I have followed [the Church] in giving our party program the character of unalterable finality, like the Creed. The Church has never allowed the Creed to be interfered with. It is fifteen hundred years since it was formulated, but every suggestion for its amendment, every logical criticism, or attack on it, has been rejected. The Church has realized that anything and everything can be built up on a document of that sort, no matter how contradictory or irreconcilable with it. The faithful will swallow it whole, so long as logical reasoning is never allowed to be brought to bear on it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Hitler compares his party program to the Church Creed, noting its unalterable nature despite contradictions. He argues faith accepts it without logical scrutiny.
- In plain terms
- He treats his party program like religious dogma that followers accept without question.
- What can you take from it?
- Ideologies gain power when treated as unquestionable dogma.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do people accept contradictory beliefs?
- What stops logical criticism in movements?
Another view
It normalizes accepting contradictory claims without reason.
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