Adolf Hitler was clearly committed to a vision of the world that was essentially Darwinian, Nietzschean and atheistic.

Freidrick Nietzche, the father of modern atheism believed that man was an animal evolving from beast to what he referred to as the “Superman” A race of supermen unchained from the shackles of religion, belief in God and morality, who would use their intelligence and will to create their own world.

Adolf Hitler was clearly committed to a vision of the world that was essentially Darwinian and Nietzschean. Hitler had his own twisted version of Nietzsche’s “superman” – the infamous Aryan master race. He admired Nietzsche, read his work and visited the archives in Berlin where a photo was taken of him gazing up at the philosopher.

Hitler despised as did his atheist mentor, the core moral values of Christianity – goodness, mercy, love and forgiveness. Instead, he worshiped the gods of power and lived by a morality that was akin to Nietzache’s new ethic for a new age. He saw himself as implementing a Darwinian law of nature that would result in the elimination of the unfit and bring about a civilization fit for a master race.

In the atheist world view of nature, it is good for the strong to devour the weak, because that is how the evolution of species progresses. If human beings are nothing but accidents of chance and time, material substances and nothing more, why shouldn’t Hitler eliminate those he perceives to be inferior and weak?

If we present man with a concept of man which is not true, we may well corrupt him. The gas chambers of Auschwitz are the ultimate consequence of the theory that man is nothing but the product of heredity and environment. The gas chambers were not prepared by some ministry in Berlin but rather at the desks and in the lecture halls of nihilistic scientists and philosophers.

Although atheism need not necessarily result in immorality and violence, it certainly leads some adherents in that direction. It removed from consideration the existence of a good and loving God – and with him, any objective standard by which the actions or moral choices of another can be judged.

From “The Godless Delusion” by Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley.