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The Theocratic State
By: Douglas William Krieger
To understand the appeal, the absolute, mesmerizing, and intoxicating drive behind Hitler's success, one must go beyond the inequities of the Versailles Treaty and delve into the mysterious association that Herr Hitler placed upon the Christian religion. Don't think that Adolf was way off into some cultic, overtly demonic world of fantasy and influence. True, the occult most assuredly was deeply engaged in his thinking and outlook—but the use of legitimate Christian imagery was his forte. He both understood the need to mobilize the masses and the religion that alone could sway their fidelity to his cause.
Furthermore, throughout his declarations and apparent pontifications, is a unique ability to uplift and galvanize the German people—to so highly esteem them and to generate within them the self-esteem that would produce a people whose image of whom they really were would be unalterably changed and transformed into what was enunciated by der Fuhrer. They became transfixed and transported into another state of mind and being—from despair and rejection, to an exhilarating euphoria and total acceptance. They could BE ALL THAT THEY COULD BE and then some. Here is no buffoon strutting upon the stage of German dejection and riveting the German mind and will upon himself—no, no, no!
Here is the uniqueness of Adolf Hitler--one who could so enunciate with utter clarity what the German soul could be in its fullness and creative genius. Neither did his spoken word proclaim his own commitment and genius--it climaxed within the Germany he envisioned in such a rapturous expression and discovery of who they were, and what they could become, with God Almighty vindicating every breath they would take! Hitler injected into nearly every German heart a DIVINE SPARK, which morphed into an inferno of destruction and death unforeseen in human history--but its initial dissension upon its benefactors was replete with a baptism of power and light so transcendent that it captured an entire nation in the heart of Christian Europe. Its pristine message created the IMAGE of DAS VOLK, a people who were destined by the very triumph of their corporate will to be the consummation and commencement of the Kingdom of God--DAS THOUSANDE JAHRE REICH! (The promised millennial reign--one thousand year kingdom)!
But, firstly, the Weimar Republic's failure was predictable. Its liberalism was far too watered down, far too immersed in its diversity and acceptance to galvanize the enthusiasm and concerted consecration of common folk, who longed for a winner, a leader, a "national champion." Democracy, gone awry, alone can produce dictatorship--de facto, or elected! Ultimately, the Left (Weimar or Hollywood)--again by its very nature--simply cannot SUSTAIN the caliber of commitment and vision that can be produced by absolutism and rigid conservatism to which we allude here.
Today, the striking similarities, which you shall observe, of the Christian Right in America, assisted by its current allies among the so--called neocons (i.e., neoconservatives--pragmatic politicos), have forged a formidable alliance of convenience that wholly supports the rise of the New American World Order System. Its striking resemblance to Hitler's appeals is frightful! Liberalism may rant and rave about societal freedoms and renounce governmental restrictions--but their voices and challenges are hollow sounding and even adjudged fallacious, when the triumph of his armies have so prevailed upon the Plains of Shinar! Libertarians and Constitutionalists--you do well to listen to this diatribe.
The tone and substance coming from the mouth of Herr Hitler, although the context is, of course, unique to European Christianity, is eerily compatible to what we are increasingly hearing today from certain political leaders within the American New World Order System. What you are about to read will shock many of you--will utterly cause you to have a spiritual seizure; a revulsion akin to a full-blown, stomach-bending, vomit--but you must come to terms with why this is happening and how religion--the Christian religion--is the most powerful tool that can be utilized in order to capture the "believing" masses and to promote, through "moral covering" and political dedication, an agenda that resounds within the heart of the common man within the Western context.
Hitler, like today's champions of Americana, knew that the "believing masses" had been beaten down, had suffered their World War (Viet Nam), had their beloved Germany (America) battered about with moral decline and "radical secularism" that caused the "moral fiber" of the nation to collapse—something had (has) to be done--someone with guts and glory had (has) to arise to capture the imagination of the nation to rise from its depravity and crimes, from its vulnerability (be it from "them socialists" or "terrorists"), from its self--inflicted and debilitating social ills . . . someone is needed to alter our self-perceptions!
The problem was created by the Devil himself--The Cabaret Society of the Weimar Republic (They never represented true Germany!). "We'd been maligned by every creeping thing imaginable upon our streets: Socialists, Communists, radical Unionists, Jews, Secularists, Liberal Theologians, Homosexuals, Raunchy Entertainment, ad nausea--and this upon our wretched economic woes and that 'Paper from Hell' (i.e., the Versailles Treaty)."
Now--the Devil would provide the solution to the aforementioned problem. He would provide the solution through a man, a party, that would reach down to the common man and pull upon his heart strings--upon that which is made to respond to the highest ideals of man: His religious conscience would be the springboard to launch a fully consecrated and absolutely committed people, sold out to the one who could so uplift and empower them. Thence, this resolution to Germany's defeat must be ensconced within the language of power and persuasion--it must carry the fervor of the EVANGELIST, the power of the PROPHET, the message of the APOSTLE! Yes, convoluted--but done with such passionate skill, that the unwitting and desperate would believe the LIE. Indeed, a true LIE is so close to reality that its frightening resemblance obscures all semblance to the truth!
Ultimately, a lie told long enough, and amplified to the uttermost, resounds with familiarity--YE SHALL BE AS GODS, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL! This original deceit confounded our original forebears. This is no ordinary lie--it is THE LIE. Godhood, the ultimate UBERMENSCH, is the final destiny of the German race--of Hitler's "Religion." But first, the people must be prepared, until they realize their supreme destination and status as DAS VOLK!
HITLER--I CAN'T BELIEVE HE SAID IT! (Hitler/Nazi Comments in BOLD)
"We demand liberty for all religious denominations in the State, so far as they are not a danger to it and do not militate against the morality and moral sense of the German race. The Party, as such, stands for positive Christianity, but does not bind itself in the matter of creed to any particular confession." (Item #24 of the German Worker's Party "Programme" cir. 1920s)
At the earliest formation of the Nazi Party, Hitler expressed his Christian support to the German people and soldiers. In the 1920s, Hitler's German Workers' Party (pre Nazi terminology) adopted a twenty-five-point program with the clear intent to persuade the German people that "positive Christianity" was in full conformity to the "moral" convictions of the Party—i.e., the Party fully embraced the morality of Christianity and that Christianity was viewed as "singular" in the minds of that Party—Catholic and Protestants were considered as the foundation of German Christianity in its fullness and jurisdiction (the Party embraced both as one).
"MY LORD AND SAVIOR . . . IN THE BOUNDLESS LOVE AS A CHRISTIAN . . . HE HAD TO SHED HIS BLOOD UPON THE CROSS. My feelings as a Christian point me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them. This is God's truth! He was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. Today, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before in the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice....
"And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people.
"When I go out in the morning and see these men standing in their queues and look into their pinched faces, then I believe I would be no Christian, but a very devil, if I felt no pity for them, if I did not, as did our Lord two thousand years ago, turn against those by whom today this poor people is plundered and exploited."
[Note, "Brood of vipers" appears in Matt. 3:7 & 12:34. John 2:15 depicts Jesus driving out the moneychangers (adders) from the temple.]
Adolf Hitler, in his speech on 12 April 1922
"We were convinced that the people needs and requires this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out."
--Adolf Hitler, in a speech in Berlin on 24 October 1933
Indeed, Hitler's speeches and proclamations, even more clearly, reveal his faith and feelings toward a Christianized Germany. Nazism presents an embarrassment to Christianity and demonstrates the danger of blending "faith with politics." Do you find it "spiritually disconcerting" to discover the depth of Hitler's hermeneutic? How about his exegesis of Matthew 3:7, 12:34 and John 2:15? Hitler's depiction of Jesus as the FIGHTER, not as the sufferer, is a distortion of the Scriptural intent of this reading; however, without knowing the full contextual nature of the Word, one could (as Hitler did) surmise a MILITANT JESUS is in view, and not a suffering Jesus.
It has been said, "the Bible can be read to say anything!" Examples abound: "Judas hung himself . . . go thou and do likewise!" This classic piece of cut and paste, though stupid, is precisely what many so-called expositors do with the Word of God—Hitler was no exception. But, the shedding of the blood of Jesus as the ultimate payment for "truth and justice and the German way" is frightening and turns true Christianity on its head! Note that Hitler claims to be a Christian and, as such, he has a duty to his own people—he too, like Jesus, must be a fighter for truth and justice--he must rid the Temple of the moneychangers, of the abominable Jews who harass his people, like Jesus did. The German people, according to Hitler, were being "plundered and exploited" and he would be NO CHRISTIAN if he didn't do something about it. Hitler's identification as a Christian was one of activism--not in name only! In this artful persuasion he under girded the German people in their predisposition to anti-Semitism, the full spiritual justification for their participation in the "Final Solution."
In sum: Hitler showed his disdain for atheism, and pagan cults, and revealed the strength of his Christian feelings--make no doubt about that. Likewise, his was no meaningless and superficial theology--it was clearly demarcated and set forth in all its hideous implications with righteous gusto.
"It will at any rate be my supreme task to see to it that in the newly awakened NSDAP, the adherents of both Confessions can live peacefully together side by side in order that they may take their stand in the common fight against the power, which is the mortal foe of any true Christianity. "
Adolf Hitler, in an article headed "A New Beginning," 26 Feb. 1925
"This is for us a ground for satisfaction, since we desire that the fight in the religious camps should come to an end... all political action in the parties will be forbidden to priests for all time, happy because we know what is wanted by millions who long to see in the priest only the comforter of their souls and not the representative of their political convictions."
