Hitler was NOT an Atheist and Favored Christian Ideolgy.

In the second round debate, PRO uses portions of my clarification/abstract as his point of reference. He, however, neglects to address the most important part of my initial clarification. As CON in this debate, my objective is to create reasonable doubt -- that is, could one reasonably assume that Hitler was a Christian or not? If there is room to doubt, then CON wins. Since CON (myself) can and, indeed, already has proven that Hitler gave conflicting views about Christianity, the debate, for all intents and purposes, is already over. It is merely academic at this point, as I have convincingly and resoundingly met my objective. ==== THE HISTORICAL ARGUMENT ==== Throughout this portion of the debate, I intend to further demonstrate that Hitler's own words contradict previous sentiments, which make it far more plausible to conclude that his outward affections for Christianity were either contrived, for the sake of an audience, or he himself was cherry picking what parts of the religion he loved and despised. In any case, his inconsistent and conflicting claims make it evident that the man was, if nothing else, a walking contradiction. This corresponds precisely with what historians also allege. "Christianity was persecuted less systematically and violently in Germany because Hitler expected 'the end of the disease of Christianity' to come about by itself once it's falsehoods were self-evident." -- R.J. Overy; The dictators: Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia [1] One thing Hitler was fairly consistent on were his views of atheism. It should also be noted that I agree with PRO that the first proposition, that "Hitler was NOT an atheist," is not in dispute. I agree that Hitler could not be construed as an atheist. This is not a source of contention. Atheism and Christianity for Hitler, however, were interchangeably the very embodiment of communism/Bolshevism. His hatred for atheists were merely an extension of his detest for communists. That Germany and Austria were predominantly Christian means that Hitler could not ignore that fact if wanted the trust and support of his own people. His fight against atheism itself becomes the perfect pretext for why he uses Christianity to bolster support from the thronging masses. But again, his more private thoughts reflect a man who loathes Christianity for he same reason he loathes Bolshevism. Indeed, he clearly compares the two in the quotes below. [2] "The heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity. Bolshevism is Christianity's illegitimate child. Both are inventions of the Jew. The deliberate lie in the matter of religion was introduced into the world by Christianity. Bolshevism practises a lie of the same nature, when it claims to bring liberty to men, whereas in reality it seeks only to enslave them. In the ancient world, the relations between men and pagan gods were founded on an instinctive respect. It was a world enlightened by the idea of tolerance. Christianity was the first creed in the world to exterminate its adversaries in the name of love. Its key-note is intolerance. Without Christianity, we should not have had Islam. The Roman Empire, under Germanic influence, would have developed in the direction of world-domination, and humanity would not have extinguished fifteen centuries of civilisation at a single stroke. Let it not be said that Christianity brought man the life of the soul" -- Adolf Hitler, (July 11, 1941) As shown in the quotes above and below, Hitler's obsessions with Jews, Bolshevik's, and Christianity often overlapped: "Christianity is a prototype of Bolshevism: the mobilisation by the Jew of the masses of slaves with the object of undermining society. Thus one understands that the healthy elements of the Roman world were proof against this doctrine. Originally, Christianity was merely an incarnation of Bolshevism, the destroyer... The decisive falsification of the Jesus' doctrine was the work of St. Paul. He gave himself to this work... for the purposes of personal exploitation.... Didn't the world see, carried on right into the Middle Ages, the same old system of martyrs, tortures, f@ggots? Of old, it was in the name of Christianity. Today, it's in the name of Bolshevism. Yesterday the instigator was Saul: the instigator today, Mardochai. Saul was changed into St. Paul, and Mardochai into Karl Marx. By exterminating this pest, we shall do humanity a service of which our soldiers can have no idea." -- Adolf Hitler (October 21, 1941) ==== SPECIFIC REBUTTALS ==== PRO seems to think that photographs of Hitler praying in public, or him looking at a bust of Nietzsche, or of belt buckles constitutes proof that he was therefore a Christian. This simply highlights and demonstrates the weakness and apparent futility of PRO's position. In fact, all throughout PRO's rebuttal, he relies merely on anecdote, hypotheticals', and conjecture to make a point. PRO even claims that there is no evidence that Hitler left the Church, but let Hitler himself tell you that he did! (Perhaps the most damning piece of literary evidence to refute PRO) "Christianity promulgates its inconsistent dogmas and imposes them by force. Such religion carries within it intolerance and persecution. It is the bloodiest conceivable. Since my fourteenth year, I have felt liberated from the superstition that the priests used to teach... Our epoch will certainly see the end of the disease of Christianity. It will last another hundred years, two hundred years perhaps. We are entering into a conception of the world that will be a sunny era, an era of tolerance. Man must be put in a position to develop freely the talents that God has given him." [3] ==== CLOSING ==== In closing, it is Hitler who has made the case against himself. I am merely demonstrated that the only thing we can truly conclude is that Hitler gave conflicting reports about his theological beliefs. In one instance he praises Christianity, in the next he demonizes it. I have therefore established reasonable doubt and met my objective. For this reason, sensible people vote CON. ==== SOURCES==== 1. http://books.google.com... 2. http://en.wikipedia.org... 3. http://hitlersdiaries.com...