

 


So, this photo of Stormtroopers and Hitler Youth out in front of a Church speaks to us from the past. Their banner and signs caught my eye, since I know German.

"Vote list #1, German Christians", with the obvious equating of the Swastika and Cross as political partners. 

What thoughts do you have about this? They are campaigning for a slate of Nazi candidates in local elections in front of a Church, saying in effect, "vote Christian by  supporting Adolf Hitler". What do you think the people lining up outside the Church doors are thinking? What is the proper relationship between Churches and political parties, and what was it in Nazi Germany? Ask yourselves, why and how it is that a majority of Evangelical Christian Churches in America have compromised with an evil person and administration, to become the electoral arm of a Political Party. 

You can also ask, at what point did Pastors and Ministers then and now become recruiters and controllers of their flocks, on behalf of an anti-Christian political ideology. And, answer your own question about the cultish and intransigent loyalty of those pro Trump Christians, who appear to have incorporated Trump into their structure of religious faith as a sanctified individual, through deep programming and ego stripping, being manipulated through ecstatic religious experiences, pageantry, and so called "Christian Entertainment" TV.  You could call the phenomena, "Nuremburg Tele-rallies from the pulpit". 

This photo is undated, though it is likely before July 1934, as Hitler purged his own SA to placate the Army and get rid of his internal enemies in the "Night of the Long Knives". 

Hitler had probably not consolidated full power yet.  But, clearly, no one outside or inside was going to tell the SA and their boys to leave. Why? 

Because the Nazis, like Trump and his Party today, thrive on fear, terror and chaos. That is their primary weapon. When people are terrified, many flock to the Churches as a Sanctuary. And the Nazis, then and now, win acolytes by promising to protect them from chaos or whatever other evils they fear, by using the Army and Police to maintain order. 

This is why Hitler had to get control of the Army and Police, then Nazify the Churches, after he banned opposition parties and Newspapers. Have we learned yet to see from the beginnings of Dictatorship in Germany how we are headed down the same road? I think we have every right and the duty to question people's faith if it leads them to embrace Fascism. We are not so far removed from what began 90 years ago that we should repeat the same failures.

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