The opposition of many adherents of traditional religions to Nazism is only one side of the issue.[16] Within the Lutheran Churches in Germany, the most prominent members of the Bekennende Kirche (Confessing Church), Martin Niemöller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, opposed Nazism. They rejected the Nazi efforts to meld volkisch principles with traditional Lutheran doctrine.[17] They were, however, (as of 1932) in the minority within the Protestant church bodies in Germany, compared to the Deutsche Christen (German Christians), who supported National Socialism and cooperated with the Nazis. But in 1933, a number of Deutsche Christen left the movement after a November speech by Reinhold Krause that urged, among other things, the rejection of the Bible as Jewish superstition.[18] However, even the "Confessing Church made frequent declarations of loyalty to Hitler".[19] _________________ YHWH is my God and Jesus is my Lord
Jehovah Witnesses are one group who have been persecuted for not getting involved in military and wars including the Nazis. Lutherans did not do that.
"The German-language newspaper Der Deutsche Weg (The German Way) of May 29, 1938 quoted Hitler as saying, "These so-called Earnest Bible Students [Jehovah's Witnesses] are troublemakers; ... I consider them quacks... I dissolve [Jehovah's Witnesses] in Germany.'"[40] Because Jehovah's Witnesses would not give allegiance to the Nazi party, and refused to serve in the military, they were detained, sent to concentration camps, or imprisoned during the Holocaust. The Nazi government told Jehovah's Witnesses that they would be freed if they would renounce their faith, submit to the state authority, and support the German military, though very few agreed.[citation needed] Approximately 12,000[41] Jehovah's Witnesses were sent to concentration camps where they were identified by purple triangles. According to Jehovah's Witnesses, about 2000 of their members died while incarcerated under the Nazi regime.[42] A pamphlet about Jehovah's Witnesses published by the United States Holocaust Resource Center and Archives states that "an estimated 2,500 to 5,000 Witnesses died in the camps or prisons.[43] More than 200 men were tried by the German War Court and executed for refusing military service."[44]
"In the early Christian Church followers of the Christ refused to take up arms.
In as much as they [Jesus’ teachings] ruled out as illicit all use of violence and injury against others, clearly implied [was] the illegitimacy of participation in war… The early Christians took Jesus at his word, and understood his inculcations of gentleness and non-resistance in their literal sense. They closely identified their religion with peace; they strongly condemned war for the bloodshed which it involved.
— The Early Christian Attitude to War."
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