What do you think of this quote re: religion and politics????

[mom-mad-about-bush]

This quote was in the Philadelphia Inquire today.....


"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press-- in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during the past years." -- Adolf Hitler

[BeatleBoot]

1. Do you have a link?

[mom-mad-about-bush]

8. Sorry, I don't have a link.....I got it in my e-mail.

It was the Philadelphia Inquire....here is the whole thing....

The Eric Hoffman letter to the Editor of the Philadelphia INQUIRER was forwarded by Jane (thanks). Also sending a pertinent reminder sent by "Birchantiq", whose real name seems to have temporarily gone astray:

"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press-- in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during the past years." -- Adolf Hitler

As the spin doctors and their pet marketing psychologists know, it's all in the semantics. Hitler was FAR more a Germanic pagan than a Catholic, worshiping blood and iron, yet his manipulation of words fooled a lot of people and he was never excommunicated--nor were any of his henchmen, who were almost all (nominal) Catholics, with a couple of (nominal) Lutherans. To those of us who take our religious faith seriously, one of the tragedies when religion shows its ugly, bullying side is the ensuing disillusion and rejection. I know, for I experienced it myself when I discarded Southern Protestantism more than fifty years ago The bit of Hitlerian hypocrisy, above, helps to explain why so few people in Europe have bothered to attend church since WWII, and why I predict a HUGE drop-off in this country within the next 10 years, once people wake up disgusted with the stench of phoniness and realize the harm it has caused to our society.

Thank you, Eric, for a letter that may help to define the word "moral" for a few readers of the INQUIRER.

For those who wish to pursue a fuller discussion of this subject, I'd recommend Charles Kimball's When Religion Becomes Evil. I've mentioned it before, more than once, and am attaching a copy of my Amazon book review of it.

[texastoast]

11. Found this cite

- Adolf Hiter, The Speeches of Adolph Hitler, 1922-1939, Vol. 1 (London, Oxford University Press, 1942), pg. 871-872.

[Maat]

12. I saved this.

I read the quote. Thought it came out of the mouth of one of our current government officials ... then became totally freaked out when I ... read the author's name.

Thanks for the quote. Makes you think.

[mom-mad-about-bush]

23. That's exactly what happened when I read it.

I was reading it thinking I was reading something recently said.....and then I saw who said it....and was totally shocked. It's really freaky.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

2. It was posted last night as well...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2712643">http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2712643

[jeff30997]

3. History repeats itself...

Again.

[wicket]

4. a PAC or 501c should turn this into an ad

:evilgrin:

[Pacifist Patriot]

9. Absolutely!

I can think of no less than 5 quotes by Hitler that would be applicable to the current administration. Here's how I see it.

Scenes of bucolic America and mainstream Americans with a calm rational voice-over making these statements. At the end an American flag waving gently in the breeze. Dead silence. The statements begin to scroll up the page in quotation marks with the attribution to Hitler after each one. After the last one, the breeze dies down and the flag hangs limply on the pole. No sound to end the spot. That's it.

[Maat]

14. Great idea!

And the symbol with the flame encircled. Is that a religious symbol, Patriot?

[Pacifist Patriot]

16. Yes it is.

Unitarian Universalist

http://www.uua.org

[Maat]

20. I thought so.

I'm part Unitarian-Universalist, and part Church of Religious Science (they are both very, very similar liberal churches). I want to post our 'V' symbol. I'm going to work on that.

[mcscajun]

21. Sounds perfect to me!

Now if we can just get someone to make that ad the way you outlined it...

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. When I win the lottery......

[DonMeyer]

5. It is going to be a long four years....

Please free me & Nicolette Sheridan!

Christian Fundamentalists aren't that different from Islamic Fundamentalists.

[wicket]

7. Welcome to DU Don!

:hi:

[pelagius]

17. Somebody used the term "Christianist" to describe...

...the right-wing fundagelicals. I like that -- it more accurately describes who they are and what they're about.

[sangh0]

18. I prefer TheoCon

it accurately links these people desire for theocracy to conservatism and the neo-cons, while doing nothing to imply that these fascists have any sort of connection to Christ.

[MadcityRock]

24. Bushtian is good too

It suggests the perversion of their beliefs from the teachings of Christ (love, peace, generosity) to those of the Bush Crime Family (hate, war, greed) and its establishment as a state religion.

Soon schoolchildren will be required to draw their guns and light up a smoke before reciting these morning prayers like good Bushtians:

Our Funder, which art in Enron,
Halliburton be thy name.
My kingdom come, crime will be done,
on Earth as it is in Enron.
Give us this day more daily lies,
and forget us our casualties,
as we torture those who did nothing against us.
And leave us out of investigations,
but deliver us from justice.
For mine is the vengeance,
and the power and the money.
War without end, Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the rich
unindicted snakes of America,
and to the republicans
and corporate brands,
one party, under Bush, indeposable,
with poverty, injustice our call.

Theocratic
Arrogant
Loudmouth
Ignorant
Believers
And
Neonazis

[XNASA]

6. I like this quote better....

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich." - Napoleon Boneparte

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. All it needs is a Southern twang and a smirk.

Add some enforcers and voila "The Christian Republic of America" is born. Or is that "Born again"?

[Frogtutor]

13. Wow...that's incredible, scary, and incredibly scary! n/t

[Eric J in MN]

15. Link to full speech. - Feb. 1 - 1933

http://www.hitler.org/speeches/02-01-33.html

[zbdent]

19. Can you say "Astroturf"?

Only, we should be the ones using it . . .

Send it out as a LTTE, under your middle name (for contact purposes; if you get a phone call for your middle name, you know what it's about).

Don't include the reference, just include it in a RW-style letter and see if anybody catches it.