Why the defining moment of modern evil was actually a secular event
In short: We often use Nazism as the ultimate yardstick for evil, but the realization of its true horror did not come from religious doctrine. Professor Alec Ryrie explores how Europe's primary religious communities failed to define this evil, leading to a profound shift in how modern civilization understands morality.
While Nazism is often viewed through a religious lens, Professor Alec Ryrie argues it was not a Christian movement in any meaningful sense. Although the Nazi party was formally committed to 'positive Christianity' from its 1920 formation, this was a slippery concept defined primarily by its opposition to individualism and the 'Jewish-materialistic spirit.' Rather than worshipping a traditional god, the regime found spiritual meaning in the purity of the Aryan race, with the Nazi state serving as its highest expression.
The relationship between the regime and the church was complex and characterized by both collaboration and failed resistance. Many German Protestants in the 1920s and 1930s voted for the Nazi party, hoping to use it to further their own interests. This led to the 'German Christian' movement, which attempted to create a 'dejudaised' version of Christianity compatible with an Aryan utochia. Even the 'Confessing Church,' which is often remembered as anti-Nazi, engaged in various forms of illicit collaboration with the regime.
Adolf Hitler himself maintained a contradictory stance toward religion. While he never formally renounced his childhood Catholicism, he was vehemently anti-clerical and privately dismissed Christianity as a 'fairy story' and a Jewish-Communist conspiracy. He also rejected atheism and mocked Nazi attempts to revive Nordic paganism. Ultimately, the failure of religious institutions to identify the regime's evil meant that the mapping of modern morality became an essentially secular endeavor, a key shift in the history of Western religion.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Two Kingdoms in the Third Reich - Professor Alec Ryrie
- Also: Two Kingdoms in the Third Reich
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