Debate: Atheists, like Hitler, should be separated from the rest of the human race
Side: Absolutely

Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Christians#Nazi_Germany Hitler and the Nazis enjoyed widespread support from traditional Christian communities, mainly due to a common cause against the anti-religious German Bolsheviks. Once in power, the Nazis moved to consolidate their power over the German churches and bring them in line with Nazi ideals. The Third Reich founded their own version of Christianity called Positive Christianity which made major changes in its interpretation of the Bible which said that Jesus Christ was the son of God, but was not a Jew and claimed that Christ despised Jews, and that the Jews were the ones solely responsible for Christ's death. Thus, the Nazi government consolidated religious power, using allies to consolidate Protestant churches into the Protestant Reich Church, which was effectively an arm of the Nazi Party.Dissenting Christians went underground and formed the Confessing Church, which was persecuted as a subversive group by the Nazi government. Many of its leaders were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and left the underground mostly leaderless. Church members continued to engage in various forms of resistance, including hiding Jews during the Holocaust and various attempts, largely unsuccessful, to prod the Christian community to speak out on the part of the Jews.The Catholic Church was particularly suppressed in Poland because of the Church's opposition to many of Nazi Party's beliefs. Between 1939 and 1945, an estimated 3,000 members, 18% of the Polish clergy[77], were murdered; of these, 1,992 died in concentration camps. In the annexed territory of Reichsgau Wartheland it was even harsher than elsewhere. Churches were systematically closed, and most priests were either killed, imprisoned, or deported to the General Government. The Germans also closed seminaries and convents persecuting monks and nuns throughout Poland. In Pomerania, all but 20 of the 650 priests were shot or sent to concentration camps. Eighty percent of the Catholic clergy and five of the bishops of Warthegau were sent to concentration camps in 1939; in the city of Breslau (Wrocław), 49% of its Catholic priests were killed; in Chełmno, 48%. One hundred eight of them are regarded as blessed martyrs.[77] Among them, Maximilian Kolbe was canonized as a saint.Protestants in Poland did not fare well either. In the Cieszyn region of Silesia every single Protestant clergy was arrested and deported to the death camps.[77]Not only were Polish Christians persecuted by the Nazis, in the Dachau concentration camp alone, 2,600 Catholic priests from 24 different countries were killed.[77]Outside mainstream Christianity, Jehovah's Witnesses were direct targets of the Holocaust, for their refusal to swear allegiance to the Nazi government. Many Jehovah's Witnesses were given the chance to deny their faith and swear allegiance to the state, but few agreed. Over 12,000 Witnesses were sent to the concentration camps, and estimated 2,500-5,000 died in the Holocaust.=========================================================== Taken from: http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/pub/soc.religion.christian/faq/hitler In the course of writing about something else Victor Healey wrotesome nonsense about the Catholic Church, saying, "Hitler was a goodCatholic to the day he died in the bunker, he was never excomunicatedby the Church."In fact, Hitler rejected not only Catholicism, but Christianity ingeneral.A friend sent me the following quotes from the book _Hitler's SecretConversations 1941-1944_ published by Farrar, Straus and Young, Inc.first edition, 1953, since my library's copy is missing. The bookwas published in Britain under the title, _Hitler's Table Talk 1941-1944, which title was used for the Oxford University Press paperbackedition in the United States.All of these are quotes from Adolf Hitler.Night of 11th-12th July, 1941"National Socialism and religion cannot exist together...."The heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming ofChristianity. Bolshevism is Christianity's illegitimate child. Both areinventions of the Jew. The deliberate lie in the matter of religion wasintroduced into the world by Christianity...."Let it not be said that Christianity brought man the life of the soul,for that evolution was in the natural order of things." (p 6 & 7)10th October, 1941, midday"Christianity is a rebellion against natural law, a protest againstnature. Taken to its logical extreme, Christianity would mean thesystematic cultivation of the human failure." (p 43)14th October, 1941, midday"The best thing is to let Christianity die a natural death.... Whenunderstanding of the universe has become widespread... Christian doctrinewill be convicted of absurdity...."Christianity has reached the peak of absurdity.... And that's whysomeday its structure will collapse...."...the only way to get rid of Christianity is to allow it to die littleby little...."Christianity the liar...."We'll see to it that the Churches cannot spread abroad teachings inconflict with the interests of the State." (p 49-52)19th October, 1941, night"The reason why the ancient world was so pure, light and serene was thatit knew nothing of the two great scourges: the pox and Christianity."21st October, 1941, midday"Originally, Christianity was merely an incarnation of Bolshevism, thedestroyer...."The decisive falsification of Jesus' doctrine was the work of St.Paul. He gave himself tothis work... for the purposes of personal exploitation...."Didn't the world see, carried on right into the Middle Ages, the sameold system of martyrs, tortures, faggots? Of old, it was in the name ofChristianity. Today, it's in the name of Bolshevism. Yesterday theinstigator was Saul: the instigator today, Mardochai. Saul was changedinto 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."(p 63-65)13th December, 1941, midnight"Christianity is an invention of sick brains: one could imagine nothingmore senseless, nor any more indecent way of turning the idea of theGodhead into a mockery.... ...."When all is said, we have no reason to wish that the Italians andSpaniards should free themselves from the drug of Christianity. Let's bethe only people who are immunised against the disease." (p 118 & 119)14th December, 1941, midday"Kerrl, with noblest of intentions, wanted to attempt a synthesis betweenNational Socialism and Christianity. I don't believe the thing'spossible, and I see the obstacle in Christianity itself...."Pure Christianity-- the Christianity of the catacombs-- is concernedwith translating Christian doctrine into facts. It leads quite simply tothe annihilation of mankind. It is merely whole-hearted Bolshevism,under a tinsel of metaphysics." (p 119 & 120)9th April, 1942, dinner"There is something very unhealthy about Christianity." (p 339)27th February, 1942, midday"It would always be disagreeable for me to go down to posterity as a manwho made concessions in this field. I realize that man, in hisimperfection, can commit innumerable errors-- but to devote myselfdeliberately to errors, that is something I cannot do. I shall nevercome personally to terms with the Christian lie.""Our epoch Uin the next 200 yearse will certainly see the end of thedisease of Christianity.... My regret will have been that I couldn't...behold ." (p 278)======================================================= The Nazi Party, thus Adolf Hitler, persecuted a great many Christians. He 'created' a new denomination of Christianity to further his anti-Semitic agenda; in doing so he warped canonical religious texts into claiming that Jesus was, too, anti-Semitic and not Himself a Jew.Religion was, and still is, a powerful tool for the politician. Religious voters - which have long made up the majority - would prefer to have a leader who shares their beliefs, thus by claiming to be religious he manipulated the people into giving him his political power.