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Originally Posted by Master_Shake
I try to be wary of all true believers.
And I don't think that all religious people become fanatics, just that fanatics tend to gravitate to religion because it offers answers to things that people seem to think they need.
While people can be fanatical about peanut butter and jelly, such does not satisfy the systemic cravings of fanatics.
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I think you're onto something here. A fanatical person is likely to find a belief system that they can both defend and use to shield themselves. As religions, based on faith, are not inherently provable or disprovable, they offer the perfect shield and sword for the fanatic.
On to the subject of Hitler, he and many high-ranking Nazi officials were occultists, and the Nazi party itself was born out of the Thule Geselschaft* (I can't believe I spelled that right on the first try.) Dietrich Eckart was a prominent occultist and Thule magician who drew Hitler into the Thule society and influenced him much more than historians give him credit for. The order believed that Thule was an island like the legendary Atlantis, but that it was not completely wiped out, and the Aryan master race was waiting to retake control of the world. Hitler believed that as a brother of the Thule Society, that he was destined to be the leader of the new world order uinder the Aryan Master Race. As you can see, although he began life as a Catholic, he was far from being a believer in traditional organized religion when he rose to power. He was a fanatical cultist.
Hitler was also a firm believer in both the Hollow Earth and Shambhala, sending search parties to the poles of the earth to find entrances to the underworld, and to Tibet. After the war, there were reports of Tibetan monks found dead, clothed in Nazi uniforms.
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http://www.intelinet.org/swastika/swasti15.htm offers an explanation for the Nazi party's use of the Swastika as its logo.