--Adolf Hitler, in a speech to the men of the SA at Dortmund, 9 July 1933, on the day after the signing of the Concordat (Agreement with the Roman Catholic Church, the Papacy).
The unity of the Church is a recurrent message delivered by Hitler. His object, of course, was "against the power" -- i.e., the international Jewish conspiracy against the Church, and, of course, the German people and the world in general. The technique of solidifying the churches into the "Hammer of God" was a strategy that appealed to the vast majority of German Christians. That he would see in them such an instrument of righteous indignation was commending--both to them as the object of his insight, and to himself for his discernment of such.
It is my firm conviction that this is precisely what is happening in America today. The appeal to the Christian religion in the battle "against evil" within the West is NOT an historic first! Don't be so quick to terminate this reading--let me explain. Who are those who most clearly understand the language of THE EVIL AXIS? Who are those who clearly grasp the "spiritual reality" behind Islamic terrorism? The current President is no fool in appealing to the most religious in leading his charge against the forces of evil that assail the current drama. The appeal to religious unity in the face of extremity is manifested in Islamic Jihad--Holy War. But, this appeal is far more sinister and powerful when placed in the hands of a "Christian President" about to inspire the faithful--far more potent is its impress. There is a righteous finality connected with it--a more sure word--an unseen and unmistaken cause behind this necessary action whose appeal is Ultimate and Conclusive. God, and God alone, is my judge--and you are "either for us or against us" -- there is no compromise, there is no wavering between two opinions--LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT--OUR CAUSE IS JUST!
And, believers who are so deeply embarrassed by today's divisions within the Church--actually do appreciate a leader who recognizes their spiritual unity. Yes, understands their "confessions" are unique--but ascribes singularity of purpose and POSITION to the Church--that's leadership which manifests such excellence and even "theological understanding" behind what the Church really is in nature and purpose.
Today's quest for Christian unity--especially among evangelicals and "social conservatives" (i.e., Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals, Charismatics, Pentecostals, black and white churches alike, etc.) is a unity that, because of leadership like the "Apostles and Prophets" and so much of the Mega-Ministries/Mega-Churches of today--is able to center on our common bonds in Christ--and will not allow the "confessions" of our faith to interfere with the strength of our unity which we have in the Lord. Leadership that brings in the unity of the faith is leadership indeed! And, a President who acknowledges that type of leadership is not only to be commended--he is to be admired and followed into battle, especially when it is against the FORCES OF EVIL!
To abrogate this fight against evil to any other than a united Church would be altogether foolhardy--for it would not resound within the hearts of the "unlearned," as clearly as it responds within the heart of the true believer!
Alas! Hitler has defined the "true foe of Christianity!" In a much more subtle fashion do we see today that Christianity's ultimate FOE lurks behind the fanaticism of an "evil religion" -- notwithstanding the ecumenical protestations to the contrary--the CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG: This is a CRUSADE! Let freedom ring within the 10/40 corridor! At last, a leader that understands what real freedom is all about--for true freedom is RELIGIOUS in nature and outlook. Religious freedom is at the heart and soul of whatever freedom can possibly mean--without it, there is no freedom! A united Church is the most critical tool in forging a nation's will in the spread of this freedom--and in subduing every militant foe that would come against us.
And, worse yet, freedom's recipients will be released when those who embrace these ideals are allowed to free the captives in the first place! Just as the German people were "released" by Hitler--even so, the American people must be freed from the "cultural bias" of their critics and naysayers who are determined to change the course of America's traditions and culture to fit Hollywood's image of what America should be. Today we tolerate their criticisms--may they bear, however, the wrath of the consumer (i.e., we will not frequent their films nor buy their records/products). The "traitors" must be confined to the outskirts of society--for they have been the obstacles of our true culture and identity--banish their "traitorous" designs! They are anti--American, anti--God, and anti--Country.
"Except the Lord build the house they labor in vain.... The truth of that text was proved if one looks at the house of which the foundations were laid in 1918 and which since then has been in building.... The world will not help, the people must help itself. Its own strength is the source of life. That strength the Almighty has given us to use; that in it and through it we may wage the battle of our life.... The others in the past years have not had the blessing of the Almighty---- of Him Who in the last resort, whatever man may do, holds in His hands the final decision. Lord God, let us never hesitate or play the coward, let us never forget the duty which we have taken upon us.... We are all proud that through God's powerful aid we have become once more true Germans.
--Adolf Hitler, in a speech in March 1933
[Note, "Except the Lord built the house, they labor in vain" comes from Psalms 127:1]
Do you not see one here whose "strength is in the Lord?" Surely, our nightmare is over--those of the Weimar imposed government were the kiss of death upon our people. In vain did they build this house of cards upon their own efforts and strength--but we, the German people, shall "gird up our loins" and with GOD'S POWER we shall build! How eloquent did he so express it--what a courageous outburst of revelation have we here: THAT STRENGTH THE ALMIGHTY HAS GIVEN US TO USE--THAT IN IT AND THROUGH IT WE MAY WAGE THE BATTLE OF OUR LIFE!
The "blessing of the Almighty" was NOT the purview of the Weimar Republic--nor of the allies who laid this horrific burden upon us--but the Almighty has enjoined us to cast it off by His almighty strength and cease Weimar's vain efforts to rebuild our nation; instead, we appeal to our LAST RESORT, to the ONE WHO HOLDS IN HIS HANDS THE FINAL DECISION. What insight! What acclamation of truth! What boldness of spirit we witness here!
God, and God Almighty alone, is our ultimate recourse and judge--LET US NEVER FORGET THE DUTY TO WHICH HE HAS CALLED US AND LET US TAKE THIS RESPONSIBILITY UPON US TO BUILD WITH ALL HIS POWER AND MIGHT! This is the spirit that swept Nazi Germany--this is the religious fervor that enthralled a people--don't think that its appeal to the religiosity of the American spirit is so distant. Its astonishing appeal is much greater, much stronger than it ever was for those who lived through the Hitlerian nightmare of Nazi Germany. Why? Because American Christianity is far more evangelical than Germany's ever thought of being--far more committed, far more resolute. The language of German Christianity was steeped in a tradition that had been ravaged by higher Biblical criticism and rank liberalism--in point of fact; it was a "Cultural Christianity" in name only, without power, and without conviction. Not so with mainstream American Christianity and its evangelical fervor--its leadership is legion, its financial coffers are full, its involvement is aggressive, its message is universally accepted and its powers of communication are unprecedented in modern history!
"The Government, being resolved to undertake the political and moral purification of our public life, are creating and securing the conditions necessary for a really profound revival of religious life . . . .
"The National Government regards the two Christian Confessions as the weightiest factors for the maintenance of our nationality. They will respect the agreements concluded between them and the federal States. Their rights are not to be infringed....
"It will be the Government's care to maintain honest co-operation between Church and State; the struggle against materialistic views and for a real national community is just as much in the interest of the German nation as in that of the welfare of our Christian faith.
"The Government of the Reich, who regard Christianity as the unshakable foundation of the morals and moral code of the nation, attach the greatest value to friendly relations with the Holy See and are endeavoring to develop them."
--Adolf Hitler, in his speech to the Reichstag on 23 March 1933
The partnership of Church and State constructed by Hitler was remarkable in many ways--for he appealed to their most self-righteous aspirations and accredited to them the very "moral soul" of the nation--i.e., without TRUE CHRISTIANITY'S FOUNDATIONS OF MORALITY, there is no German morality. This pronouncement was further enhanced when Hitler acclaimed the Church's view of "materialism" as primary in the consciousness of a revived Germany. There was a depth to the Germanic soul that denounced secular materialism as downright superficial and dangerous to the German psyche. It was the Church, which brought us this revelation, and it is the Church that must be protected in order for us to maintain such revulsion to such materialistic realms--only a Germany with SPIRITUAL DEPTH is worthy of recognition and promotion.
His audience, at the time was Catholic and Protestant (mostly in name) -- but his announcement of the CONCORDAT with Rome is obvious and clear. Friendly relations--yea, relations that are inclusive of the Church are and must be the norm in a resurgent Germany. Hitler's famous statement concerning Germany resounds to this day: WE WILL RESTORE THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT!
Similarities? Indeed, for the intrusive nature of rampant secular humanism and relativism have shaken the foundations of what was once an assured Americana--now, it's pay back time. Why has our nation "gone to hell in a hand basket?" Why? Because we have forsaken our God and, thence, we have abandoned what little claim we held to morality--now, our families and our culture have been shipwrecked by the proponents from Dewey on down. It is time we cast off their bounds and freed ourselves from their depravities--let us arise and put on our moral amour! Thank God we have a man in the White House who understands our groaning and aspires to a higher cause and to a world of absolutes, instead of grays and murky morality (e. g., if it feels good, do it). Finally, there's one who knows good from evil, right from wrong and is not afraid to call it like it is. Relativism is the bane of morality--with it there is none!
Notwithstanding the facetious nature of the above (and I'm not suggesting that relativism has any merit whatsoever)--it's the USE of what is good and godly that provokes. Please understand--morality that is from above is altogether noble and cherished by all believers--but the use of morality for political goals is the worst embrace that the Christian religion needs or should countenance.
After the death of Pius XI, the electoral procedure to elect another Pope had begun. The March 1939 election favored Pacelli and four days later, Pacelli made it clear that he would handle all German affairs personally. He proposed the following affirmation of Hitler:
"To the Illustrious Herr Adolf Hitler, Fuhrer and Chancellor of the German Reich! Here at the beginning of Our Pontificate We wish to assure you that We remain devoted to the spiritual welfare of the German people entrusted to your leadership.... During the many years we spent in Germany, We did all in Our power to establish harmonious relations between Church and State. Now that the responsibilities of Our pastoral function have increased Our opportunities, how much more ardently do We pray to reach that goal. May the prosperity of the German people and their progress in every domain come, with God's help, to fruition!"
