Screw Godwin's Law. When you have an extreme historical example like Nazism, its daft to believe that history can't repeat itself.
Been reading a bit about Positive Christianity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Christianity), which was the Nazi's attempt to slowly replace Christianity, bit by bit, with a Neo-Pagan state-sanctioned religion. Here are some quotes from the Wikipedia article that I found fascinating.
In opposition to this movement was the Confessing Church,
Is it possible that something like this will happen again? Is it happening somewhere already?
Been reading a bit about Positive Christianity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Christianity), which was the Nazi's attempt to slowly replace Christianity, bit by bit, with a Neo-Pagan state-sanctioned religion. Here are some quotes from the Wikipedia article that I found fascinating.
Various historians credit the origins of "Positive Christianity" more to the political acumen and opportunism of the Nazi leadership. Leading Nazis like Himmler, Rosenberg, Bormann and Goebbels, backed by Hitler, were hostile to Christianity and ultimately planned to de-Christianize Germany.[8] However, Germany had been Christian for over a thousand years, and Hitler recognized the practical reality of the political significance of the Churches in Germany and determined that any moves against the churches must be made in stages. In the words of Paul Berben, "Positive Christianity" therefore came to be advocated as a "term that could be overlaid with any interpretation required, depending on the circumstances" and the party declared itself for religious freedom provided this liberty did not "endanger the State or clash with the views of the 'Germanic Race'".
By 1934, the Confessional Church had declared itself the legitimate Protestant Church of Germany. Despite his closeness to Hitler, Müller had failed to unite Protestantism behind the National Socialist Party. In 1935 the Nazis arrested 700 Confessing pastors. Müller resigned. To instigate a new effort at coordinating the Protestant churches, Hitler appointed another friend, Hans Kerrl to the position of Minister for Church Affairs. A relative moderate, Kerrl initially had some success in this regard, but amid continuing protests by the Confessing Church against Nazi policies, he accused churchmen of failing to appreciate the Nazi doctrine of "Race, blood and soil" and gave the following explanation of the Nazi conception of "Positive Christianity", telling a group of submissive clergy:[22]
The Party stands on the basis of Positive Christianity, and positive Christianity is National Socialism... National Socialism is the doing of God's will... God's will reveals itself in German blood... Dr Zoellner and [Catholic Bishop of Münster] Count Galen have tried to make clear to me that Christianity consists in faith in Christ as the son of God. That makes me laugh... No, Christianity is not dependent upon the Apostle's Creed... True Christianity is represented by the party, and the German people are now called by the party and especially the Fuehrer to a real Christianity... the Fuehrer is the herald of a new revelation". — Hans Kerrl, Nazi Minister for Church Affairs, 1937
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