Jesus vs. Hitler: Responding to accusations made by Jedi Mind Tricks
A Christian Resistance
One of the darkest times in our modern history is without equivocation, Hitler's campaign of terror and murder known as the Holocaust. A blog consisting of online articles being copied and pasted by Jedi Mind Tricks suggests that Christianity itself was responsible for this atrocity. I find it amazing that such a disregard for history and for the teachings of Jesus, whom they say they love, would come to the public so candidly; For to have such an ignorance should be an embarrassment to their entire organization. There was in fact a powerful resistance against Hitler and his regime. This resistance funded underground escape plans (much like the underground railroad, which was also a Christian project), produced political pamphlets and staged protest, founded anti nazi schools and even plotted assassination attempts on Hitler. This resistance was made up primarily of Christian men and women.
One example of such a Christian was a man named Dietrich Bonehoffer. Though his father (Karl Bonehoffer) was a philosopher, Dietrich decided at an early age to enter into the Christian ministry. After traveling abroad for some years he returned to his Germany to find it in Nazi hands. He joined with Christian scholars like Karl Barth and Martin Niemoller to establish the Confessing Church, a church devoted to the destruction of the Nazi regime! Bonehoffer headed up the seminary started by the Confessing Church, a school for those pastors and ministers made illegal by the government for speaking and acting against the Nazis and Hitler. In 1939 he joined a group of high-ranking officers and military intelligence in a plot to overthrow the nationalist regime by killing Hitler, this plot failed. He was arrested in 1943 when money used to help Jews escape Switzerland was traced to him. He was executed at Flossenburg, a concentration camp just three days before the liberation of the city.
Hitler's Religion
Hitler believed in a syncretistic religion of Catholicism and Darwinian Evolution. He believed that the human race was originally two races, a white pure and good race, and a dark barbaric evil race. These two races warred against each other and eventually the dark race was able to mate with the white race and thus pollute the "true humanity". This is NOT at all Christianity, and that at least is obvious.
Hitler was a super villain in that he was intelligent enough to take over an entire government and persuade a nation of people. One tactic used was to pose as a "Christian". With nearly his entire populace confessing to be such this made sense. Many who followed the true philosophy of Jesus were never convinced by Hitler and in fact stood against him; the Confessing Church mentioned above is only one such example.
Christianity vs. Secular Humanism
Jedi Mind Tricks attempts to blame Christianity for the holocaust, or at least copy and paste online articles that do so. It is under the oppressive reign of secular humanism however that millions in our century have been slaughtered whether it is through the "progressive" plan of Stalin's "collectivization of agriculture" or Mao's policies responsible for the deaths of 30 million. The problem of oppression in American Samoa as exposed by the Jedi Mind Tricks track 'Shadow Business' is but one consequence of secular humanism. Hitler was like his peers: a tyrannical leader with a secular humanist vision of the world.
The Christian philosophy is responsible for freedom and liberation. Jesus himself talked at great length with his disciples and audiences concerning political oppression. He taught how to deal with great tyranny, how to strip the weapon of de-humanization from Rome's arsenal. Ghandi credited Jesus with his methods for dealing with British oppression. Closer to us, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. entered his campaign against racism and injustice due to his conviction that the philosophy of Jesus must prevail against the evil of his day. Hitler and Jesus, far from being together whatsoever in thought and practice, have become the figureheads in our day of opposing forces and kingdoms. Hitler of the Kingdom of evil and death, Jesus as the head of the New World marked by justice and life.
Jedi Straw Men
As a Hiphop artist and a fan of Jedi Mind Tricks I am bewildered as to why Jedi has such hostility against Christianity. I have read their recent blog, 'Jedi Mind Tricks vs. Christianity?' and this work fails to explain or answer any questions. In this blog they say it is because of the right wing oppressors in our culture who claim to be Christians and indeed even use his name to attempt to justify their wrong doings. This way of dealing with tyranny is not effective however because they are building a straw man and simply attacking their own creation. So they neither deal actually with those who agitate them (right wing religionist) and they do not in any way critique the philosophy of Jesus. Jedi Mind demonstrates a grave lack of understanding historically, as demonstrated above. The "Christianity" discussed by them simply does not exist.
Recently Jedi released a blog containing ten reasons why "Christianity" is a fraud or invalid or whatever. Not one of these ten reasons was an actual portrayal of Christianity, but ten parts to a shadow Christianity built by Jedi so that they could break it down and pat themselves on the back and even get props from fans for doing what no one has succeeded in doing in two thousand years, killing Jesus and his movement. Though the straw man lay lifeless, at least until it is resurrected by Jedi the next time they feel the urge to critique "Christianity", Jesus and his movement still remain alive and well.
Authentic Christianity
In order to understand Christianity one must look to its leader, Jesus of Nazareth. What did he say and do? What was his philosophy? What did he think concerning himself and his vocation? Who are his people?
In the beginning…
In Genesis is recorded the early history of humanity and Israel. It was written to a people raised as slaves in the Egyptian culture who needed to be reminded and retaught about the one true God and his purpose for making them his chosen people. It tells of the creation of the world by the one true God, contrary to the Egyptian myths, and of the exile of humanity from the Garden due to disobedience. It is this theme, the exile of humanity, which lays central in the story of Hebrew scripture.
Abraham was selected by God to be the father of a chosen nation. This nation, later to be called the nation of Israel, was to be given a special relationship with the creator. They were to have the very word of God (the prophets) and true worship (Temple) and their purpose, like a light on a hill, was to be the nation through which all the other nations would see and worship Yahweh, the one true God, and thus be restored from the exile pronounced on them through their common parents (Gen. 3, 12 & 15).
The political atmosphere
There was a problem however with using Israel to bring about the restoration of humanity from exile: Israel was sinful and in exile too, just like the rest of humanity! This is why Israel fell into exile under Babylon; they could not remain faithful to their God who called them. From Babylon to Assyria to Rome, Israel up to the Second Temple period (the time of Jesus) remained under the oppressive control of a pagan nation.
Jesus grew up in an air reeking with the scent of rebellion. Many had come before and after Jesus claiming to be the one to lead Israel against her enemies and again restore her to political autonomy. Jesus had a radical and different plan from all others however. He understood that the main issue wasn't Israel's oppression under Rome, though he hated this, it was the exile that all of humanity was victim to since the entrance of evil into the world. Rome, Greece, China, all nations and peoples were in need of restoration and reconciliation with the one true God. Indeed Israel's exile shadowed that of all of humanity.
This understanding explains the why Jesus employed the methods he did. He was not only here to free Israel from political tyranny; he was here to break the power and rule of evil in the world. To repay evil with evil, or rather to react to evil with evil is not how one defeats evil, in fact such a habit perpetuates it. If anyone was to overcome evil it had to be with love and freedom.
Cosmic solution: A New World
Jesus went to a Roman Cross in order to set humanity free from evil and death. His willing death was more than a sacrifice out of protest; it was the solution to the cosmic problem of evil. Facing evil and its penalty, death, allowing them to do their worst to him he exhausted them. Taking upon himself the wrath of a just and holy God for the sake of his people, he delivered them from destruction.
Hence it follows in Christian doctrine that at his resurrection Jesus inaugurated a new world. This world is antithetical to the world of corruption and evil. It has life and freedom as its badge rather than death and oppression. All who have faith in the Jewish Messiah as not only a deliverer for Israel, but as the savior of humanity, will find themselves citizens of this great new world, the world of resurrection. Indeed, all who believe in Jesus have their identity in him and are therefore the new Israel; and this Israel will never experience exile.
Being citizens of the new kingdom established by Jesus, Christians are the means through which his kingdom expands and conquers the old. This is possible because Jesus has sent them his Spirit and power. Jesus was the new temple of God, his people as well serve as the dwelling place for the God's Spirit. This means they have the same power of resurrection: like Jesus, his people are to stand against evil and exhaust it.
Conclusion
Jesus taught and demonstrated that military might and violence is not able to usher in his kingdom, for these are things of the old world. There is absolutely nothing within the authentic philosophical system of Christianity that could justify the Holocaust; in fact, Christianity has the responsibility to stand against such evil and atrocities and will be the power to end them once and for all and it has been demonstrated that when it is applied freedom and life result. It is impossible that Jesus could have anything to do with the system of thought that influenced Hitler. It is plausible however that the prevailing secular humanism of his day and ours served as the foundation for his crimes.
The Holocaust is but one of the events in our recent history that should alarm us as to the disasters which await the old world of sin and death. It is only in the Kingdom of God headed by Jesus that any can find refuge from such heinousness.
