According to Mussolini, Fascism is a system of action and a system of thought. It is of action in that; the doctrine is inherent. It sees the world’s generations and individuals brought together by moral law and common traditions and life not limited by space and time. It wants individuals to be aware of the difficulties surrounding them and should engage in actions in readiness to face these difficulties with all their energies (Goldberg, j. (2009).
The program of the national Socialist German workers party(1920) stated that only people with the German blood could become citizens. This was a way of refuting the Jews from becoming nationals. It also stated that any person who committed a crime against the citizens was punishable by death regardless of race or religion. The party restrained from affiliating with any religious denomination but gave freedom to all denominations with a disclaimer that it did not injure the existence of the nation. It claimed to stand for positive Christianity but was against the Jews’ materialistic spirit.
According to Lenin, “religion is the opium of the poor”.in this regard, all religious institutions in relation to all faiths were instruments that were used by the middle class and the peasants as an exploitation mechanism and to also perplex the working class. Issues of religion should be held as private contradictions of individuals i.e. private matters that concerns you alone and should not be used to bring revolution. On the other hand, Maxim Gorky viewed religion as harmonious unifying feeling existing between human beings and the universe. According to him, communists should use it to understand and solve life’s mysteries and in their quest for truth and justice.
In the “Hymn to Stalin”, Evidence praises Stalin for being a great leader. He acts as if Stalin is a God by evidently worshiping him. Since communists do not believe in the existence of God, they use the philosophy “the end justifies the means”. For them, if a lie or even murder promotes their course to advance communism then that is not sinful. If there were no religion in communism, the state would have to protect its citizen or establish laws so as to bring order and curb injustices. In Divini Redemptoris, the Catholic church views communism as a way offsetting social order that aims at attacking Christian foundations of truth, justice and all eternal values. This is because, communists did not see any big deal in murdering people who had contrary opinions to what they stood for. A good example is Maxim Gorky, who was assassinated.
Mit Brennen der surge accused the Nazi leadership of being discriminatory and exalting particular forms of state and races. His encyclical addresses blasphemy and idolatry by the Nazi state (1937).
This is because the Nazi state worshipped people such as Stalin.
In my opinion, through simple observation, some races are better than others in terms of intellectual ability and, for this reason, there’s no offence in exalting races that are better off. The issue of worship, one praises a person who helps him, in that case; Stalin praised because he visibly supported the communists.
The Barmen declaration claimed that the Nazi regime made teachings contradictory to the Christian faith. This is because the Nazi regime claimed that Hitler was the head of the German church and that Christ and Christianity were Aryan. The declaration expressly stated that Christ alone is the word of God, the source of all authority and truth. It specifically refuted claims by the Nazi regime that other powers apart from Christ could be sources of God’s revelation.
Closure of churches, murder of bishops and other church leaders and imposition of stringent laws and regulations that hinder the church’s activities, are some of the challenges faced by the church’s leadership in trying to remain faithful to religious precepts.
References
Hockings, M. D. (2004).
A church divided: German Protestants confront the Nazi past. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
In Szczesniak, B. B. (1959).
The Russian revolution and religion: A collection of documents concerning the suppression of religion by the Communists, 1917-1925. Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press.
Meyer, A. G. (1984).
Communism. New York: Random House