Atheism

The majority of Germans were Christian, the official state religion was Christianity and it was recently revealed the Vatican was aware of the Holocaust well before the Allies were.

Nazis were Christians. Christians supported Nazis from the highest levels of the Church.

Yes, that's all correct, broadly and roughly speaking. If you insert 'all' or 'every' like the picture in question, it becomes false, strictly speaking.

Any attempt to say otherwise is to whitewash the Catholic Church’s involvement and is unacceptable.

Agreed. I think our statements don't contradict each other.

Still, this meme not only lowers you to the level of these Christians [who throw slur memes at atheists], but also to the level of Nazi propaganda.

If you want civil discussion this is not how you get it.

Maybe I did a poor job at delivering my point. Maybe someone else can do better. I think, at least, I contributed some new viewpoint to the discussion, and if only as something to which others can respond with "no, because ...". None of that justifies personal attacks.

Maybe others are happy with /c/atheism being an uncritical echo chamber for memes. I'd find that pretty sad and boring.

I regard it as my civil duty as a German anti-fascist to point out Nazi aesthetics and methods when I see them. There are so many ways to rightfully criticize Christianity, and even the interconnections between Christianity and Nazism. But doing so in the style of Goebbels is not the way. Maybe I should have clarified the similarities I see:

• The colors resemble the Flag of the German Empire and were the favorite colors in Nazi propaganda
• They too used generalizations over nuance
• They too cared more about the narrative to deliver, even if it meant to exaggerate or distort historic facts
• Connecting the disfavoured 'others' with emotionally laden pictures, equating them with monsters, stylizing them as ultimate enemies