Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Making Germany great again?


To use modern terminology, when Hitler came on the scene in Germany in 1933, he promised to make Germany great again.  This was an appealing promise for Germans because they, a proud nation, had lost WWI, and were humiliated in the Peace Treaty.  So, when Hitler promised to make Germany great again, most Germans, including most Christian Germans, believed what he was saying.  But of course at first, Hitler did not say this did not include the Jews.  So the question has to be asked, "Making Germany great again?" for whom?  It was only for those who were pure German.

In a devotional entitled, "Spiritual Fathers", historian Richard Pierard, pens a devotional titled, "Choosing the Hard Path".  He writes about the German churches' early approval of Hitler's agenda:

"Most Germans welcomed Adolf Hitler's appointment as German chancellor on January 30, 1933.  Few were more jubilant than Protestant church leaders, one of whom declared, "The swastika flags around the altar radiate hope."  The Protestant press in 1933 was full of editorials affirming that Germany's honor would be vindicated.  The humiliation of the lost world war would be left behind.  Old moral values of authority, family, home, and church would be restored.  The stagnant economy would move once again."

Compare this quotation with the advertisement in the June, 2018 Christianity Today titled, "Reclaiming Jesus" signed by twenty-one Christian leaders such as, John Perkins,
Barbara Williams-Skinner, Tony Campolo, Ron Sider and Jim Wallace.
Their opening paragraph reads:

"We are living through perilous and polarizing times as a nation, with a dangerous crisis for moral and political leadership at the highest levels of our government and in our churches.  We believe the soul of the nation and the integrity of faith are now at stake."

I agree with the six statements of belief and rejection that follow. I would add one more statement of  belief and rejection:
1. The kingdom of God is all about justice--a Jubilee type justice that releases the oppressed.
2. We reject the heresy that America should be ruled by rich, white males, that 10 percent of America's population should oppress and exploit the other 90 percent of our population.

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