One of the darkest times in our modern history is without equivocation, Hitler's campaign of terror and murder known as the Holocaust. A blog consisting of online articles being copied and pasted by Jedi Mind Tricks suggests that Christianity itself was responsible for this atrocity. I find it amazing that such a disregard for history and for the teachings of Jesus, whom they say they love, would come to the public so candidly; For to have such an ignorance should be an embarrassment to their entire organization. There was in fact a powerful resistance against Hitler and his regime. This resistance funded underground escape plans (much like the underground railroad, which was also a Christian project), produced political pamphlets and staged protest, founded anti nazi schools and even plotted assassination attempts on Hitler. This resistance was made up primarily of Christian men and women.
One example of such a Christian was a man named Dietrich Bonehoffer. Though his father (Karl Bonehoffer) was a philosopher, Dietrich decided at an early age to enter into the Christian ministry. After traveling abroad for some years he returned to his Germany to find it in Nazi hands. He joined with Christian scholars like Karl Barth and Martin Niemoller to establish the Confessing Church, a church devoted to the destruction of the Nazi regime! Bonehoffer headed up the seminary started by the Confessing Church, a school for those pastors and ministers made illegal by the government for speaking and acting against the Nazis and Hitler. In 1939 he joined a group of high-ranking officers and military intelligence in a plot to overthrow the nationalist regime by killing Hitler, this plot failed. He was arrested in 1943 when money used to help Jews escape Switzerland was traced to him. He was executed at Flossenburg, a concentration camp just three days before the liberation of the city.
Hitler's Religion
Hitler believed in a syncretistic religion of Catholicism and Darwinian Evolution. He believed that the human race was originally two races, a white pure and good race, and a dark barbaric evil race. These two races warred against each other and eventually the dark race was able to mate with the white race and thus pollute the "true humanity". This is NOT at all Christianity, and that at least is obvious.
Hitler was a super villain in that he was intelligent enough to take over an entire government and persuade a nation of people. One tactic used was to pose as a "Christian". With nearly his entire populace confessing to be such this made sense. Many who followed the true philosophy of Jesus were never convinced by Hitler and in fact stood against him; the Confessing Church mentioned above is only one such example.
Christianity vs. Secular Humanism
Jedi Mind Tricks attempts to blame Christianity for the holocaust, or at least copy and paste online articles that do so. It is under the oppressive reign of secular humanism however that millions in our century have been slaughtered whether it is through the "progressive" plan of Stalin's "collectivization of agriculture" or Mao's policies responsible for the deaths of 30 million. The problem of oppression in American Samoa as exposed by the Jedi Mind Tricks track 'Shadow Business' is but one consequence of secular humanism. Hitler was like his peers: a tyrannical leader with a secular humanist vision of the world.
The Christian philosophy is responsible for freedom and liberation. Jesus himself talked at great length with his disciples and audiences concerning political oppression. He taught how to deal with great tyranny, how to strip the weapon of de-humanization from Rome's arsenal. Ghandi credited Jesus with his methods for dealing with British oppression. Closer to us, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. entered his campaign against racism and injustice due to his conviction that the philosophy of Jesus must prevail against the evil of his day. Hitler and Jesus, far from being together whatsoever in thought and practice, have become the figureheads in our day of opposing forces and kingdoms. Hitler of the Kingdom of evil and death, Jesus as the head of the New World marked by justice and life.
Jedi Straw Men
As a Hiphop artist and a fan of Jedi Mind Tricks I am bewildered as to why Jedi has such hostility against Christianity. I have read their recent blog, 'Jedi Mind Tricks vs. Christianity?' and this work fails to explain or answer any questions. In this blog they say it is because of the right wing oppressors in our culture who claim to be Christians and indeed even use his name to attempt to justify their wrong doings. This way of dealing with tyranny is not effective however because they are building a straw man and simply attacking their own creation. So they neither deal actually with those who agitate them (right wing religionist) and they do not in any way critique the philosophy of Jesus. Jedi Mind demonstrates a grave lack of understanding historically, as demonstrated above. The "Christianity" discussed by them simply does not exist.
Recently Jedi released a blog containing ten reasons why "Christianity" is a fraud or invalid or whatever. Not one of these ten reasons was an actual portrayal of Christianity, but ten parts to a shadow Christianity built by Jedi so that they could break it down and pat themselves on the back and even get props from fans for doing what no one has succeeded in doing in two thousand years, killing Jesus and his movement. Though the straw man lay lifeless, at least until it is resurrected by Jedi the next time they feel the urge to critique "Christianity", Jesus and his movement still remain alive and well.
Authentic Christianity
In order to understand Christianity one must look to its leader, Jesus of Nazareth. What did he say and do? What was his philosophy? What did he think concerning himself and his vocation? Who are his people?
In the beginning…
In Genesis is recorded the early history of humanity and Israel. It was written to a people raised as slaves in the Egyptian culture who needed to be reminded and retaught about the one true God and his purpose for making them his chosen people. It tells of the creation of the world by the one true God, contrary to the Egyptian myths, and of the exile of humanity from the Garden due to disobedience. It is this theme, the exile of humanity, which lays central in the story of Hebrew scripture.
Abraham was selected by God to be the father of a chosen nation. This nation, later to be called the nation of Israel, was to be given a special relationship with the creator. They were to have the very word of God (the prophets) and true worship (Temple) and their purpose, like a light on a hill, was to be the nation through which all the other nations would see and worship Yahweh, the one true God, and thus be restored from the exile pronounced on them through their common parents (Gen. 3, 12 & 15).
The political atmosphere
There was a problem however with using Israel to bring about the restoration of humanity from exile: Israel was sinful and in exile too, just like the rest of humanity! This is why Israel fell into exile under Babylon; they could not remain faithful to their God who called them. From Babylon to Assyria to Rome, Israel up to the Second Temple period (the time of Jesus) remained under the oppressive control of a pagan nation.
Jesus grew up in an air reeking with the scent of rebellion. Many had come before and after Jesus claiming to be the one to lead Israel against her enemies and again restore her to political autonomy. Jesus had a radical and different plan from all others however. He understood that the main issue wasn't Israel's oppression under Rome, though he hated this, it was the exile that all of humanity was victim to since the entrance of evil into the world. Rome, Greece, China, all nations and peoples were in need of restoration and reconciliation with the one true God. Indeed Israel's exile shadowed that of all of humanity.
This understanding explains the why Jesus employed the methods he did. He was not only here to free Israel from political tyranny; he was here to break the power and rule of evil in the world. To repay evil with evil, or rather to react to evil with evil is not how one defeats evil, in fact such a habit perpetuates it. If anyone was to overcome evil it had to be with love and freedom.
Cosmic solution: A New World
Jesus went to a Roman Cross in order to set humanity free from evil and death. His willing death was more than a sacrifice out of protest; it was the solution to the cosmic problem of evil. Facing evil and its penalty, death, allowing them to do their worst to him he exhausted them. Taking upon himself the wrath of a just and holy God for the sake of his people, he delivered them from destruction.
Hence it follows in Christian doctrine that at his resurrection Jesus inaugurated a new world. This world is antithetical to the world of corruption and evil. It has life and freedom as its badge rather than death and oppression. All who have faith in the Jewish Messiah as not only a deliverer for Israel, but as the savior of humanity, will find themselves citizens of this great new world, the world of resurrection. Indeed, all who believe in Jesus have their identity in him and are therefore the new Israel; and this Israel will never experience exile.
Being citizens of the new kingdom established by Jesus, Christians are the means through which his kingdom expands and conquers the old. This is possible because Jesus has sent them his Spirit and power. Jesus was the new temple of God, his people as well serve as the dwelling place for the God's Spirit. This means they have the same power of resurrection: like Jesus, his people are to stand against evil and exhaust it.
Conclusion
Jesus taught and demonstrated that military might and violence is not able to usher in his kingdom, for these are things of the old world. There is absolutely nothing within the authentic philosophical system of Christianity that could justify the Holocaust; in fact, Christianity has the responsibility to stand against such evil and atrocities and will be the power to end them once and for all and it has been demonstrated that when it is applied freedom and life result. It is impossible that Jesus could have anything to do with the system of thought that influenced Hitler. It is plausible however that the prevailing secular humanism of his day and ours served as the foundation for his crimes.
The Holocaust is but one of the events in our recent history that should alarm us as to the disasters which await the old world of sin and death. It is only in the Kingdom of God headed by Jesus that any can find refuge from such heinousness.
posted by John Howell at 12:16 PM
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