What Hitler Knew

"Here are two official slogans or mottos. As I rehearse them for you, ask yourself where these originated.

•'Politics do not belong in the church.'

•'The church must be separate from the state.'

"These mottos did not come from the ACLU, nor from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, nor from the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

"No, these slogans, word for word, came directly from the mind of Adolph Hitler.

"These were official slogans of the Nazi Party, adopted in the mid-1930s and relentlessly hammered into the minds of the compliant German population by the Nazi propaganda machine.

"In essence, what Hitler said to German pastors was this: 'I don’t care what you teach your congregations, as long as you don’t talk about politics, and as long as you keep your voice inside the four walls of your churches.'

"Why did Hitler do this? For one simple reason. He knew that the only force in Germany which could keep him from fulfilling his totalitarian ambitions was the church of Jesus Christ. He knew that if could not silence the voice of the church, he could not exercise total domination over the German people.

"He also knew that if he could silence the voice of the church, nothing could stand in his way."