Does your church follow these principles?
The
Fuehrerprinzip (Fuehrer Principle) of the National Socialist German Workers' Party
(2) The Fuehrerprinzip (Fuehrer
Principle).
(a) Essential elements.
1. Complete and total
authority is vested in the Fuehrer.
"The Fuehrer
Principle requires a pyramidal organization structure in the details as well as in its
entirety.
"The Fuehrer is
at the top.
"He nominates the
necessary leaders for the various spheres of work of the Reichs direction, the Party
apparatus and the State administration." (1814-PS)
"He shapes the
collective will of the people within himself and he enjoys the political unity and
entirety of the people in opposition to individual interests.
"The Fuehrer
unites in himself all the sovereign authority of the Reich; all public authority in the
state as well as in the movement is derived from the authority of the Fuehrer. We must
speak not of the states authority but of the Fuehrers authority if we wish to designate
the character of the political authority within the Reich correctly. The state does not
hold political authority as an impersonal unit but receives it from the Fuehrer as the
executor of the national will. The authority of the Fuehrer is complete and all-embracing;
it unites in itself all the means of political direction; it extends into all fields of
national life; it embraces the entire people, which is bound to the Fuehrer in loyalty and
obedience. The authority of the Fuehrer is not limited by checks and controls, by special
autonomous bodies or individual rights, but it is free and independent, all-inclusive and
unlimited.
"The
Fuehrer-Reich of the (German) people is founded on the recognition that the true will of
the people cannot be disclosed through parliamentary votes and plebiscites but that the
will of the people in its pure and uncorrupted form can only be expressed through the
Fuehrer." (2771-PS)
"Thus at the head
of the Reich, stands a single Fuehrer, who in his personality embodies the idea which
sustains all and whose spirit and will therefore animate the entire community."
(2780-PS)
As stated in the Organization Book of the Nazi Party:
"The will of the
Fuehrer is the Party's law." (1814-PS)
The first commandment for the Party members declares
"The Fuehrer is
always right." (1814-PS)
"He (the Fuehrer)
is responsible only to his conscience and the German people." (1814-PS)
Hess, in a speech broadcast at Cologne on 25 June 1934, characterized the
position of the Fuehrer as follows:
"It is with pride
that we see that one man is kept above all criticism that is the Fuehrer.
"The reason is
that everyone feels and knows: he was always right and will always be right. The National
Socialism of us all is anchored in the uncritical loyalty, in the devotion to the Fuehrer
that does not ask for the wherefore in the individual case, in the tacit performance of
his commands. We believe that the Fuehrer is fulfilling a divine mission to German
destiny! This belief is beyond challenge." (2426-PS; see also additional statements
of the Nazi conspirators designed to condition the German people to blind acceptance of
the decisions of the Fuehrer and his co-conspirators, as translated in 237-PS.)
2. The Fuehrer's power descends to subleaders in a hierarchical order. In the
words of the Organization Book of the NSDAP:
"The Party is the
order of fuehrers.
"All political
directors (Politische Leiter) stand as appointed by the Fuehrer and are responsible to
him. They possess full authority towards the lower echelons. (1893-PS)
"He (The Fuehrer)
nominates the necessary leaders for the various spheres of work of the Reichs' direction,
the Party apparatus, and the State administration." (1814-PS)
The effect of this was aptly expressed by Hitler in 1933:
"When our
opponents said, 'It is easy for you: you are a dictator' We answer them, 'No, gentlemen,
you are wrong; there is no single dictator, but ten thousand, each in his own place.' And
even the highest authority in the hierarchy has itself only one wish, never to transgress
against the supreme authority to which it, too, is responsible." (2771-PS)
3. Each subleader is bound to unconditional obedience to his immediate superior
and to the Fuehrer. As Hitler said,
"We have in our
movement developed this loyalty in following the leader, this blind obedience of which all
the others know nothing and which gave to us the power to surmount everything."
(2771-PS)
The duty of obedience is so fundamental that it is incorporated as the second of
the NSDAP commandments for party members:
"Never go against
discipline!" (2771-PS)
As Ley said:
"Our conscience
is clearly and exactly defined. Only what Adolf Hitler, our Fuehrer, commands, allows, or
does not allow is our conscience." (2771-PS)
The obedience required was not the loyalty of a soldier to the Fatherland, as was
the case prior to the Nazi regime. On the contrary, the obedience exacted was
unconditional and absolute, regardless of the legality or illegality of the order. The
oath taken by political leaders (Poltische Leiter) yearly was as follows:
"I pledge eternal
allegiance to Adolf Hitler. I pledge unconditional obedience to him and the Fuehrers
appointed by him." (1893-PS)
4. Each subleader is absolute in his own sphere of jurisdiction. The Nazi Party
Organization Book lays down the same principle with respect to the successive tiers of its
leaders:
"The Fuehrer
Principle represented by the Party imposes complete responsibility on all party leaders
for their respective spheres of activity ....The responsibility for all tasks within a
major sphere of jurisdiction rests with the respective leader of the NSDAP: i.e., with the
Fuehrer for the territory of the Reich, the district leader for the territory of the
district, the local leader for the territory of the local group, etc.
"The Party leader
has responsibility for the entire territory under his jurisdiction on the one hand, and on
the other hand, his own political fields of activity appertaining thereto.
"This
responsibility for the complete or partial performance of task entails a relationship of
subordination of the leaders among themselves, corresponding to the fuehrer
principle." (2771-PS)
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