Of Christ and Hitler Redux

For those still propagating the falsehood that Hitler was a Christian, and Nazism some insidious extension of the Christian faith-

The Confession of Faith of the Reichsarbeitsführer-
"Once your heart is branded with the swastika,
You hate any other cross!
If you identify yourself with your nation,
You laugh at redeemer cranks.
Beware anyone one who demands:
'Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself'
What the Nazarine demands is our demise..."

A song of the 'Reichsjugendführer
"Before thee, my Fuehrer
though thousands may stand before thee,
each feels thy eye on himself alone
and thinks, his own hour has come,
when thou sees the depths of his soul.
In those few minutes in thy presence,
we would open every door to thee,
all thoughts we lift to thee, that thou correct and improve.
So good art thou and so great; so strong and infinitely pure
To thee we reveal without deceit our hearts’ innocence.
None depart from thee with empty hands,
if thine eyes have touched him with their steely gaze.
We know that thou proclaimeth constantly:
I am with you and you belong to me!"

Another widely used song of the Reichsjugendführer:
"How often we heard the sound of thy voice
and listened silently, folding our hands,
as every word pierced the depth of our souls.
We know it, one day the end will come,
and free us from force and from need.
What is a year when the era shall turn?!
Where is a law that will stifle our faith,
the pure faith you have bestowed,
that beats as our hearts and guides our existence.
My Fuhrer, thou alone art the way and the goal!

The official song of the Hitlerjugend (Youth of Hitler) at the Reichsparteitag 1934:
"We are Hitlers joyous youth,
What need we Christian virtue!,
Our Fuehrer Adolf Hitler is always our redeemer!
No wicked priest can hinder us,
To sense that we are Hitlers children;
We follow not Christ but Horst Wessel,
Away with incense and holy water!"

Instructions for the central memorial ceremony at the Munich Field Marshal Hall:
"National Socialist Worship
On these steps to the Hall of the Field Marshals,
to which we make pilgrimage, once stood a sacrament of battle,
In this, its only cathedral, Germany,
may stand only those who carve their motivation deep into their deeds.
You are pilgrims, if you honor the glory of your nation
above the revelations of any religion.
You sense the holiness of the Hall of Field Marshals.
What value have prayers and hymns,
The swinging of incense bowls
in comparison with the muffled rhythm of our drums
when our Fuehrer ascends the steps?
The sighs of the watchers extinguish the earth,
still trembling under our approach.
Gray clamour huddles at the end of the world.
The Fuehrer arises! He raises his hand to eternal salute.
His heart beats the heartbeat of his people
His step is our prayer ...
He arises and stands shrouded in miracles?
He burns with the faith of his comrades.
No priestly ordination has more power than the silent, stonelike prayer of the man
in whose being the nation is moved
The vow we make here is our prayer to the creator!
May our banner wave! Let it be hoisted, for it is our German high altar!
The standard bearers rejoice:
What is death, when you command us to live, O Germany!

From National Socialism as Religion, Global Journal of Classical Theology, Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary