"Hitler was Catholic"
THE ANGEL POSSENTI:
Funny how three words can be so misleading, isn't it?
I'm going to approach debunking this a little differently than the others because I've come to the conclusion atheists are put off to the side and taught a cookie-cutter way of presenting their evidence concerning this.
What makes me think that? Because in all the times this point has been brought up, I've noticed a) atheists believe Hitler was Catholic without question and b) they all follow the same pattern in proving he was Catholic.
So I would like to share this pattern with you.
First, when asked to provide proof of this, the atheist will always---and I mean ALWAYS--use this quote:
"I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord."
Go ahead and try it. You will NEVER come across an atheist that doesn't use this.
Now if atheists bothered to think (and too bad they don't) they would have realized that statement makes no sense. There is NOTHING in the OT that says God wanted all Jews destroyed. The closest you get is the prophets calling on Jews to greater holiness but that's about it.
Next, the atheist will point out that on SS buckles, they had this:
The phrase on the buckle is German for "God with Us" so this must be proof the Nazis were Christians, right?
WRONG!!
That phrase existed in German armor LONG before the Nazis came along. In fact, evidence suggests it was first used in Prussia by the Teutonic Knights, then the Prussian Order of the Crown and then it was used on the Iron Cross during WWI.
The point is just because the Nazis used it doesn't mean it's true. Sure the Teutonic Knights used it, but they had admission standards and they were never condemned by the Vatican.
Which then leads to the final point atheists will try to make:
The Vatican never said anything against Hitler or the Nazis.
To that, I give three German words: Mit brennender Sorge
From wikipedia:
The encyclical condemned breaches of the 1933 Reichskonkordat agreement signed between theGerman Reich and the Holy See. It condemned "pantheistic confusion", "neopaganism", "the so-called myth of race and blood", and the idolizing of the State. It contained a vigorous defense of the Old Testament out of belief that it prepared the way for the New. The encyclical states that race is a fundamental value of the human community which is necessary and honorable but condemns the exaltation of race, or the people, or the state, above their standard value to an idolatrous level.
Not convinced? Maybe a few quotes from the piece will change your mind:
Whoever exalts race, or the people, or the State, or a particular form of State, or the depositories of power, or any other fundamental value of the human community -- however necessary and honorable be their function in worldly things -- whoever raises these notions above their standard value and divinizes them to an idolatrous level, distorts and perverts an order of the world planned and created by God; he is far from the true faith in God and from the concept of life which that faith upholds.
This God, this Sovereign Master, has issued commandments whose value is independent of time and space, country and race. As God's sun shines on every human face so His law knows neither privilege nor exception. Rulers and subjects, crowned and uncrowned, rich and poor are equally subject to His word. From the fullness of the Creators' right there naturally arises the fullness of His right to be obeyed by individuals and communities, whoever they are. This obedience permeates all branches of activity in which moral values claim harmony with the law of God, and pervades all integration of the ever-changing laws of man into the immutable laws of God.
None but superficial minds could stumble into concepts of a national God, of a national religion; or attempt to lock within the frontiers of a single people, within the narrow limits of a single race, God, the Creator of the universe, King and Legislator of all nations before whose immensity they are "as a drop of a bucket" (Isaiah xI, 15)
In your country, Venerable Brethren, voices are swelling into a chorus urging people to leave the Church, and among the leaders there is more than one whose official position is intended to create the impression that this infidelity to Christ the King constitutes a signal and meritorious act of loyalty to the modern State. Secret and open measures of intimidation, the threat of economic and civic disabilities, bear on the loyalty of certain classes of Catholic functionaries, a pressure which violates every human right and dignity. Our wholehearted paternal sympathy goes out to those who must pay so dearly for their loyalty to Christ and the Church; but directly the highest interests are at stake, with the alternative of spiritual loss, there is but one alternative left, that of heroism. If the oppressor offers one the Judas bargain of apostasy he can only, at the cost of every worldly sacrifice, answer with Our Lord: "Begone, Satan! For it is written: The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve" (Matt. iv. 10). And turning to the Church, he shall say: "Thou, my mother since my infancy, the solace of my life and advocate at my death, may my tongue cleave to my palate if, yielding to worldly promises or threats, I betray the vows of my baptism." As to those who imagine that they can reconcile exterior infidelity tO one and the same Church, let them hear Our Lord's warning: -- "He that shall deny me before men shall be denied before the angels of God" (Luke xii. 9).
I know this seems like a lot to take in--mostly the shock of never hearing about this before--but keep in mind this was first written in German, the Nazis arrested people who had a copy of it, and referred to someone as a "crazy and insane dictator."
Who could that possibility be talking about? Hmm….
We've all most likely heard of the phrase "whoever brings up Hitler first loses." That itself comes from a logical fallacy called Reductio ad Hitlerum. True to form, atheists use this fallacy instead of putting any real thought into religious (in particular Catholic) notions. But to reduce the phrase to just this fallacy would be missing the broader point and multiple mental gymnastics the average, puny atheist mind uses.
And that is why atheists are idiots.