jseal, one cannot study theology without taking into account the ideology of the believers. ideology can be a group of religious beliefs - what sociologists of religion informally call cultus. furthermore, the term ideology can be, and usually is, supplied in favor of the term theology, because the general application of the word theology refers to the study of religion (as you pointed out) and the less to the secondary meaning of a group of religious beliefs. the definition of christian theology, for example, is practicing theology from a christian viewpoint. there is no definition for christian ideology although it is a common term, so it must be broken down into its separate parts –
christian: professing belief in jesus as christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of jesus.
ideology: the body of ideas reflecting the social needs and aspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture.
so christian ideology must mean the body of ideas held by those who believe in jesus as christ
nazi ideology refers to their social ideas, i agree, but it does not necessarily exclude religious ideas. i’d also like to point out that ms. schwarts preceded the above quoted line with the one i referred to: “Hitler wanted not only to conquer all of Europe, but Hitler also wanted to create a new religion and to replace Jesus Christ as a person to be worshipped.” she, too, must have believed that hitler and the nazis had a religious agenda.
i do not disagree at all that the crux of the nazi philosophy was to place the aryan race above all others, i only say that they strove to do so on the fantastical belief that they were their god’s chosen people. they were using their god’s will as a justification.
besides quotes galore from mein kampf in which hitler himself cites christianity, jesus, and the christian god as inspiration and justification for his war, he said at wolfsschanze in 1941: “I am Fuhrer of a Reich that will last for a thousand years to come. No power can shake the German Reich now. Divine Providence has willed it that I carry the fulfillment of a Germanic task.”
and in a speech at reichstag in 1938: “the work that christ started but could not finish, i - adolf hitler – will conclude”
walter langer from the u.s. office of stratigic services was commissioned in 1943 to develop a psychological profile of hitler, he concluded:
“A survey of all the evidence forces us to conclude that Hitler believes himself destined to become an Immortal Hitler, chosen by God to be the New Deliverer of Germany and the Founder of a new social order for the world. He firmly believes this and is certain that in spite of all the trials and tribulations through which he must pass he will finally attain that goal. The one condition is that he follow the dictates of the inner voice that have guided and protected him in the past.”
a few authors who also make the connection:
the holy reich: nazi conceptions of christianity, by richard steigmann–gall,
hitler's millennial reich: apocalyptic belief and the search for salvation, by david redles.
explaining hitler: the search for the origins of his evil, by ron rosenbaum
even most hitler biographers who do not make a direct connection between nazi politics and religious justification and zealotry do not deny the religious influences evident in hitler’s speeches and books.
i’d also like to note one last thing - after hitler’s rise to power, mein kampf was second in copies sold only to the christian bible, the people had to have been very aware of his christian ethics.
i could go on, but suffice it to say that no, not all people are convinced that hitler and the nazi’s did not have religion at the heart of their hatred. searches on google using any number of phrases that link hitler’s philosophy with religion turn up tons of sites.
i’ll stop now, no need to beat a dead horse…we definitely disagree.
i understand the electoral process as you explain it, but i still cannot make the connection from voter-for-candidate to transparency-of-candidate and how an electoral process precludes any misrepresentation of a candidate to his/her constituents.
mesopotamian law (the sumerians’ king ur-nammu, the babylonians' code of hammurabi), ancient greek law (draco and solon), and ancient chinese law (the ch’in and tang dynasties) - all b.c. civilizations - dealt with the punishment of murderers and thieves without the book of exodus to use as a guide.
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