Back to the 30’s: National Socialist and Republican Discourse part 5

By Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Part 5: Attacking Atheists and Defending Traditional Values. This is the fifth and final installment of a detailed examination of the parallels between the Nazi movement in Germany and the new Republican methodology since the election of Obama. Also see parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.

“The Other” in National Socialist and Republican Discourse – Atheists

Atheism is another bogeyman in the Republican fear & hate paradigm; their abhorrence for atheism is well known and attested. We hear about the evils of atheism almost every day from the Conservative propaganda organs. We have already seen how atheists, as well as liberals and feminists, were responsible for 9/11. In Godless: The Church of Liberalism (2006), we learn from Ann Coulter than liberals are atheists.¹ We’ve seen that the Conservapedia agrees.

Hitler also hated atheists. He spoke out against them frequently. He was himself a Catholic.² His voters were Christians – Protestants and Catholics.

Hitler March 23, 1933 Berlin: “The advantages of a personal and political nature that might arise from compromising with atheistic organizations would not outweigh the consequences which would become apparent in the destruction of general moral basic values.”

Adolf Hitler, Speech in Berlin, February 23, 1933: “A campaign against the “godless movement” and an appeal for Catholic support were launched Wednesday by Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s forces. They struck at two of his formidable opponents in the March 5 elections, the first at communists and the latter at the allied Catholic parties.”

³

Hitler March 23 1933 Berlin: “The Government, being resolved to undertake the political and moral purification of our public life, is creating and securing the conditions necessary for a really profound revival of religious life.”

Hitler, October 24, 1933: “We were convinced that the people need and require 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.”

As a final comparison, Republican dislike for “secular” schools is well-attested. As it happens, Hitler spoke out against secular schools too:

Hitler, April 26, 1933, during negotiations leading to the Nazi-Vatican Concordant: “Secular schools can never be tolerated because such schools have no religious instruction, and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all character training and religion must be derived from faith …we need believing people.”

German/American Values and Value Voters

Republicans speak often of the threat posed to “traditional values” by liberalism. Hitler saw the same threat, and Republican discourse again echoes National Socialist discourse.

Hitler, January 27, 1932 Dusseldorf: Hitler spoke of “the destruction of a people’s true values.” This is the same sort of thing we see spoken of on the right, an appeal to emotion, to fear of loss.

Hitler April 1 1939, Wilhemshaven: “Thus we began the gigantic work of rebuilding based upon the confidence of the nation, instilled with the belief and the confidence in its eternal values.”

Limbaugh September 30, 2009, The Rush Limbaugh Show: “We’re dealing with a guy who is out to destroy the whole concept of the West, Western civilization”

For Hitler, we had “German values”. The Republicans speak of “American values” using much the same language. In both cases, the Jews/Liberals are out to destroy German/American values, and with it, Western Civilization.

For an example of how important the subject of values is to the Right-wing you need only to look as far as the “Value Voters Summit” held every year and sponsored by the ultra-Right wing FRC (Family Research Council) This is the brain-child of Tony Perkins and sponsored by FRCAction, “The legislative action arm of the Family Research Council” (and doesn’t that phrasing even sound Nazi-ish to you?).⁴

Nobody wants to clean up America like the National Socialists…I mean, the Republicans. Any one of Hitler’s speeches on the subject of values and morality and his opposition to the depravity of the Left would have fit right in at the Value Voters Summit. Just look at some of the speeches for 2009:

• SPEECHLESS – SILENCING THE CHRISTIANS

• THUGOCRACY – FIGHTING THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY

• THE THREAT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

• MARRIAGE: WHY IT’S WORTH DEFENDING AND HOW REDEFINING IT THREATENS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

• TURNING THE TIDE IN YOUR GENERATION

Some of these are made-for-Hitler speech moments. Hitler, too, defended the Christians against the nasty secularists and atheists, as you have seen here. And the vast left wing conspiracy is no different from Hitler’s “vast Jewish conspiracy” (again, Jews=liberals=communists). Hitler also defended marriage, made himself a champion of marriage, and Hitler was all about “turning the tide.” Read his speeches. Remember his proclamation of February 1, 1933 quoted above. See for yourself.

Conclusions

The similarities between National Socialist and Republican discourse are quite clear and unequivocal. Hitler, like the Republicans, opposed immorality, atheism, liberalism, and communism. He supported the same things the Republican support. And he did so in the same language. The rhetoric is unmistakable. It is full of hate and intolerance for those who oppose the Right-wing agenda. If there is anything that sets National Socialist and Republican discourse apart, it is that Hitler, perhaps, was a bit more intellectually honest than his Republican ideological dependents.

APPENDIX:

If you take any of Ann Coulter’s titles and substitute “Jew” or communist for liberal, you have a book that could have been written by a Nazi:

Guilty: Jewish “Victims” and Their Assault on Germany

If Communists Had Any Brains, They’d Be National Socialists

How to Talk to a Jew (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter

Godless: The Church of Communism

Slander: Jewish Lies About National Socialism

We can add a couple of Sean Hannity books to the list:

Deliver Us From Evil: Defeating Terrorism, Despotism, and Judaism

Let Freedom Ring: Winning the War of Liberty Against Judaism

Sources: