PrintNovember 17, 2007
Nazis and Christianity
Thank you for publishing the articles by Bruce Walker, especially the last article, "The Nazis and Christianity."
Living a large portion of my last years in Germany, I visit bookstores whose shelves quite correctly label books on the Nazis as "Nationalsozialismus." National socialism.That today's leftists do not know or pretend to not know that the Nazis were socialists as well as ardent secularists is astounding, for it means they do not understand the simple, documented facts of history.
But, in a way, I understand their confusion. Raised and educated in southern California, it took me until my middle adult years to learn with clarity that the Nazis were not "right wing," in the sense of working towards smaller, less powerful government, as I understand political conservatism today. Political conservatism is the urge to radically restrain government, while the Nazis alongside all their leftist counterparts were about radically growing the powers of government. One way to accomplish such growth is to tear away other forms of authority, and religions are sources of authority which challenge central governments.
I no longer believe the falsehoods and utter inaccuracies taught to me in public schools in southern California, nor am I convinced by the cries for greater governmental power for any reason -- be it global warming, massive entitlements or supposedly "social" justice -- for greater governmental power is not able to be just, as so many examples have proven.
But the real liberation which I felt when I learned first hand from simply observing the German language in bookstores here made it clear to me that the Left has lied for decades about Nationalsozialismus, for the supposedly "right-wing" Nazis were most clearly and evidently "left-wing," and merely a different flavor of left-wing from other kinds of national socialism, such as the Soviet form or the Socialistas of Latin America. Each has proven murderous, which is reason enough for today's Left to fail to note the common characteristics between all these forms of socialism.
I see a real revolution occurring, in which more and more people are coming to learn that socialism in all its forms -- to include the Baath Party and others in Arab lands -- is merely greater central government of one kind or another, promising answers to real world problems, but delivering power and wealth into the hands of a very few at the expense of the many.
Real freedom and liberty are, in direct contrast, the path to revolution for the future. Our American revolution cast off the yoke of the British monarchy, as the French cast off the yoke of the royal crown and its aristocrats. These were the real revolutions, and they continue to evolve, while the faux revolutions of the Left fail to continue to revolve, for they stop a revolution in its tracks as soon as they reach power. Then freedom and liberty become "counterrevolutionary," just as they were under the Nazis, who used lies and false definitions of words to hide their real actions.
Today's Left pretends that the Nazis were somehow conservative, but they were as leftist and socialist as any, and more than most.
In the Munster cathedral is a monument to one Catholic prelate who spoke out against the Nazis -- religion against state religion. In Braunschweig, a small exhibit shows that Hitler campaigned for his version of "community" by being against "individuality." There are so many examples throughout Germany that I wonder now how blindly foolish the modern Left is to forget such a lesson. The historical truths about the Nazis are to be seen everywhere here, as missing as they are in the modern Left's primers in America; no wonder, for they argue against "It Takes a Village" and for 'it takes individual freedom and responsibility.'
For myself, though I use the terms "left" and "right," I come to prefer the notion that greater and lesser government power more adequately describe and define political sentiment, for zero percent control of an economy is anarchy while massive control of an economy is slavery. All societies find some place between the two, but the Left espouses ever again moving towards enslavement of a people by an elite by pretending to NOT be doing this. The Nazis were, by all rational historical definitions, left wing, anti-religion socialists.
NAZI = Leftist socialist.
Thank you for keeping us informed with ever more detail and documented facts as regards this serious subject.
All kind regards from Berlin,
Gary Bachlund