Pacelli became a crowned Pope on March 12, 1939 (Pius XII). The following month on April 20, 1939, at Pacelli's express wish, Archbishop Orsenigo, the nuncio in Berlin, opened a gala reception for Hitler's fiftieth birthday. The birthday greetings thus initiated by Pacelli immediately became a tradition; each April 20 during the few years left to Hitler and his Reich, Cardinal Bertram of Berlin would send "warmest congratulations to the Fuhrer in the name of the bishops and the dioceses in Germany," to which he added "fervent prayers which the Catholics in Germany are sending to heaven on their altars." [Cornwell, John, Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, Viking, 1999, p. 209]
"We want honestly to earn the resurrection of our people through our industry, our perseverance, and our will. We ask not of the Almighty, 'Lord, make us free!'---- we want to be active, to work, to agree together as brothers, to strive in rivalry with one another to bring about the hour when we can come before Him and when we may ask of Him: "Lord, Thou seest that we have transformed ourselves, the German people is no longer the people of dishonor, of shame, of war within itself, of faintheartedness and little faith: no, Lord, the German people has
become strong again in spirit, strong in will, strong in endurance, strong to bear all sacrifices." "Lord, we will not let Thee go: bless now our fight for our freedom; the fight we wage for our German people and Fatherland."
Adolf Hitler, giving prayer in a speech on May Day, 1933 "If we pursue this way, if we are decent, industrious, and honest, if we so loyally and truly fulfill our duty, then it is my conviction that in the future as in the past the Lord God will always help us. In the long run He never leaves decent folk in the lurch.
Often He may test them, He may send trials upon them, but in the long run He always lets His sun shine upon them once more and at the end He gives them His blessing.
Adolf Hitler, at the Harvest Thanksgiving Festival on the Buckeburg held on 3 Oct. 1937
My friend, this is not someone faint of heart and improvised in spirit--NO! Here is one who exudes a "God-like confidence" that instills the finest and best into his people. No, again, he does not commend his own capacities for valor nor courage--but he imbues the German soul with an uplifted aspiration replete with transforming might and empowerment beyond one's wildest imagination. He crystallizes their wholeness, he encapsulates a profound insight into what it means to be distinctly German in every noble way--and he does it all with a cacophony of praise and adulation upon his people who resoundingly reflect his image and become the very image they behold! No wonder they must adore him, no wonder they must follow him--he alone is worthy to be their Fuhrer, their indomitable LEADER, and their Moses who must lead them out of their wilderness into their Promised Land of fullness!
Don't be so foolish to adjudge them so gullible and childish in their adoration of such a man--to be German in such an age of humiliation was a tragic shame. Yet, here was one who out of his poverty and German despair, infused them with such a vision of what they could be and should be that they literally came out of their impoverished selves into the wealth of his embrace--THEY WERE BORN AGAIN!
Represented throughout these quotes is a man who demonstrates "faith at work" on the noblest of levels. Working hand and glove with the Almighty in a DIVINE COOPERATION upon the earth--here is one who exemplifies a vital dependence, expectant of God's richest blessings upon all who merit His care through utter dependence upon His good graces. He is a witness to the Scriptural pattern of testing, tribulation and trials that lead to intimate reliance upon the Almighty. Dear friend, Hitler projected his God as wholly empathetic to the most sacred needs of humanity--a personal, close-in God of infinite understanding and compassion upon those whom the Almighty molds into His useful vessel--if you cannot see this on the surface of his words, then perhaps you would have been one of the very few who did not!
"SEPARATION" OF CHURCH AND STATE or "INSEPARABLE" SEPARATION
"National Socialism has always affirmed that it is determined to take the Christian Churches under the protection of the State....
"The decisive factor which can justify the existence alike of Church and State is the maintenance of men's spiritual and bodily health, for if that health were destroyed it would mean the end of the State and also the end of the Church....
"It is my sincere hope that thereby for Germany, too, through free agreement there has been produced a final clarification of spheres in the functions of the State and of one Church."
--Adolf Hitler, on a wireless on 22 July, the evening before the Evangelical Church Election
"The German Church and the People are practically the same body. Therefore there could be no issue between Church and State. The Church, as such, has nothing to do with political affairs. On the other hand, the State has nothing to do with the faith or inner organization of the Church. The election of November 12th would be an expression of Church constituency, but not as a Church."
--Adolf Hitler, answering C. F. Macfarland about Church & State (in his book, The New Church and the New Germany)
"The National Socialist State professes its allegiance to positive Christianity. It will be its honest endeavor to protect both the great Christian Confessions in their rights, to secure them from interference with their doctrines (Lehren), and in their duties to constitute a harmony with the views and the exigencies of the State of today."
--Adolf Hitler, on 26 June 1934, to Catholic bishops to assure them that he would take action against the new pagan propaganda.
"So long as they concern themselves with their religious problems the State does not concern itself with them. But so soon as they attempt by any means whatsoever---by letters, Encyclical, or otherwise--to arrogate to themselves rights which belong to the State alone we shall force them back into their proper spiritual, pastoral activity."
Adolf Hitler, in a speech delivered in Berlin on the May Day festival, 1937
Here is a most deliberate attempt to separate the "spheres of influence" through double speak. To say that "separate but equal" was truly equal in America's school systems was a falsehood perpetrated by our highest court--the Supreme Court (later it was overturned). Hitler's "spheres of function" were altogether upbuilding insofar as the Church's sphere was concerned--for without the spiritual health of Germany, there would be no bodily health!
How essential had become the Church's role in building a new Germany from the ashes of the Weimar curse? Plenty, in every way. The accolades heaped upon the spirituality of the German Church appear foremost in Hitler's quest to ingratiate himself with the IMAGE of his creation--though unbeknownst to his followers. In practicality--and if one took him at his word--there was no separation of Church and State. Perhaps in name only--but to view the State without the Church, would be to actualize a SOULESS STATE--inwardly dead, without a spirit, utterly lifeless; without meaning, and without morality.
Could we not conclude that Hitler's National Socialism had fused Church and State so closely together that to see one, you'd have to see the other--he that hath seen ME (i.e., the German State personified in Hitler) has seen the Fatherland (whose spirit was the Church)? No shallow theology here--a captivating indignity to Holy Writ was born in this devilish collaboration and identification. Yet, was his subtlety so fine that the appearance of Church & State separation was his theme--but was it? I don't think so--not in the final analysis; until the day he fully turned and devoured her.
"The fact that the Vatican is concluding a treaty with the new Germany means the acknowledgement of the National Socialist state by the Catholic Church. This treaty shows the whole world clearly and unequivocally that the assertion that National Socialism [Nazism] is hostile to religion is a lie."
--Adolf Hitler, 22 July 1933, writing to the Nazi Party (quoted from John Cornwell's "Hitler's Pope"
The Vatican, a far easier catch for Hitler than the splintering of their Protestant counterparts, could easily conclude such an agreement because of its own political viability and embrace of Statehood. Who rides the Beast? Or, better yet, who seeks moral legitimacy and acceptance? Clearly, Hitler's State welcomed such acknowledgement--and did so wholeheartedly and with celebration.
The desire for moral covering by the State to prosecute its agenda of evil was precisely the ticket given to Hitler--and he used the free ride to the uttermost! Now, Kristal Nacht (i.e., the Night of Broken Glass) could take place, now open season on Jews, Gypsies, and all counter-culture pests and vermin could be unleashed with moral impunity, and so it was.
"I believe that Providence would never have allowed us to see the victory of the Movement if it had the intention after all to destroy us at the end."
Adolf Hitler, in a speech to old members of the Party at Munich on 8 Nov. 1933
"What we are we have become not against, but with, the will of Providence. And so long as we are true and honorable and of good courage in fight, so long as we believe in our great work and do not capitulate, we shall continue to enjoy in the future the blessing of Providence."
--Adolf Hitler, at Rosenheim in Bavaria, 11 Aug. 1935
"Providence has caused me to be Catholic, and I know therefore how to handle this Church."
--Adolf Hitler, reportedly to have said in Berlin in 1936 on the enmity of the Catholic Church to National Socialism
"I believe in Providence and I believe Providence to be just. Therefore I believe that Providence always rewards the strong, the industrious, and the upright."
Adolf Hitler, in a speech to National Socialist women at the Nuremberg Parteitag of 1936 [11 Sept. 1936]
"Providence has caused me to be Catholic, and I know therefore how to handle this Church".
--Adolf Hitler, reportedly to have said in Berlin in 1936 on the enmity of the Catholic Church to National Socialism
"I believe in Providence and I believe Providence to be just. Therefore I believe that Providence always rewards the strong, the industrious, and the upright."
--Adolf Hitler, in a speech to National Socialist women at the Nuremberg Parteitag of 1936 [11 Sept. 1936]
"We National Socialists, too, have deep in our hearts our own faith. We cannot do otherwise. No man can mould the history of peoples or of the world unless he has upon his will and his capacities the blessing of Providence."
--Adolf Hitler, to Nazi leaders on 2 June 1937, as reported by a correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph"
"I will never allow anyone to divide this people once more into religious camps, each fighting the other....
You, my Brown Guard, will regard it as a matter of course that this German people should go only by the way which Providence ordained for it when it gave to Germans the common language. So we go forward with the profoundest faith in God into the future. Would that which we have achieved have been possible if Providence had not helped us?"
Adolf Hitler, in a speech at Regensburg on 6 June1937
Hitler's constant appeal to divine intervention (i.e., providence) and Germany's resurrection through the birth of the National Socialist Party were incessant and expected. The movement curried the favor of the divine blessing and presence. The smile of God was upon Germany because God Almighty, with His unseen hand and direction, had provided all that was necessary and spiritual to create the New Germany of Adolf Hitler.
Some naïve souls out there, whose academic endeavors attempt to reinterpret history, assume that the inevitability of Nazi Germany would have occurred regardless if there would have been a Hitler or not--what naivety! Conjecture all you wish--without Hitler, there would NOT have been Nazi Germany, and that's my final answer. In retrospect and from the fallen perspective of Nazi Germany--Hitler was God's man for the hour!
"While we destroyed the Center Party, we have not only brought thousands of priests back into the Church, but to millions of respectable people we have restored their faith in their religion and in their priests. The union of the Evangelical Church in a single Church for the whole Reich, the Concordat with the Catholic Church, these are but milestones on the road, which leads to the establishment of a useful relation and a useful co-operation between the Reich and the two Confessions."
Adolf Hitler, in his New Year Message on 1 Jan. 1934
"So far as the Evangelical Confessions are concerned we are determined to put an end to existing divisions, which are concerned only with the forms of organization, and to create a single Evangelical Church for the whole Reich....
"And we know that were the great German reformer [Martin Luther] with us today he would rejoice to be freed from the necessity of his own time and, like Ulrich von Hutten, his last prayer would be not for the Churches of the separate States: it would be of Germany that he would think and of the Evangelical Church of Germany."
--Adolf Hitler, in his Proclamation at the Parteitag at Nuremberg on 5 Sept. 1934
"Remain strong in your faith, as you were in former years. In this faith, in its close--knit unity our people today goes straight forward on its way and no power on earth will avail to stop it."
--Adolf Hitler, in a speech at Coburg on 15 Oct. 1937
In order to secure the full moral covering of the Church, Hitler had to coronate her unity through the Concordat with Rome and the establishment of a unified Evangelical Church expression. Thence, all priests and ministers were brought together as one faith in two confessions.
Eventually (but no matter) the evangelical wing of this twosome was impossible to solidify--but this didn't stop Hitler's march toward Church unity. He simply claimed victory no matter what the Protestants looked like on paper--as far as he was concerned, the union of the Evangelical Church was complete; and, so was the Catholic and Protestant union of faith. The cooperation between the two Confessions to legitimize the State's agenda was complete--details would come later. And, do you think that such union came about through decrees alone? Not so, the man many of you presumed had not a spiritual bone in his body was ubiquitous in his appearance and in hustling of the German Protestants and Catholics--likewise did his political ministers curry the favor of the religious leadership of the nation, let alone its pew members. The "wine and dine" methodologies, which work so well in today's Churchianity, were extremely effective in Hitler's Germany--there is nothing new under the sun.
What we witness today in the halls of our Capitol and White House is regretfully similar--but then, again, does not our government represent all the people? And, with such vast constituencies, should not the "elect" gain access to those who lead them in civil affairs? Today, those evangelical leaders who anointed our President with oil, and laid their "holy hands" upon his head and shoulders in the Texas Governor's Mansion on that fateful day in 1999, as he declared his intentions to run for President of this great land, are they not the same ones who have repeated invitations to counsel with the highest office in the land? Shut out are the likes of the Roman Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Churches. Gone are the days of futile moral covering--welcome are those who have learned to stand in the gap and provide both votes and victory to the Commander-in-Chief. Furthermore, it pays to pray--to pray for the one who reflects your values and your spirituality!
"Imbued with the desire to secure for the German people the great religious, moral, and cultural values rooted in the two Christian Confessions, we have abolished the political organizations but strengthened the religious institutions."
--Adolf Hitler, speaking in the Reichstag on 30 Jan. 1934
So enshrined was Germany's spirituality in the mind of Hitler, that he took a quantum leap and linked the elimination of all political parties (save his National Socialist Party), as barriers to Germany's religious rebirth and awakening. By the sacrifice of political competition, the enthronement of Germany's spirituality could be realized! Imagine using religion to such an extent that it somehow legitimized the abolition of all political parties in Nazi Germany! This is unbelievable chutzpah on a plain so far out there that even the Pope cannot attain to it.
It would appear that by such elimination, Christianity's greatest hour had arrived--or was told it had arrived. But if you are going to tell a lie so immense and all encompassing, so absurd and ridiculous--why not shoot the gap, as they say, and blow the whole thing totally out of proportion to any reality? And so blatant was this lie that the people relished the thought and succumbed to its insanity! That's how absurd things had become--but I bet you never guessed that this was the reason he abolished all those political parties, did you?
No, I must confess, I can't see America sliding down the same pathway--not exactly in this way; although the thought, in the minds of some, that our current political parties are one in the same, disturbs me a little and the absurd nature of the American independent Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Green Party, etc., is of no small consolation either--in essence, some think we have but one political party of elites governing the masses in any event! But, I would have to conclude; the religious card has, as yet, has not been so dramatized nor discovered to the extent that Hitler utilized it before the Reichstag.
"It would have been more to the point, more honest and more Christian, in past decades not to support those who intentionally destroyed healthy life than to rebel against those who have no other wish than to avoid disease. Moreover, a policy of laissez faire in this sphere is not only cruelty to the individual guiltless victims but also to the nation as a whole.... If the Churches were to declare themselves ready to take over the treatment and care of those suffering from hereditary diseases, we should be quite ready to refrain from sterilizing them."
Adolf Hitler, in his speech on 30 Jan. 1934
Quite the challenge--wouldn't you say? Even so, what have we here? The Church is enjoined to "care for the sick" lest they procreate and produce offspring who, because of their parents, cannot care for themselves? Indeed, the State "at least" has compassion to eliminate, through sterilization, such babes (before they are ever born) whose parents are mentally and/or physically remiss to care for their own--so what should the Church do to lift this burden from society? Think about it. Hitler was the master of such social engagement with the Church. The point here is challenging the keepers of the moral fiber of the nation--Hitler really did believe that the Church should pick up this burden--it is difficult to believe they did--witness the exhaust gasses that poured into the cabins of trucks filled with the mentally ill and the physically challenged. Such was the "social consciousness" of Nazi Germany's "mercy killings."
"We have experienced a miracle, something unique, something the like of which there has hardly been in the history of the world. God first allowed our people to be victorious for four and a half years, then He abased us, laid upon us a period of shamelessness, but now after a struggle of fourteen years he has permitted us to bring that period to a close. It is a miracle, which has been wrought upon the German People.... It shows us that the Almighty has not deserted our people, that He received it into favor at the moment when it rediscovered itself. And that our people shall never again lose itself, that must be our vow so long as we shall live and so long as the Lord gives us the strength to carry on the fight."
Adolf Hitler, in a speech to the "Old Guard" of the Party at Munich on 19 March 1934
Throughout these "spiritual quotations" of Adolf Hitler, there is a keen awareness that in some mysterious fashion, this man actually believed what he was saying. Raised a Catholic, he did aspire to some form of spirituality--and, he certainly took his own spirituality seriously. To Hitler, the acknowledgement of one's spirituality, of German spirituality, was recognition of divine intervention in the affairs of man, and in his case, of the German nation.
A great deal has been made by many (e.g., Joseph Carr's THE TWISTED CROSS) of Hitler's love affair with the occult. We do not deny his absorption therewith. However, the "public persona" of one Adolf Hitler was one steeped in Christian tradition--German traditional religious practice and imagery. He somehow knew what made the German soul tick and what really made most of mankind tick. His realization of what could motivate the human soul (mind, will and emotion) to its grandiose heights was decisively religious (i.e., the Christian religious expression) in its public manifestation.
Hitler's resort to divine participation in the affairs of the German people was brilliant and even strangely sincere. "God brought Germany 4.5 years of victory and then the shame of defeat for the next fourteen. Now, the same God who foreordained our demise has deemed us worthy of a far greater future than we could imagine--it is a miracle!" (My quotes) Hitler gives the Almighty all praise and honor for His intervention and Germany's rebirth. No surprise, if you've read everything that has gone before.
Simultaneously, as Germany came to itself, the Almighty declared His favor upon the nation! Hitler proposed that divine cooperation was mandatory for the German people to prolong their blessedness and rebirth. Here we have a profound spiritual truth wherein man can cooperate with God and literally move the hand of God Himself through obedience, sacrifice, and struggle. There is no easy way to secure God's blessing--it is given to those who would aspire to receive it. No, this was not a superficial regurgitation of "God helps those who help themselves." It was far deeper and much more profound that such simplistic verbiage and inane chatter. Hitler's pragmatic theology was lofty enough to capture the intellectually elite of the land, as well as scores of theologians who admired his grasp of theological truths and Hitler's ability to apply them to the real world. Yes, here was a man who could comprehend the incomprehensible through the eyes of God Himself!
GOD BLESS YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERIKA, (I mean) . . . GERMANY!
"No, it is not we that have deserted Christianity; it is those who came before us who deserted Christianity. We have only carried through a clear division between politics, which have to do with terrestrial things, and religion, which must concern itself with the celestial sphere. There has been no interference with the doctrine (Lehre) of the Confessions or with their religious freedom (Bekenntnisfreiheit), nor will there be any such interference. On the contrary the State protects religion, though always on the one condition that religion will not be used as a cover for political ends....
"For their interests cannot fail to coincide with ours alike in our fight against the symptoms of degeneracy in the world of today, in our fight against a Bolshevist culture, against atheistic movement, against criminality, and in our struggle for a consciousness of a community in our national life... These are not anti--Christian, these are Christian principles! And I believe that if we should fail to follow these principles then we should to be able to point to our successes, for the result of our political battle is surely not unblest by God."
Adolf Hitler, in his speech at Koblenz, to the Germans of the Saar, 26 Aug. 1934
The repeated injunction to Germany's Christianity as the core of Germany's soul and heritage is undeniable in all of Hitler's proposals and polemics. He allegedly differentiated between the holy and the profane; between the secular and the divine; the heavenly and earthly; the celestial and the terrestrial. Again, here is one who understood the language of theology and the politics of religion.
Freedom of religious practice is what we hear--full commitment to the major confessions of the faith, without prejudice. The State would protect religion and its freedoms--as long as religion would keep its nose out of politics. Now, that's of great interest to some who welcome the support of the State today and are more than happy to express their political opinions--not so bad now that the State welcomes such spiritual approbation and adulation. But what of different times and places--then shall religion be otherwise so judged by the State if the State "feels" that the Church has left its sphere of influence? Think about it--it's a bit unnerving to contemplate a State that protects religious expression, as long as that religious expression does not criticize the State--now you know the rest of the story and your freedom. Or, will you loose your 501--C-3 (not-for-profit religious status) if you delve into the political realms too much. Some have--but they have only Hitler to follow when push comes to this shove, don't they?
"Only so you can appeal to your God and pray Him to support and bless your courage, your work, your perseverance, your strength, your resolution, and with all these your claim on life."
Adolf Hitler, in a speech at Frankfurt on 16 March 1936
"In this world him who does not abandon himself the Almighty will not desert. Him who helps himself will the Almighty always also help; He will show him the way by which he can gain his rights, his freedom, and therefore his future."
--Adolf Hitler, in a speech at Hamburg on 20 March 1936
What inspiration is this? Again, can you fault the man for such impeccable appeals to the conscience of Germany's Christian populace? I don't imagine you can nor would you want to thwart his efforts by claiming they appear disingenuous. He truly believed in this type of prayer and cooperation with the divine--it appears a latent form of Augustinian and Calvinistic perseverance is understood in this illumination. No, you say, I give him too much credit--look more closely, I think some saintly spike upholds his rhetoric.
"This Winter Help Work is also in the deepest sense a Christian work. When I see, as I so often do, poorly clad girls collecting with such infinite patience in order to care for those who are suffering from the cold while they themselves are shivering with cold, then I have the feeling that they are all apostles of a Christianity---- and in truth of a Christianity which can say with greater right than any other: This is the Christianity of an honest confession, for behind it stand not words but deeds."
--Adolf Hitler, speaking of the Winter Help Campaign on 5 Oct. 1937
Perhaps Hitler was reading the Epistle of St. James--"I will show you my faith by my works." Hitler's Christianity was one of aggressive activity and characterized by "good deeds" -- again, as he so often did, he commended such deeds, giving credit to his POSITIVE CHRISTIANITY. He was all about vibrancy, especially in religious activity--it was encouraged and continuously celebrated among the people and they loved him for it. Such respect for sacrifice and unselfish devotion to the German people were heralded by one who knew what it meant to be a true Christian--again, and I know it's difficult to fathom the depth of his recognition of Christianity in this way, but his words and deeds manifested to the German (and I mean "German") people were incessant and profoundly sincere to the ear of these people.
"In this hour I would ask of the Lord God only this: that, as in the past, so in the years to come He would give His blessing to our work and our action, to our judgment and our resolution, that He will safeguard us from all false pride and from all cowardly servility, that He may grant us to find the straight path which His Providence has ordained for the German people, and that He may ever give us the courage to do the right, never to falter, never to yield before any violence, before any danger.... I am convinced that men who are created by God should live in accordance with the will of the Almighty.... If Providence had not guided us I could often never have found these dizzy paths.... Thus it is that we National Socialists, too, have in the depths of our hearts our faith. We cannot do otherwise; no man can fashion world history or the history of peoples unless upon his purpose and his powers there rests the blessings of this Providence."
--Adolf Hitler, in a speech at Wurzburg on 27 June 1937
In retrospect you look back in time and observe a man, a true leader, whose unshakable witness to his faith is almost unparalleled in the annals of leadership--any kind of political or social leadership. He saw man as created by God, rewarded for his reliance upon God, and fully sustained through cooperating with Him on a scale so grand that all self-consciousness in His presence is utterly abandoned.
You will not see one tepid in faith, faltering hither and thither--no, here's a champion of conviction that is in your face, and, as such, you who once wavered are truly bolstered and led by him into this same absolutism of conviction. Through every dizzy pathway--God, the single-minded and ever resilient One, was there keeping you on track because you were fulfilling His destiny. Hitler confessed it, actively believed in it, and lived like he owned what he confessed so stringently that all doubt ceased in his presence when it came to matters of faith. History would be changed--because God willed it and triumphed in the all-purposeful One Who anticipated Hitler's unfeigned devotion to his people, and to his God.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury--convict the man as a murderer, as a thief, as committing crimes against humanity on such a scale that comparisons cannot be found--but convict him not for his unfaltering faith in God Almighty! And you wonder why the Europeans express such suspicions of our President's expressions relative to the Almighty--suspect no further!
"National Socialism is not a cult-movement---a movement for worship; it is exclusively a 'volkic' political doctrine based upon racial principles. In its purpose there is no mystic cult, only the care and leadership of a people defined by a common blood relationship....
"We will not allow mystically minded occult folk with a passion for exploring the secrets of the world beyond to steal into our Movement. Such folk are not National Socialists, but something else---in any case something which has nothing to do with us. At the head of our programme there stand no secret surmising but clear-cut perception and straightforward profession of belief. But since we set as the central point of this perception and of this profession of belief the maintenance and hence the security for the future of a being formed by God, we thus serve the maintenance of a divine work and fulfill a divine will--not in the secret twilight of a new house of worship, but openly before the face of the Lord...
"Our worship is exclusively the cultivation of the natural, and for that reason, because natural, therefore God-willed. Our humility is the unconditional submission before the divine laws of existence so far as they are known to us men.
--Adolf Hitler, in Nuremberg on 6 Sept. 1938
I do not for one minute, contrary to Hitler's pronouncements above, believe that Hitler did not embrace the occult and sought its hidden wisdom. Likewise, within the pomp and circumstances of endless ceremonies and Nazi altars and oaths, there was the occult's stamp everywhere and in manifold witness to his search for meaning among the ancients and their hierarchies.
But, one would be hard pressed to believe that Hitler's public witness in condemnation of the occult, and, thence, his stalwart celebration of God-willed, God-ordained living and confession, was not mainstream Christianity as the Germans knew it--sincerely so. Do leaders say one thing in public and another they practice in private? Perhaps the most classic case would be Nancy Reagan's timing among the mediums and Ronnie's schedules being altered to conform to these enchanters. And, what of the Skull and Bones of the current Administrator? Compromise at this level is private and personal--best left to the pages of checkout stands for enquiring minds who really have a need to know.
Conspiratorial theories abound as to the occult amongst the Nazis in general, and within Hitler's possessions specifically. If we were to adjudge his political stance to be his personal one on this issue--we would be kidding ourselves, especially with the knowledge available on this subject. No, Hitler was overtly occultic in every way, shape and form--though he would deny any of it to the public and even to himself! He would have been right at home in the courts of Nebuchadnezzar with his magicians, conjurers, sorcerers and master astrologers (Chaldeans). Reputed to have transported over a thousand Tibetan monks to empower his decisions to Berlin is not a casual touch with the underworld of the occult!
Never mind, Hitler's fidelity to true Christianity and to the Christian God were so clearly defined within the hearts and minds of the German people that no one would ever believe such a thing were possible with such a great man of faith and virtue.
"The National Socialist Movement has wrought this miracle. If Almighty God granted success to this work, then the Party was His instrument."
Adolf Hitler, in his proclamation to the German People on 1 Jan 1939
One can imagine (Or can one?) that a political party could be so identified with the move of God Almighty? Isn't it ludicrous to assert such a thing--that a political party can somehow insinuate itself upon God in this way--so that the "Party of God" becomes your particular party or the party that best represents the interests of the Almighty? Never happen? Not! This repeatedly happens throughout the world and on a consistent basis.
Today we witness an amazing reoccurrence: The Republican Party does its good pleasure in the Name of God (for the most part) and the Democratic Party does its evil in its own name--as do most of the other political aberrations. But, the GOP is the GOD Party of today--just how does this happen in a "civilized society" which welcomes the Almighty here and there--but His current takeover of the GOP is a little ostentatious of Him, don't you think? How in the world does voting Republican equate to voting for a divine slate of candidates and how do the churches know that such identification brings in the blessing of the Almighty? I don't know--maybe they'll let me in on the secret or, if you find out before I do, e-mail me!
Well, check out the historic pattern set by Nazi Socialism--it had to be the "Hammer of God" -- God's divine instrument -- because it was so incredibly successful!
"Amongst the accusations which are directed against Germany in the so-called democracies is the charge that the National Socialist State is hostile to religion. In answer to that charge I should like to make before the German people the following solemn declaration:
1. No one in Germany has in the past been persecuted because of his religious views (Einstellung), nor will anyone in the future be so persecuted....
