Whoopi Goldberg: 'Hitler was a Christian'

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of the "View," made a rather puzzling remark while discussing the state of America's regard for Syrian refugees in the wake of the Paris attacks, saying fears of letting Muslims cross U.S. borders are baseless because even Christians can be dangerous and violent – for instance, Adolf Hitler, she said.

Specifically, Goldberg was speaking critically of those Republicans who hesitate to open arms to Syrian refugees at this point in time, out of concern ISIS, as members threatened, might be using the crisis to sneak terrorists across the border. Some with security concerns have suggested allowing only Christian refugees into the nation in order to lower the chances of radicalized Muslims committing acts of jihad in the country.

But Goldberg asked, the Christian Post reported: "Is this really going to help root out ISIS?"

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Co-host Joy Behar remarked those who call for the U.S. to take in only Christian refugees are actually very un–Christian.

"The irony of saying that only Christians could come is not very Christian to say that, is it?" she asked.

Behar then spoke of Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 with a bomb attack on a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and his supposed Christian beliefs.

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"Timothy McVeigh was a Christian," Behar said, the Christian Post reported. "Just saying."

That's when Goldberg brought up Hitler, saying: "There have been a lot of horrifying, there have been a lot of monster Christians. Hitler was a Christian."

Goldberg's co-hosts raised eyebrows at that claim. But she doubled down, saying: "Well, he didn't like the Catholics, remember? So he thought of himself as a Christian person. ... There's a whole bunch of boneheads on both sides."

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As the Christian Post pointed out, Hitler never officially renounced his Catholic faith and continued to pay his dues to the church. He even remarked on his "doing the Lord's work" at certain points in time. But as author Dinesh D'Souza opined, Hitler mostly spoke of his Catholic faith in order to appeal to the public and help build support for his ethnic cleansing.

"To claim that this rhetoric makes Hitler a Christian is to confuse political opportunism with personal conviction," D'Souza wrote, in CatholicEducation.org. "Hitler himself says in Mein Kampf that his public statements should be understood as propaganda that bears no relation to the truth but is designed to sway the masses."

In fact, books have been written about just that – about how Hitler used Christianity to further his evil devices. Erwin Lutzer in 1998 published a book, "Hitler's Cross: The Revealing Story of How the Cross of Christ was Used as a Symbol of the Nazi Agenda," explaining in detail how the Nazis used religion to justify their atrocities.

As CBN reported: "What you won't hear in history class is that Hitler wasn't just out to eliminate the Jews; he wanted to get rid of Christianity as well. Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach said, 'The destruction of Christianity was explicitly recognized as a purpose of the national socialist movement.' ... As Hitler grew more powerful, his religious tolerance disappeared and he tried to replace Christianity with a new 'Reich Church,' a religion in which there was no god but Hitler."

And despite claims of McVeigh's supposed Christian beliefs, the fact is he told the world in the lead-up to his execution that he was agnostic.

McVeigh wrote in letters to the Buffalo News the day before he was to be executed that he was sorry for the deaths, "but that's the nature of the beast." He also clarified his religious beliefs as agnostic and said he would "improvise, adapt and overcome" if it turns out there is an afterlife, ABC News reported.