IF YOU pore seriously at the old speeches of Adolf Hitler you can easily conclude that he was not an atheist or follower of any ancient European cult as some want us to believe. He believed in god, in providence and also in fate. He spoke about God, fanaticism, idealism, dogma, and the power of propaganda and he had justified his fight for the German people and against Jews by using Godly and Biblical reasoning. Just to cite a mere flash in the pan: “Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.”He was raised as Catholic and went to a monastery school. His insignia - SWASTIKA has etched upon his memory as a child. He used to see it in a stone carved upon the monastery’s wall which he passed everyday while going to school. And, he wanted to become a priest. In one of this speeches he said: “My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice… And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people. ..a speech on 12 April 1922. Reference - “The Speeches of Adolf Hitler“ edited by Norman H. Baynes, Oxford University Press, 1942.His fanaticism led to the utter destruction of Europe and pains and sufferings for most of the denizens of the globe at that time. Many wounds are yet to heal. I was wondering how easily the religion, that is supposed to bring enlightenment, sanity and peace for all, could become an anti-thesis and the most dangerous weapon when exploited by vested interests. Intelligent people are brain-washed to kill others and in the process they kill themselves also. Here is a glaring example of a highly educated, responsible and reputed lady from Pakistan Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who has been awarded the prison term of 86 years in USA. She was born on March 2, 1972, in Karachi, Pakistan. She is an American-educated Pakistani Cognitive Neuroscientist. She is supposed to be a devout Muslim, who had engaged in Islamic charity work and proselytizing in the U.S. Siddiqui had moved back to Pakistan in 2002. She disappeared with her three young children in March 2003, shortly after the arrest of her husband’s uncle, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is the alleged chief planner of the September 11 attacks. In July 2008, she was arrested in Afghanistan outside the compound of the governor of Ghazni Province, on suspicion of being a suicide bomber. The Afghan police said she was carrying in her handbag handwritten notes on how to make explosives, gunpowder, deadly viruses, and machines to shoot down U.S. drones. She was also said to be carrying two pounds of deadly poison, a computer thumb drive, and descriptions of New York City landmarks. Siddiqui was shot and severely wounded at the police compound the day after she allegedly grabbed the unattended rifle of one of her American interrogators and began shooting at them. She was flown to the U.S. 17 days later. In February, she was convicted of grabbing a rifle and trying to shoot US authorities in Afghanistan while yelling, “Death to Americans!” . Here is the interesting narration how the dialogue went in the court room: “It is my judgment that Dr. Siddiqui is sentenced to a period of incarceration of 86 years,” said judge Richard Berman in Manhattan.She denounced the trial and said an appeal would be “a waste of time. I appeal to God.” She appealed her supporters in the court after the sentence was announced. “Forgive Judge Berman.” Berman responded, saying: “I wish more defendants would feel the way that you do. ” During a statement to the court Thursday, Siddiqui carried only a message of peace. “I do not want any bloodshed. I do not want any misunderstanding. I really want to make peace and end the wars.” “Her conduct was not senseless or thoughtless,” prosecutors wrote. “It was deliberate and premeditated. Siddiqui should be punished accordingly.”I don’t know how fair is the Justice System and Dr. Aafia was really a offender. However, there is no smoke without fire. So the fight between good and evil within goes on. Religion could be a double-edge sword or a harbinger of human dignity also. The choice is for us to make!