"The Churches are the greatest landed proprietors after the State... Further, the Church in the National Socialist State is in many ways favored in regard to taxation, and for gifts, legacies, etc., it enjoys immunity from taxation. It is therefore, to put mildly---effrontery when especially foreign politicians make bold to speak of hostility to religion in the Third Reich....
"I would allow myself only one question: What contributions during the same period have France, England, or the United States made through the State from the public funds?
3. The National Socialist State has not closed a church, nor has it prevented the holding of a religious service, nor has it ever exercised any influence upon the form of a religious service. It hasn't exercised any pressure upon the doctrine nor on the profession of faith of any of the Confessions. In the National Socialist State anyone is free to seek His blessedness after his own fashion....
"There are ten thousands of priests of all the Christian Confessions who perform their ecclesiastical duties just as well as or probably better than the political agitators without ever coming into conflict with the laws of the State....
"This State has only once intervened in the internal regulation of the Churches, that is when I myself in 1933 endeavored to unite the weak and divided Protestant Churches of the different States into one great and powerful Evangelical Church of the Reich. That attempt failed through the opposition of the bishops of some States; it was therefore abandoned. For it is in the last resort not our task to defend or even to strengthen the Evangelical Church through violence against its own representatives....
"But on one point it is well that there should be no uncertainty: the German priest as servant of God we shall protect, the priest as political enemy of the German State we shall destroy.
--Adolf Hitler, a speech in the Reichstag on 30 Jan. 1939
Poland had not yet fallen when Hitler gave this speech. Now was the time for a clarion cry for religious freedom on a scale of vast significance. Nowhere, apparently on earth, did the Church receive such unmitigated and unflinching support--financial and spiritually commendatory in every way. And, didn't it sound appropriate that religious leadership should confine their sphere of influence to the very soul of Germany--its spiritual need--and avoid even the appearance of political involvement? After all, Jesus did say that His kingdom was not of this earth--therefore, criticisms or negative remarks about Germany's political machinery were totally unnecessary and counterproductive when the Church enjoyed such support from the Beast upon which she rode!
For centuries Germany had intertwined herself with the religious institutions of the day and the practice of Church-State support--as throughout most of Europe. It was a given--of course, now and again things went a bit too far and the French Revolution and Russian Revolution had to disassociate from the Church which had lost her compass and identified with the needs of the rich and famous and had forsaken her mission to the poor of Europe; so she had to be spanked. But, all could easily be forgiven if the State maintained true control over the "situation" -- whatever that might be in any given political circumstance.
Not so odd, and certainly the truth, is the Church's propensity to gravitate to the wealth of this world--while all the time its Master had "nowhere to lay His head." No matter, it takes money, and lots of it, to demonstrate the power of God and there's nothing like putting on a great show for the powers that be--especially, when their largess is so bountiful!
Hitler's definition of the doctrine of the Separation of Church and State was quite authentic, don't you think? I mean, really, shouldn't the Church keep its nose out of the political process in the first place and give themselves to the celestial burdens of the land? So you see, my friend, things are not always as they appear to be. What TYPE of separation of Church and State do you envision in America? If it's the Hitlerian model--sei vorsichtig (be careful)--it may come back and bite you big time.
Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich who visited Hitler at his mountain retreat in Obersalzburg confessed: 'Without a doubt the chancellor lives in faith in God. He recognizes Christianity as the foundation of Western culture' [Helmreich, p.279]."
"I do not remember even a single occasion when Hitler gave any instructions that ran counter to the true Christian spirit and to humanness. [Wagener, quoted in "Turner, Jr., Henry Ashby, "Hitler-- Memoirs of a Confidant," Yale University Press, 1978, p.147]
"Catholic and Protestant leaders were convinced of Hitler's belief. As an example, the Catholic Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich visited Hitler at his mountain retreat at Obersalzburg in November 1936. Faulhaber observed: 'Without doubt the chancellor lives in faith in God. He recognizes Christianity as the foundation of Western culture.' " [quoted from "The German Churches Under Hitler", p.279]
"If positive Christianity means love of one's neighbor, i.e. the tending of the sick, the clothing of the poor, the feeding of the hungry, the giving of drink to those who are thirsty, then it is we who are the more positive Christians. For in these spheres the community of the people of National Socialist Germany has accomplished a prodigious work.
--Adolf Hitler, in his speech to the "Old Guard" at Munich on 24 Feb. 1939
If you have made it thus far, you would have made (in all likelihood) an outstanding party member and, quite possibly, a religious one at that! May I congratulate you on your perseverance and unwavering commitment to finish this tome? You are undoubtedly a person of strong will and determination--or one fast reader whose scanning abilities rival my own; and, I am sure, your humility does as well.
The prodigious work accomplished by Hitler was done in the name of positive Christianity with positive Christians at its helm. Hitler's Christianity was pro-active, committed to the needy (as long as they were Germans and were not mentally ill, communists, union leaders, "German Jews," genetically deficient, and a host of other maladies). But, he sure knew how to put up a great show of it--and the vast majority of the German people utterly adored the man and, as the War wore on--followed him into the flames of Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and countless other cities where mayhem, death and destruction abounded.
Why I have gone to these lengths in both presenting Hitler's remarks and commenting thereon--drawing some parallels to today's political/religious situation here in America--is straightforward: Do not surmise that the verbosity of religious expression and appeals to God's blessings connotes a nation whose God is the Lord, nor a people and leadership whose faith is in the Almighty alone.
You have heard the comments, not of an insane and loquacious idiot, but the earnest efforts and expressions of one who amplified his faith within the German people. Something resonated within them, confirming his every word and especially when it descended upon a divine discussion wherein the parameters of celestial blessings could be manifested.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, more intoxicating that religious fervor and motivation. Eternity is, I am utterly certain, strewn with the souls that shall hear on that day these foreboding words: DEPART FROM ME, I NEVER APPROVED OF YOU! These souls will cry out: "Have we not done many wonderful works and miracles in Your Name? Indeed, have we not cast out devils in Thy name?" God's Name has been defamed by a multitude of charlatans and political hacks for their own self-aggrandizement and prestige. Few come as close as Hitler to genuine faith and belief in God's affairs among men. Few resound with such commitment to the Almighty and yet have fallen so short of the reality. Rare to find the epitome of religious manipulation of this expanse and depth, very rare.
"The established Methodist church paper, the Friedensglocke, vouched for the authenticity of a story about Hitler where he invited a group of deaconesses from the Bethel Institutions into his home at Obersalzberg .. The deaconesses entered the chamber and were astonished to see the pictures of Frederick the Great, Luther, and Bismarck on the wall ... One sister could not refrain from saying: 'Herr Reichkanzler, 'from where do you get the courage to undertake the great changes in the whole Reich?' Thereupon Hitler took out of his pocket the New Testament of Dr. Martin Luther, which one could see had been used very much, and said earnestly: "From God's word." [Helmreich, Ernst Christian, "The German Churches Under Hitler," Wayne State University Press, 1979, p., p. 139]
Let this be a solemn warning to the Church in America--"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the Devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen." (I Peter 5:8--11)
Note: (Many of the Photos/Graphics Find Their Source in: A Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen)
Note: The author wishes it to be known that both his parents are from German ancestry and can trace his heritage on his mother's side back to Martin Luther and his father's side back to the 1740s—German immigrants to Russia (Volga-Deutsch).


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Ways to Keep Your Landline Bills Down
As the global financial crisis continues with no sign of the end being near, people are seeking out ways in which they can reduce the amount of money they are spending each month. Cheaper, less inclusive insurance deals, budget energy packages and limited broadband contracts are growing in popularity throughout the country, but is there anything else you can do to reduce your monthly outgoings?
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Before making any decisions though, your first port of call should be a price comparison site. With advice and guidance offered, as well as detailed information about the landline deals available, these sites can prove to be very useful.
Sue Johnson - About Author:
If you are looking for a low cost phone line, visit Homephone Choices. Their price comparison service allows you to compare available price plans and find out which providers will install your new phone line for free.
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subset: commoncrawl


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|2017-06-05 16:25:36 by Ryo ONODERA | Files touched by this commit (2298)
Log message: Recursive revbump from lang/perl5 5.26.0
|2016-06-08 21:25:20 by Thomas Klausner | Files touched by this commit (2236) |
Log message: Bump PKGREVISION for perl-5.24.
|2016-02-09 15:19:32 by Makoto Fujiwara | Files touched by this commit (2) |
Log message: Update to 1.406 --------------- 1.406 2014-05-13 - always use global kernel mount table (/proc/mounts), not the process mirror - add support for getting canonical device path - add support for package wide settings to tune Sys::Filesystem even when used indirectly
|2015-11-04 02:32:42 by Alistair G. Crooks | Files touched by this commit (499)
Log message: Add SHA512 digests for distfiles for sysutils category Problems found with existing digests: Package memconf distfile memconf-2.16/memconf.gz b6f4b736cac388dddc5070670351cf7262aba048 [recorded] 95748686a5ad8144232f4d4abc9bf052721a196f [calculated] Problems found locating distfiles: Package dc-tools: missing distfile dc-tools/abs0-dc-burn-netbsd-1.5-0-gae55ec9 Package ipw-firmware: missing distfile ipw2100-fw-1.2.tgz Package iwi-firmware: missing distfile ipw2200-fw-2.3.tgz Package nvnet: missing distfile nvnet-netbsd-src-20050620.tgz Package syslog-ng: missing distfile syslog-ng-3.7.2.tar.gz Otherwise, existing SHA1 digests verified and found to be the same on the machine holding the existing distfiles (morden). All existing SHA1 digests retained for now as an audit trail.
