So this has nothing to do with being rational?  Judging from your response, it seems like you are holding something back.  Why hate Christians, when you know religion in general is the same across the board, being both moderate and extreme, tolerant and intolerant?  And why hate religion when you know the religion feeds off of ideologies (like atheist Stalin's), which are the product of social reactions to the greater culture?  And why hate culture when it is made up of individuals just like you?  Of course, I don't expect you to hate yourself, so this leaves you in a sort of predicament.  

In my opinion, religion has nothing to do with it.  People are messed up.  In my opinion, you wouldn't have to fake your interest in Christ if you weren't as messed up as you claim Christians are.  Something isn't fitting here and I think you are holding back something about yourself that will only make sense of what you said.

Do you have any particular firsthand negative experiences with Christianity (and religion in general)?

It was only 100,000 German peasants - sorry about that. But here are a few quotes for everyone to read so they can get a feel for the true heart of Martin Luther: I hope you enjoy reading them. My favourite Luther quote? "Reason is the whore of the Devil..."

I guess that fits in pretty nicely with what you are preaching here, Matty. Oh - I do hope they're satisfactorily referenced for you.

1) Luther: Authority is the punishing servant of God

”Authority is a servant of God. Of itself it cannot keep any public order. It is like a net in water: The good Lord drives the fish to it. God guides the evildoers to the authority, so that they do not escape … God is a just judge on earth. For this reason, no one escapes who does not do penance, the just punishment by way of the authority. Even if you escape from me, you do not escape the hangman.”

(Tischreden, Luther Deutsch, [Luther German. The works of Martin Luther chosen anew for the present time. Published by Kurt Aland. Volume 9: Tabletalk] Third, completely newly reworked edition, Stuttgart 1960; Reclam Edition, Ditzingen 1987, p. 430)
 


2) Luther calls on the princes to kill the rebellious peasants

”Such strange times are here that a people can earn heaven with bloodshed rather than others usually with praying … Stab, beat, throttle here, whoever can. If you remain dead in the process, happy you, you can never attain a more blessed death. For you die obedient to the divine word and command.”

(Wider die stürmenden Bauern [Against the storming peasants] Weimar Edition of Luther’s Writings (= WE) 18, pp. 357-361) 
 
 

3) Luther about preachers: God ordered an ”office of the word”

”God is wonderful, who commands us preachers to take up the office of his word, with which we shall govern the hearts of  the people …”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk] Luther German, ob. cit., p. 318)
 


 

4) Luther: Preachers are the greatest killers of all, because God commands it

”Preachers are the greatest killers of all. For they admonish the authorities that they should administer their office with resolution and punish the pests. I have killed all the farmers in the rebellion; all their blood is on my neck. But I lay the blame on our good Lord; he ordered me to say such things …”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk], Weimar Edition of Luther’s Writings (= WE), p. 75)

 

 

5) Luther: God kills through the soldier’s hand

”For the hand that guides the sword and kills is then no longer the hand of a human being, but the hand of God, and not of the person; instead, God hangs, breaks on the wheel, decapitates, kills and leads the war. For all things are his works and his court. Summarized: When a soldier, one may not see how one kills, burns, beats, takes prisoner, etc. This is what the inexperienced do, simple children’s eyes which do not continue to watch the doctor either as he amputates the hand or saws off the leg, and do not see or notice that it concerns saving the whole body. Likewise, one must also look at the office of the soldier or the sword with manly eyes, why it kills as it does and is cruel. Then it itself will prove that it is a divine office through and through and necessary for the world and as useful as eating and drinking. But that some abuse this office is not the fault of the office, but of the person … indeed, ultimately they cannot escape the judgement of God, that is, his sword. He finally finds and meets them indeed as it has also now gone for the peasants in [their] rebellion.”

(Luther, Concerning the question when as a soldier one lives in a state pleasing to God, Weimar Edition of Luther’s Writings (= WE), pp. 623-662)
 


 

6) Luther slanders the Jewish population and demands their persecution

a) ”… that one forbids them, with us … to publicly praise God, to thank, to pray, to teach, by loss of body and life …”

b) ”If I could I would cut him [the Jewish fellow citizen] down and in my rage bore through him with the sword.”

c) The ”wicked Jew” will ”not cease,” ”sucking you dry and (when he can) killing you.” The Jews can administer medicine ”from which he [the patient] must die in an hour, in a month, in a year, even in ten or twenty years. They have the cunning.”

d) ”These good-for-nothings and pillagers are worthy of neither grace nor pity.”

a) Martin Luther, Von den Juden und ihren Lügen [About the Jews and their Lies], Wittenberg 1543, Tomos (= symbol of the Jena Edition of  the Luther Writings from the 16th C.) 8, p. 98 b; also in ”Volksausgabe” [People’s Edition], pub. Hans Ludolf Parisius, Munich, o. J., p. 46
b) 1543, Tischreden [Tabletalk], quoted from H.-J. Böhm, Die Lehre M. Luthers - ein Mythos zerbricht [The Teachings of Martin Luther - A Myth Breaks Apart], Self Edition, Post-Box 53, 91284 Neuhaus, Germany (available free of charge in German), 1994, p. 250
c) Luther, ”Letzte Kanzelabkündigung vom 15. February 1546” [Last Announcement from the Pulpit …] 3 days before his death in Eisleben, cited from W. Bienert, Martin Luther und die Juden [Martin Luther and the Jews], Frankfurt 1982, pp. 174-177;
d) Tischrede [Tabletalk] from Dec. 18, 1536, cited from Böhm, ob. cit., p. 250


 

7) Luther calls for Jewish homes and gathering places to be destroyed

”… that one set their synagogues or schools afire … that one likewise break up and destroy their houses …”

(Martin Luther über die Juden - Weg mit ihnen! [Martin Luther about the Jews - Away with Them!] pub. Landesbischof Martin Sasse from  Eisenach, Sturmhut-Verlag, Freiburg 1938, p. 9)
 


 

Martin Luther calls for war and for the ”murder” of the Turkish enemies

”… because the Christians … each and every one by his authority, are urged and called to strife against the Turks, they shall act as loyal and obedient subjects (as they most certainly do if they are proper Christians) and raise their fist in joy and with confidence beat, murder, rob and do harm as much as they can, because they can get hot-blooded … they are killed for this, it is well, then they are not solely Christians, but were also obedient, loyal subjects, who put body and property to work for their superiors in obedience to God. They are blessed and holy eternally …”

(Eine Heerpredigt wider den Türken [An Army Sermon Against the Turk], D. Mar. Luther, Anno 1529; Tomos 4, pp. 494 b-496)
 
 

  

9) Luther: ”Evil ones” are among us

”They came from Abraham and the patriarchs, those who nailed Christ to the cross, the Antichrist came forth from the Roman Church, Judas and the pseudo-apostles came from the apostles … from Constantinople the Turks, from the settlers of Arabia Mohammed, from the wench adultery, from the virgin the whore … the heretics come from the church. From food becomes excrement, from wine urine, from blood pus. From Luther comes Müntzer [the leader of the rebelling peasants] and the rebels - and so should we wonder when evil ones are among us and come forth from us?”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk], Luther German, ob. cit., p. 271)
 

J
 

10) Luther: Christ confirmed the death penalty

”This law of the sword has existed since the beginning of the world … that one should kill the murderer. After the great flood, God expressly put it into practice again and confirmed it, by saying in the first book of Moses [Genesis], 9:6: ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.’ …‘…all who take the sword will perish by the sword.’ [Matthew 26:52] which can be understood like Genesis 9:6: ‘Whoever sheds the blood of man’ etc. Without doubt with this word Christ refers to this passage, thus wanting to bring in this term [anew] and confirm it.”

(Martin Luther, Die weltliche Obrigkeit und die Grenze des Gehorsams [Worldly Authority and the Limits to Obedience] in Martin Luther, Taschenausgabe [Pocket Edition] Vol. 5, Berlin 1982, p. 112)

Note: Luther took Matthew 26:52 out of context and cited it in a translation that falsified the meaning of the Bible text. He also cited Genesis 9:6 in a translation that falsified the meaning. In the end, Luther justified the twisting of the original meaning with the other. The specific facts: In the Hebrew original text of Genesis is not meant: ”Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.” The meaning of the Hebrew sentence says in the English translation: ”Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man will his blood be shed,” which indicates the spiritual law of sowing and reaping, or cause and effect. And in the Greek original text of the Gospel of Matthew the meaning is likewise ”will” and not ”shall” (see quote from Luther and from Jesus). Jesus also points out the law of cause and effect. Neither the first book of Moses nor Jesus give the authorities the right to the death penalty. (Concerning this, see: The Theologian No. 2; Chapter: How the Bible was adapted - available only in German an Spanish)
 

 

11) Luther demands the death of usurers

”… as one breaks on the wheel and beheads the street robbers, murderers … how much more shall one break on the wheel and bleed all usurers and chase away, curse and behead all skinflints …”

(An die Pfarrherren wider den Wucher zu predigen. [To the Pastors for Preaching Against the Usurers] Vermahnung [Admonishment] D. Martini Lutheri, Anno 1540, Tomos 7, p. 415)
 


  

12) Luther demands the death of unfaithful partners

”… it would be better: kill, kill him, in order to avoid more evil examples … It is the fault of the authorities: Why does one not kill the adulterer?”

(Martin Luther, Vom ehelichen Leben - Das ander[e] Teil (About Married Life - the Other Part] First Edition Wittenberg 1522, cited from Böhm, ob. cit. p. 153; there cited from Lorenz, Vom ehelichen Leben, Reclam Edition, Ditzingen 1978, p. 16 f.)
 

 

13) Death by torture for prostitutes

”If I were a judge, I would want to have such a French, poisonous whore broken on the wheel and bled.”

(”Ernste Vermahn- und Warnschrift Luthers an die Studenten zu Wittenberg, am 13.5.1543 öffentlich an der Kirche angeschlagen” [Serious Writing of Admonishment and Warning by Luther to the Students in Wittenberg, publicly nailed to the church on May 13, 1543], Tomos 8, pp. 172-172 b)
 



 

14) Luther: Torture and kill women with spiritual and magical abilities

a) ”You shall not let the sorceresses live … It is a just law that they are killed. They cause much harm … They can also cast a spell on a child so that it continuously screams and no longer eats or sleeps. If you look at such females, you will see that they have a devilish face. I have seen it on several … one can only kill them.”

b) ”Therefore, kill them, because they have dealings with the devil.”

c) ”When they do not confess, we will hand them over to the torturers.”

 (a) Sermon from 1526; WE 16, p. 551
 b) 1526, cited from the magazine Esotera, 3.3.1985, p. 245
 c) Cited from Hans-Jürgen Wolf, Sünden der Kirche [Sins of the Church], Erlensee/Switzerland 1995, p. 717 ff.)
 
A comrade of Luther:
Pray against the ”witches,” in order to detect them and kill them

About the Wittenberg Deacon G. Röhrer: ”On Sept. 12 [1529] … he [Röhrer] repeated the admonishment that one should pray against the witches, so that they are detected and so that the hangmen receive their pay.”

(cited from H.-J. Wolf, ob. cit., p. 720)
 

 

 

15) Luther: Some children are truly devils

”But when one tells of devil-like children, of whom I have seen several, then I think that they are either made by the devil, but not procreated by him, or that they are real devils.”

(Opera exegetica [Exegetical Works], Erlang Edition, II, p. 127)
 

Luther’s legacy: Kill handicapped children

a) ”The Lutheran belief in witches took shape dramatically, for it joined in the viewpoint that one should drown poor, feeble-minded and mentally disturbed children in whom one thought he could recognize children of the devil.”

b) ”This distortion of the human countenance …” is ”given back to the Creator”.

(a) Hans-Jürgen Wolf, ob cit., p. 719
b) The head doctor of the Lutheran facility for the handicapped in Neuendettelsau, Dr. Rudolph Boekh, on April 5, 1937, cited from: Ernst Klee, Die SA Jesus Christi [The SA of Jesus Christ], Frankfurt/Main 1989, p. 180)

Note: In 1940/41, based on Luther’s teaching (obedience to authority), the people entrusted to the Lutheran facility for the handicapped in Neuendettelsau in Bavaria, Germany, were finally handed over to state officials. That they would be killed was known to those responsible.
 

 

16) Luther and his colleague Melanchthon: Unbaptized babies are threatened with eternal damnation. Opponents of the baptizing of babies should be killed

”Baptism of children, original sin … meanwhile these articles are also important, because there is not much point in throwing the children out of Christendom and putting them in an uncertain state, yes, bringing them to damnation … Meanwhile, one indeed sees and comprehends that these are coarse, false articles [by those of other faith], in the end we conclude that in this case the obstinate ones should also be killed.”

(Melanchthon’s report: ”Ob christliche Fürsten schuldig sind, der Wiedertäufer unchristliche Sekte mit leiblicher Strafe und mit dem Schwert zu wehren” [Whether Christian princes are guilty of fighting against the Anabaptists unchristian sect with physical punishment and with the sword], 1536; Tomos 8, p. 383 ff; - Luther agreed with the report.)
 


  

17) Luther persecuted Christians, for example, the so-called ”Baptists”

a) ”On the other hand, it is now important for us to damn these and to make them known as damned, so that those who follow, are freightened off by their heresy an the doubting and vacillating consciences will be helped.”

b) They are to be considered as ”rabble-rousers” and ”murderers”. (Note: …even though almost all of them live peaceably)

c) ”Therefore, without doubt the authority is obligated … and should … with physical violence and according to the circumstances also punish with the sword,” … ”hand over to the hangman” (= kill).

(a) Tischreden, Luther Deutsch [Tabletalk], Luther German, ob cit., p. 272
b) and c) The 82nd Psalm written and interpreted by D. M. L. Anno 1530; Tomos 5, p. 74 b-76 b)
 



18) Luther: Faith alone is sufficient for salvation

”And so, in us we are sinners and nevertheless, as long as God sees us as righteous, righteous through the belief.”

(Scholien zum Römerbrief [Lectures on Letter to the Romans] WE 56, p. 271 ff.)
 
 
  

19) Luther taught freedom from the commandments. However, he announced that the followers of his teaching should nevertheless do good works in order to serve their neighbor

”So we see that a Christian person has enough faith; he does not need any works to be pious. If works are then no longer needed, then he is certainly released from all commandments and laws; if he is released, then he is certainly free. This is the Christian freedom, the sole faith, which does not cause that we can be idle or do evil, but that we need no works to gain piety and bliss …”

The works … ”are the first fruits of the Spirit.”

”For this reason this [the Christian´s] intention should be free und directed only to the goal that he may serve other people and be use to them; he should not imagine anything else than what is necessary for the others.”

(Martin Luther, Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen [About the Freedom of a Christian Person]; pub. by L. E. Schmitt, 1953, 3rd Edition, p. 37,1 - 79,21; WE 7, pp. 20,24 - 38,15)
 



20) Luther indicated execution without court action for Christians who do not approve of the Lutheran teaching of justification

”Likewise the authority shall also punish or not even suffer those who teach that Christ did not die for our sins, but that each one do enough for this himself … Moses in his law also ordered that such blasphemers, yes, all false teachers, be stoned. And so, one should not dispute much here, but should damn, without a hearing and without taking the responsibility, such public blasphemy.”

(The 82nd Psalm written and interpreted by D. M. L., Anno 1530, Tomos 5, pp. 74 b-76 b)

Note: The commandment for the stoning of those of other faiths does not go back to Moses, but was merely attributed to him.
 

 

21) Luther: About the wish to kill the pope and the bishops:

a) ”Just as we punish thieves with rope, murderers with sword, heretics with fire, why do we not much more attack these noxious teachers of corruption, like popes, cardinals, bishops and the entire ulceration of Roman sodomy, with all sorts of weapons and wash our hands in their blood ...? But God, who speaks here: The revenge is mine, will indeed find in good time these enemies, who are not worthy of temporal punishments, but must have their punishments eternally in the abyss of hell.”

b) ”The pope is the devil; if I could kill the pope, why do I not want to do it?”

c) ”Luther urged that one should tear out the tongues of the pope and the Curia all the way back to the throat and should nail them like seals on the papal bulls according to order of precedence on the gallows.”

(a & b) Martin Luther, Zwo harte ernstliche Schriften Doct. Martini an den Christlichen Leser [Two hard, earnest writings from Dr. Martin to the Christian readers], 1518, Tomos 1, Point II, pp. 24 & 24b
c) E. Erikson, Der junge Mann Luther [The Young Man Luther], 1958, p. 229, cited from Friedrich Heer, Gottes erste Liebe [God’s First Love], Esslingen 1967)
 

 

22) Luther raised his teaching to God’s teaching and declared himself to also be a judge of the angels

”I want my teaching to be unjudged by everyone, also by all angels. For since I am certain of it, I will be your judge and also that of the angels, as St. Paul says (Galatians 1:, so that the one who does not accept my teachings may not become blessed. For it is God’s and not mine; therefore, my court is also God’s and not mine.”

(Wider den falsch genannten geistlichen Stand [Against the falsely named spiritual state], Index verborum, Martin Luther´s German Writings, 1516-1525, Boston College 1999, volume 10 / 2, p. 107)
 

 

23) Luther called for killing preachers who could not prove ordination by an official church, even if they are angels from heaven and teach the pure Gospel

”… even if they wanted to teach the pure Gospel, indeed, even if they were like angels and Gabriel from heaven … If he wants to preach, then he must prove the calling or order … If he does not want to, then the authorities should hand over such scoundrels to the proper master, who is called Master Hans (= the hangman).”

(The 82nd Psalm through D. M. L., written and interpreted Anno 1530, Tomos 5, pp. 74 b ff.)
 

 

24) Luther indirectly threatened with the death penalty citizens who do not betray the person who preaches without ordination by an official church

”And a citizen is guilty where such insidious scoundrels [preachers without ordination by an official church] when someone comes to him, before he has heard this person, that he tell his authority and also the pastor whose pastoral child he is. If he does not do this, then he shall know that he acts as one disobedient to his authority against his oath and as one who despises his pastor (to whom he owes honor) he acts against God, and thus is guilty himself and like the hypocrite [Who will be executed] becomes a thief and a rogue …”

(The 82nd Psalm through D. M. L., written and interpreted Anno 1530, Tomos 5, pp. 74 b ff.)
 

 

25) Luther attributes truth to himself and considers, for example, his Jewish and Christian opponents, whom he fought against, as ”enemies” of God

a) ”For along with Paul I dare to attribute to myself the knowledge and to confidently deny it to you [his conversation partner].”

b) ”My dear Creator and Father, you will graciously see it as good, that I … must talk so despicably against your accursed enemies, devils and Jews. You know that I do it out of the heat of my faith and to honor your divine majesty.”

(a) WE 18, p. 601 - Luther’s statement refers to an argument with the teacher Erasmus of Rotterdam.
 b) WE 53 (1920), p. 605)
 


 

26) Luther: God wants the death of certain sinners and their eternal damnation

”… the receiving of salvation and of no salvation depends solely … which persons he [God] wants to let be lost, and which not … Luther … also stated it more precisely … what he [God] wants, namely the death of the sinners, whom he in no way mourns or is even willing to eliminate. And it is for the reason already said, that God is effective ‘omnia in omnibus’ (= everything in all things), also death.”

(The Lutheran theologian Dr. Wolfgang Behnk in: Contra Liberum Arbitrium Pro Gratia Dei, Frankfurt 1982, p. 362)
 

 

27) Luther: He likes opponents who kill themselves

”I like the fanatical and angry zealots; they kill themselves.”

 (Tischreden [Tabletalk], Luther German, ob cit., p. 279)
 


 

28) Luther: The Holy Ghost makes use of death for punishment

”Christians could easily endure death if they did not know that God’s wrath is connected with death. This makes death unpleasant for us … The Holy Ghost makes use of death for punishment, so that he frighten us - not for fun.”

 (Tischreden [Tabletalk] Luther German, ob cit., pp. 814 & 816)
 


 

29) Luther: God must become the devil sometimes; what is believed conceals itself in the appearance of the opposite

a) ”God cannot be God; first He must become a devil … I must grant divinity to the devil for a brief hour, and let devilishness be attributed to our God. But it’s early days yet. In the end we can indeed say: His kindness and loyalty rule over us.”

b) What is believed ”conceals itself in the appearance of the opposite.”

(a) WE 31, p. 249 f. 
b) WE 18, cited from H. G. Pöhlmann, Abriss der Dogmatik [Outline of Dogmatism], Gütersloh 1980, 3rd Edition, p. 82)
 


 

30) Luther: No free will in decisive questions of faith and life; no freedom to seek God

”In this way, the human will is put right between the two [God and Satan], just like a riding animal, when God sits upon it, it wants and goes where God wants to … When Satan sits upon it, it wants and goes where Satan wants to. And when it does not have the freedom to decide, to run to one of the riders or to seek him, but the riders themselves must fight to hold it firmly and to possess it.”

(WE 18, p. 635)
 


 

31) Theologians are in heaven

”It is very questionable whether jurists become blessed, for it is indeed even hard for the theologians, even though the theologians are already righteous and in heaven.”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk], Luther German, ob cit., p. 361)
 

 

32) Luther: The Church’s concern is heaven

”When the Church expresses anger, it is concerned about the soul and heaven.”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk], Luther German, ob cit., p. 512)
 
 

 

33) Luther: About anger as the best medicine

”I have … no better medicine than anger. For if I want to write, pray and preach well, then I have to be angry; then all my blood refreshes itself, my mind becomes sharpened, and all temptations recede.”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk], Luther German, ob cit., p. 357)
 


 

34) Luther: God punishes

”God himself punishes, but secretly, either through poverty, a bad wife, through disobedient children an in many other ways. So, what kind of a punishment do you want?”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk] Luther German, ob cit., p. 655)
 


 

35) Luther: The devil causes illness

”But they [the physicians] do not consider the devil as the originator of an otherwise natural cause of an illness … I think that with all severe illnesses, the devil is the originator and instigator.”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk] Luther German, ob cit., p. 678)
 

 

36) Luther: To ask ”why” concerning misfortune and well-being is the worse diabolical doubt

”The worst doubts are when the devil brings us to the point that we look for the causes of well-being and misfortune … The ‘why’ has tormented all saints.”

 (Tischreden [Tabletalk] Luther German, ob cit., p. 672)
 

 

37) Luther said, reason is diabolic

”Reason is a whore of the devil.”

(WE 51, 126, 7 ff.; compare 10 I, 1, 326, 16; 18, 164 ,24 & 182,11)
 

 

38) Luther against revelations from the mouths of prophets

”I clobber your spirit on the mouth.”

(1520, against the Zwickau prophets; cited from Walter Nigg, Prophetische Denker [Prophetic Thinkers], Rottweil 1986, p. 87)
 

 

39) Luther about passivity as a characteristic of Christians

”A Christian is passive before God, because here he merely receives, and before the person, for here he merely endures.”

(Tischreden [Tabletalk] Luther German, ob cit., p. 604)
 


40) Sin bravely, but believe even more bravely!

”Sin bravely, but believe [even] more bravely and rejoice in Christ, who is the victor over sin, death and the world!”

(Letter to Philipp Melanchthon on August 1, 1521; WE, Letters 2, No. 424)
 


41) Luther wished death to ”his opponents”

One should let them die like ”dogs and sows.”

(In: Vermahnung zum Sakrament [Admonishment to the Sacrament], 1530, by Hans-Joachim Neumann, Luthers Leiden [Luther’s Suffering], Berlin 1995, p. 173)
 

 

42) The scholar Luther: The most important thing is speech

”Even though I may be found guilty of being haughty, miserly, as an adulterer, murderer, enemy of the pope and of all blasphemies, may I just not be accused of godless silence.”

(Letter to von Staupitz, WE Letters 2, pp. 264, 24-27)

Note: Luther’s biographer and admirer, Hans-Joachim Neumann has put together much circumstantial evidence, which indicates, that Luther (who was named ”Luder” until 1520) killed his friend Hieronimus Buntz in a duel in 1505 and entered a monastery to escape punishment. In addition, Luder had a relationship with a married woman since 1503. (Luthers Leiden [Luther’s Suffering] ob cit., p. 15 ff.)
 
 

43) Luther, the prophet of the Germans

”Eternity and Germaness come together in his figure. In this connection to eternity, concerning his mission on earth, he grew to be the prophet of the Germans, as he described himself, even though hesitatingly … Luther must be prophet and forerunner (path-breaker) for the new time in the world history of the Third German Reich … Lutheran Christendom is and remains the highest revelation of God in the German language.”

(Theodore Knolle in: Quarterly Magazine of the Luther Society, 1933, pp. 121 & 123)
 

 

44) Luther is honored by many

For example, by Adolf Hitler: ”Luther was a great man, a giant. He broke through the twilight with one blow; he saw the Jew as we are first beginning to see him today.”

(Adolf Hitler in: Zwiegespräche zwischen Adolf Hitler und mir [Dialog between Adolf Hitler and Me], by Dietrich Eckart, Munich 1924, p. 34)
 

After 1945 in East and West:

Luther is continued to be praised and celebrated, for example, in ”Luther Year” 1983 on the occasion of his 500th birthday or with the Luther Celebrations in 1966, 500 years after his death.

 

45) Luther’s legacy

”We have been admonishes by Martin Luther´s legacy for centuries: ´Such strange times are here that a people can earn heaven with bloodshed rather than others usually with praying` ... Heil Hitler!”

(Call to support the German army in war in New Year’s message for 1944 in: Thüringen Church Newspaper No. 1/1944)
 


 

46) Luther and his adherents: Kill valiantly in war when necessary!

”‘Be a strong sinner, but believe even more strongly and rejoice in Christ,’ Luther wrote to Philip Melanchthon, when the latter saw violence as the only means against iconoclasm, but recoiled from the sinful character of violence. The field chaplains in the Balkan should comfort the soldiers with this redeeming sentence every morning.”

(The Lutheran theologian and journalist Dr. Uwe Siemon-Netto in April 1999, in: idea-spektrum N° 14/1999)

I am projecting my latent hostility towards the god of my fairly brutal fundamentalist upbringing onto you unfairly. I apologise for that. Nevertheless, I wrestle with the insistence on rightness - the moral high ground held by the godly which allows them to talk of physical or spiritual or any kind of hell - a place or state into which those who do not agree with them must go. A place no one has ever seen. It's a major issue for me. As for atheism being the saviour of the world - I don't really believe that at all. Some people believe and some people don't - there's no way to remove a person's need for spiritual meaning. My personal issue is not with your freedom to believe in god but in my lack of freedom to not believe. And of course, to my mind, all this comes with the barest proof of god. An NT written by nobody knows who and a core proof consisting of the concept of prime mover - a concept that for all we know may not apply to the nature of universes at all.

Anyway - no personal offence intended. I have the bad habit of seeing all christians as the inquisitor with his red hot dagger, manipulating the concept of freewill.

Thanks Ae, I appreciate the honesty.  Its often hard for me to not let my emotions do the talking when someone strikes a chord with me.

I would like to address the things that irk you, if that is okay.

1.  You find the insistence on rightness, the moral high ground held by the godly offensive.  If they can obey God's commands, then everyone should.  And those that don't are looked down upon and told that they will go to hell.  Am I right so far?