|2015-06-12 12:52:19 by Thomas Klausner | Files touched by this commit (3152)
Log message: Recursive PKGREVISION bump for all packages mentioning 'perl', having a PKGNAME of p5-*, or depending such a package, for perl-5.22.0.
|2014-10-09 16:07:17 by Thomas Klausner | Files touched by this commit (1163)
Log message: Remove pkgviews: don't set PKG_INSTALLATION_TYPES in Makefiles.
|2014-05-30 01:38:20 by Thomas Klausner | Files touched by this commit (3049)
Log message: Bump for perl-5.20.0. Do it for all packages that * mention perl, or * have a directory name starting with p5-*, or * depend on a package starting with p5- like last time, for 5.18, where this didn't lead to complaints. Let me know if you have any this time.
|2014-02-16 12:57:22 by Jens Rehsack | Files touched by this commit (3) |
Log message: Updating package for Perl5 module Sys::Filesystem from CPAN in sysutils/p5-Sys-Filesystem from 1.30nb5 to 1.405. pkgsrc changes: - remove upstream applied patches - switch back from Module::Build to ExtUtils::MakeMaker Upstream changes since 1.30: 1.405 2013-10-28 - Fix Mswin32 mounted/unmounted support (thanks to Christian "Mithaldu" Walde for remote testing support - skip format test in case of unmounted device (unmounted devices might or might not know in before the fstype) - clean up basic tests and BAIL_OUT when unsupported environment encountered 1.404 2013-10-26 - move to Makefile.PL in favour of developer reqs - change required perl version to 5.8.1 - rewrite core routines of Sys::Filesystem - don't search for Darwin tools in path, rely on some well known paths - general, minor code cleanup 1.403 2013-10-23 - Honor PATH_FSTAB in the environment on a NetBSD system if present (Thanks to email@example.com) - try improve error handling on Darwin to avoid smoke errors - be noisy about where we're running on during tests - remove runtime recommends for author tests - bump required version of Module::Pluggable to avoid blead whining - include p5-toolchain gang recommended way to declare developer dependencies - use proper indenting for Changes 1.402 2013-09-24 - remove Makefile.PL passthrough - don't prove whether Win32 is supported - we know it (should fix RT#88901 - thanks Michiel Beijen) - try to improve supported control - put Win32::DriveInfo into feature "Win32" (I'd like to get feedback whether it helps) 1.401 2013-09-08 - Fix MacOS X / Darwin without diskutil - Changes reformatted as per CPAN::Changes::Spec 1.400 2013-09-03 - Moving to GitHub for easier contributing - Pod typo / encoding fixes (rt#85898, rt#77699), thanks to Slaven ReziÃâ¡, Andreas J. König and Gregor Herrmann - Fix MacOS X 10.8 (diskutil vs. disktool) - Update requirements / recommendations - Fix AIX (rt#79188) - thanks to David Lee - Fix Solaris debug leftover (rt#72717) - thanks to Kenneth Ãâlwing - Fix Tests (rt#62248) - thanks to Daphne Pfister - Fix configure_requires (rt#62249) - thanks to Daphne Pfister


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Pace: 89 possessions (slow)
Offensive Efficiency: 118 points/100 possessions (league-leading)
Defensive Efficiency: 83 points allowed /100 possessions (league-leading)
Thoughts: Official recap; Philadunkia; Liberty Ballers; Depressed Fan
Some bullet points to tide you over until Brian Robb's Brendan Jackson's full recap:
• I'm going to say this with the appropriate caution and crossing of fingers/toes/knees/eyes: KG looked better tonight than he has in any game since that fateful February night in Utah. The stats certainly won't show it—he scored 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting and committed five of the C's (grossly high) 18 turnovers. But he is nearly there on defense. He was all over the place tonight, causing havoc in the way only he and a few others in NBA history ever have. On screen/rolls, he was hedging out to cut off the ball-handler's dribble penetration before his man even set a screen. He made those ball-handlers (mostly Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala) take pause and think about what they wanted to do with this maniac already prepping to guard them, and that pause allowed the C's back line players to take the first couple of steps on their rotations.
One on possession with about 9:55 left in the 3rd, KG roved around the top of the key in this manner and then managed to dive down and contest a Thaddeus Young jumper along the left baseline. Great stuff.
• Sheed's help defense was also on tonight. It's something we'll be monitoring carefully now that David Thorpe and others have brought it to our attention. Sheed was active tonight. And when he and KG are active defensively, this team is going to be very hard to score on inside.
• Boston: 14-20 from three. Yikes. This team is going to be so damn difficult to guard this season. When your second unit is running pick-and-pops with Ray Allen, Eddie House and Sheed, life is good. The bench scored 23 of Boston's 44 first half points on 9-14 shooting, including 5-6 from deep. Overall, the C's are 52-107 (49 percent) from deep in this young season. That's the 2nd-best mark in the NBA.
• Philly: 1-15 from three. C's opponents are now 22-86 (25.5 percent) from three this season, also the 2nd-best mark in the league. And they've already held one opponent to zero threes (Charlotte) and another to just one.
When you can hit threes and defend them, you're going to win a lot of games. That was the basic formula in Orlando (and to a lesser extent, Boston) last season.
• Is it some sort of Philly tradition to refuse to call Doc Rivers "Doc"? The announcers referred to him as "Glenn" Rivers all night, and it was clearly intentional. Deference to Doctor J?
Some more quick hits, after the jump.
• Marquis Daniels (6 points, 4 assists, 3 boards and a team high +31 in 28 minutes) is fitting in nicely. He hit two perimeter jumpers tonight, and if he can hit those jumpers with some consistency, he's going to be very dangerous. Teams aren't respecting Daniels' perimeter game when he plays off the ball, as he is doing at least half the time despite his nominal status as the back-up point forward. Iggy roved off of Marquis on those possessions which started with Marquis in one of the corners. This allowed Iggy to break up a Rondo-KG alley-hoop in the lane late in the 1st quarter.
But Marquis responded perfectly tonight, in two ways: 1) Hitting those open shots; 2) Pump-faking, driving baseline, drawing the defense and dishing to Sheed in the opposite corner. Good stuff from Marquis.
• I'll highlight this later in the Sweet section of Sweet and Sour plays, but we saw a bit of Paul Pierce at the point forward spot tonight with the second unit, and it worked beautifully.
• Rajon Rondo was too unselfish tonight in the first half. When he refuses to take open floaters, teams realize it and anticipate his dump off pass a split second earlier, which makes life more difficult for the big who receives that pass. Rondo was more aggressive in the 3rd quarter and knifed into the lane for two nice lay-ins on screen/rolls.
• Speaking of the second unit, Doc is using that double high post set we talked about in the pre-season much more often with the back-ups than with the starters. And that, too, is working nicely. Once the ball-handler passes to one of the guys in the high post, the C's initiate a series of cuts and screens designed to confuse the defense and create switches and open looks. It's working well.
• Shelden Williams was 2-of-4 on jump shots tonight. I saw him hit those jumpers. It happened. I may have to revise my "no jumpers unless the shot clock is winding down" rule for Shelden.
• That "Scal-a-brin-e!" chant in garbage time: The low point in recent Sixers basketball history?
• The Philly bench is just awful, other than Marreese Speights.
• Lester Hudson looked good in garbage time. It's too early to say things like "he could be a useful NBA player," but he could be a useful NBA player.
That's it for now. Watch for Brian's full recap later. The C's play the Baby C's tomorrow night in Minnesota.
Zach Lowe
Latest posts by Zach Lowe (see all)
- Breaking: The Celtics are Old - September 22, 2010
- Let the Ridiculous Mourning Officially Begin - September 21, 2010
- Erik Spoelstra and Rajon Rondo - September 20, 2010


text: Welcome to the website of the Santa Clara County Activists for Animals. We are a very active group right here in the South Bay! We host lots of different events and encourage everyone to come out. Whether you are looking for more information or wanting to get involved, we have the resources for you.


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SPOTTED: Rick Ross + Omarion & MMG x PAISLEE "Bolted" Snapback Cap Preview [Video]
Posted by Maui, April 23rd, 2013 07:04 am under Music, Preview, Video
Yesterday Officer Ricky and Omarion released a new video for Ross' single "Ice Cold." Unexpectedly, the MMG x PAISLEE "Bolted" snapback cap made an appearance. We prevously featured the cap here on OSB several times. Check out the details here. Does this mean we'll get the cap for ourselves soon? Stay tuned.


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Europe › United Kingdom › England › Chester › Chester Hotels
Ramada Inn Chester
Whitchurch Rd., Chester, United Kingdom
Check Chester Hotel Deals
Ramada Inn Chester Reviews
837 reviews
Ramada Inn, Chester Jun 08, 2005
After a long day of more walking than usual, this was our hotel in Chester. The room seemed a little smaller than most that we have stayed in on our tours, but that didn't seem to matter to us very much. It did include all of the usual amenities of a three or four star hotel. Cleanliness was fine and although not new most things didn't look too worn. Dinner was excellent and allowed us to try a couple of new things and the dinning room was large and pleasant. I would recommend this hotel and stay at it again.
Part of the Spring 2005 travel blog
Part of the list The Hotels I have used or at least fallen into
Join TravBuddy to leave comments, meet new friends and share travel tips!


text:
Re:Any and All Bements
In reply to:
Re:Any and All Bements
Spencer BeMent 12/09/98
I live in Leicestershire England and am looking for anyone with the name Bemment in lowestoft who may be related to George Walter Ernest Bemment,father George, mother Edith.
George Arthur Bemment
d.o.b ?
place, Lowestoft, Suffolk,England


text:
In an effort to be inclusive, one of my goals with this blog has been to include as many musical genres as possible. But it's tough to fight your own biases, and I had long ago resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never be able to tag a post as "country".
Imagine my delight, then, when Wikipedia informed me that Canada's Good Lovelies, who I'd always thought of as pretty folky, were officially classified as country! (Well, actually it was folk slash country, but I'll take it.)
With a devoted following, a Juno award, and harmonies tighter than jeans at a cowboy convention, the Good Lovelies are just the perfect thing to break the genre barrier here at BSOTW.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. The humming at the beginning. Right away, the song sounds as cozy as a crackling fireplace.
2. I love that in the chorus, on beat two of every bar, they throw a subtle little handclap into the mix. Never before have handclaps been so relaxing. It kind of reminds me of the big second beat in the chorus of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer".
3. The big "oh oh ohs" that take the song home, starting at 2:30. If this is what country is becoming, I'm going to need some new boots.
Recommended listening activity:
Leaving the porch light on for someone who isn't home yet.


text:
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To sign up for a PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience, you must be at least 10 years old. No prior experience with scuba diving is necessary, but you need to be in reasonable physical health and able to swim. Classes are only available on certain dates and registration prior to the experience is required.
Instructions For Groupon
1) Pick up a registration package from Coral Reef Dive Shop. You must fill out the paper work in the package to be able to participate. Classes are only available on scheduled days.
2) Make sure to bring your bathing suit and a towel.


text:
The Twins avoided arbitration with relief pitchers Brian Duensing and Anthony Swarzak, agreeing Friday to 2014 salaries of $2 million and $935,000, respectively.
Duensing, who turns 31 next month, was a Twins third-round draft pick in 2005. In his first full season as a reliever, he worked 61 innings with a 3.98 earned-run average. His 73 outings led all lefty relievers in the American League.
Duensing made $1.3 million last season, his first year of arbitration eligibility. He receives a 77 percent raise by avoiding arbitration.
Swarzak, 28, led the major leagues with 96 relief innings last season. The right-handed long reliever posted a 2.91 ERA in 48 appearances. If Swarzak makes at least 10 starts this season, he will earn a $25,000 bonus.
Earlier Friday, the Twins avoided arbitration with third baseman Trevor Plouffe, agreeing to a $2.35 million contract for 2014.
In all, their three-member 2014 arbitration class agreed to contracts totaling $5.285 million. That gives the Twins 12 players under contract for $76.27 million.
A second-round draft pick by the Twins in 2004, Swarzak made $502,500 last season, barely over the major league minimum.
Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Josh Collmenter, who led the National League with 92 relief innings last season, signed a two-year, $2.45 million contract to avoid arbitration on Wednesday. Collmenter's deal can be worth up to $6.5 million over four years, but the Twins showed little interest in locking up Swarzak for multiple years.
Collmenter posted a 3.13 ERA in 49 outings.
Follow Mike Berardino at twitter.com/MikeBerardino.


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WASHINGTON — Charities and nonprofit organizations worry that new limits on tax deductions for high earners will hurt donations just as charitable giving is rebounding from the depths of the recession.
Experts doubt the new limits on deductions will have much impact on giving, but some major nonprofit organizations fear they're a sign that the charitable deduction is no longer sacrosanct on Capitol Hill, just as Congress is promising a broader effort this year to overhaul the tax code.
The limits on deductions are part of the new tax law Congress passed on New Year's Day. They reduce the value of all itemized deductions for individuals making more than $250,000 and married couples making more than $300,000. Advocates are concerned the limits will reduce the tax incentive for people to make donations to charities and nonprofits such as religious institutions, colleges and groups that help the poor.
"The charitable deduction incentive is different than any other deduction or credit in the tax code," said Sandra Swirski, executive director of the Alliance for Charitable Reform, which lobbies on behalf of donors and private foundations.
That's because the deduction encourages people to give away income, while other deductions and credits encourage people to buy things they can then write off, she noted.
Charitable giving in the U.S. increased in 2010 and 2011, according to the latest data. But it has yet to fully return to pre-recession levels, according to data from the Giving USA Foundation and the Indiana University School of Philanthropy.
The new tax provision reduces the amount of itemized deductions a taxpayer can claim by 3 cents for every dollar of income above the threshold. For example, if a married couple has an adjusted gross income of $400,000, that's $100,000 above the threshold, so the itemized deductions would be reduced by $3,000.
The provision is a revival of the "Pease" limitation, enacted in 1990 but phased out in 2010 as part of the massive package of Bush-era tax cuts.
Experts say there is no evidence that the limitation reduced charitable giving in the past, and no reason to think it will have much of an impact going forward. Charitable giving steadily increased in the 1990s, when the economy flourished.


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Christina Aguilera threw a star-studded birthday party for her son Max, basing the event on classic children's tale "Where the Wild Things Are."
The singer and her husband Jordan Bratman hosted the event at their Beverly Hills, Calif., home on January 17 to celebrate their son turning 1 earlier that week, according to People.com.
The party, which was full of costumed mythical characters from the book and decorated with festive blue, green and pink balloons, was attended by 40 guests, including Aguilera's friend Nicole Richie and her boyfriend Joel Madden.
The couple welcomed their own daughter, Harlow, a day before Aguilera gave birth to Max at the same Los Angeles hospital.


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The Spring Training Statistics of the 5 4 guys battling for the 5th spot in the rotation (in order of least to most likely to win the job):
Chad Gaudin– Waived
0-3 (W-L) 8.68 ERA 4 GP 2 GS 9.1 IP 16 Hits 10 R 9 ER 2 HR 5 BB 5 K
Career as Starter: 21-28 (W-L) 4.72 ERA
Looks like Gaudin may have played himself right off the Yankees roster. **On Tuesday Gaudin was waived by the Yankees if he does not wish to play in AAA he can just become a free agent.**
Sergio Mitre
0-0 (W-L) 3.21 ERA 4 GP 2 GS 14.0 IP 9 Hits 5 R 5 ER 1 HR 3 BB 14 K
Career as Starter: 13-23 (W-L) 5.47 ERA
Expectations are either Mitre or Gaudin will be traded. It is possible Gaudin played himself right off the team, but also possible Mitre has hurt his chances of staying with the Yanks by having a strong spring.
Alfredo Aceves
1-1 (W-L) 3.77 ERA 4 GP 2 GS 14.1 IP 5 Hits 6 R 6 ER 1 HR 1 BB 2 K
Career as Starter: 1-0 (W-L) 3.42 ERA (5 Starts)
Aceves is probably undoubtedly the most deserving to win the 5th starter job based on his spring performances, but lets be real it's just not going to happen. Although this should help his case to get some important innings during the season. **Well so much for his almost perfect spring, after having a strong 1st 3 innings yesterday Alfredo was rocked for 5 ER against the Astros.**
Phil Hughes
0-2 (W-L) 4.15 ERA 4 GP 1 GS 13.0 IP 12 Hits 6 R 6 ER 5 HR 2 BB 10 K
Career as Starter: 8-9 (W-L) 5.22 ERA
Hughes has impressed in the Spring working on his pitches, and he put it all together with a phenomenal 4 IP performance closing the game against Houston on 3/16. Hughes was putting together a strong performance against the Phils on 3/22 but gave up 3 HR including a 2-Run walk off shot.
Joba Chamberlain
0-0 (W-L) 16.20 ERA 3 GP 1 GS 6.2 IP 10 Hits 12 R 12 ER 1 HR 7 BB 5 K
Career as Starter: 12-7 (W-L) 4.18 ERA
If you're a fan who only looks at the stats and doesn't follow exactly what is happening I know your probably saying "ouch", but lets not throw Chamberlain in single A just yet. His velocity looks good considering it is so early and not perfect conditions for a power arm (Sabathia has an ERA over 8.00) plus it is still only spring. The concern is he is fighting for a spot in the rotation and his numbers don't reflect a guy who has been given a huge opportunity. He pitched against Yankee hitters in an intrasquad game on 3/22 going 5 IP allowing 2 ER.
My overall outlook is this is still a two man race between Hughes and Chamberlain, and has been the whole time, but don't let the numbers fool you. I still get the gut feeling the Yankees will start the season with Joba in the starting rotation and then they will take it from there. They have put a lot of time into making Joba a starter, and putting him in the bullpen now would just be a huge setback. I am not against having one of them in the starting rotation then putting one in AAA since I see them both as starters in the long run, but I'd rather them both see major league batters. The sooner a decision the better so neither guy gets led on, and that way you fans will not have to read us bloggers discuss this issue ever again!
Update (3/22): Many have been saying it is now Hughes job to lose, but after his performance against the Phillies you have to wonder if anyone wants the job. Sure he struck out 6 but 3 HR in only 4.1 IP is worrisome, and the HRs were not the only hard hit balls off Hughes. Without a knockout blow yet it seems like this fight is going to a decision.
Update (3/23): With Gaudin being waived there are only 4 guys left in contention for the 5th starter job. The most likely outcome seems Hughes will wind up 5th starter with the other 3 men in the bullpen. In my opinion IF Hughes is named the 5th starter Joba would benefit more from starting in AAA. My opinion is Joba should be 5th starter with Aceves and Hughes in the bullpen while Mitre also moves to AAA and Boone Logan sticks with the team as a 2nd lefty in the bullpen.
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