My number one reason for hesitating with Christ is because, coming from the South, the above statement was exactly how I felt.  I knew me.  I knew that I would mess up.  I was addicted to pornography; a lusty man looking for love in all the wrong places.  I grew up like that.  I needed a God that would have mercy on me; a God that loved me because I was His, not because I was good.  I didn't want to invest my hope in a religion where, if I failed to meet the standard after I converted, that I would be screwed and would have no more forgiveness left.  If Jesus is not God, then that is exactly what it is.  So, when God showed me the divinity of Jesus, I was ready to give my life to Him.  I knew His sacrifice had an eternal capacity to save.  This melted my heart, and nothing else.

2.  Of all the people I knew, Hell was the least motivating factor for me to following Christ.  I despised that teaching and thought that, if this God of love is going to be so easy to hate me, then I don't want to give Him a try.  What I found out is that God's mercy is so great.  Romans 8:38-39 showed me that NOTHING could separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.  I was in a broken state, having been cheated on by my wife.  I was out drinking every weekend, partying and fooling around with strangers.  I isolated myself from those that truly cared about me and began surrounding myself with those who only enjoyed the company of misery.  I was at the bottom and still going down.  To me, that was Hell.  It was the love of God that saved me from it, not the fear of Hell.  Being in that state of mind, Hell was the last thing on my mind.

3.  You said that there is no way to remove a person's need for spiritual meaning.  Could you go more into that please?

4.  You said that you have a lack of freedom for not believing in God....  I once debated with a homosexual woman who was offended by Christianity because America was mostly Christians, and those Christians didn't like the idea of homosexual marriages.  She felt denied her freedoms while everyone else was granted theirs.  I feel sad that such oppression happens.  Perhaps that is why atheism attacks Christian freedoms when it comes to academics....Maybe as payback.  I don't know.  One thing that I do know is that, it matters less what the individual thinks and more what the society thinks.  If we make a law to protect every individual's freedoms, then we would be making laws that protect peoples' rights to offend others with their freedoms.  But that isn't the worst part of it.  The worst part is that there will be no American culture except for the culture of individuals.  This weakens America, strips it of it's tradition, and hollows it out.  I hate to praise the denial of freedoms to every individual, but society is an individual.  Society is a group of individuals who have put their individuality aside and act as a corporate entity for the sake of survival and prosperity. 

Take notice of America in the 1800s.  Atheism was barely even whispered.  Even in 1940s, the American culture was primarily Christian.  Even today, religion shares a very big part in American culture.  That being said; I apologize for the lack of freedoms you and others would have to endure.  This is unfortunate, but as the song says, "That's just the way it is."  The vote, though unfair when you are the minority, is the change maker here in America.  If the vote doesn't pass, then the majority of people do not see their culture going that way.  They have families and want to preserve them in their culture to the best of their ability. 

It depends on what the person thinks of love.  Does originate from within us or does it come from God.  If you are talking about the kind that originates in us, then yes, I think that atheists can still genuinely love others and live fulfilling lives.  However, if you are talking the love with infinite capacity that comes only from God, then no, I don't.  It's a tricky issue. 

On one hand, human beings are made in the image of God, to worship God.  But at the same time, many people do not worship God, and therefore do not love to the capacity that God loves.  So, I think that the godly love is impossible to display if we don't worship God Himself.

You cannot love a human woman and have that be the ultimate experience in your life. No, what you have to love, is an image of a man who's suffering at the hands of mortality; and then identify with that, seeking to redeem yourself from "sin" by being a pious hypocrite. That kind of misogynism may feel right if you are passively homosexual, but to me it is beyond all what words can express nauseating.

Thanks for the kind welcome butterbattle.

I am drawing a distinction between the two.  Namely, I would categorize it as the love of finite capacity and the love of infinite capacity.  Both with each capacity of producing and promoting life.  That is why theists say that one must know God in order to have eternal life.  (John 17:3)  Outside of God's immediate and eternal love, people diminish and die.