Now the Pharyngulans are just clutching at straws. After I pointed out that Nazis weren’t even permitted to serve in the Wehrmacht at the time when the previously mentioned belt buckle was issued, in 1937, Windy came up with this rationale:
The requirement of not being affiliated with a political party did not stop the Wehrmacht members from swearing allegiance to Hitler. It’s not a belt buckle of the Nazi party, but it’s a belt buckle of the army of Nazi Germany.
I find it strange that I should have to point this out, but swearing obedience to Hitler – and even unconditional obedience is not allegiance – did not make one a member of the German National Socialist Workers Party. If promising to obey your commander-in-chief is indicative of one’s political party, then we must conclude that all Marines, Army Rangers and Navy SEALs are Republicans. That is ridiculous.
The millions of members of the Wehrmacht did not swear allegiance to Hitler personally, again, that was the Waffen SS, who swore him both loyalty and obedience. The Wehrmacht oath only swore obedience to Hitler in his persona as supreme commander of the armed forces, little different than hundreds of similar oaths sworn by soldiers to their warleaders since pre-Roman times. The Wehrmacht oath was as follows:
I swear by God this sacred oath that I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer of the German Reich, supreme commander of the armed forces, and that I shall at all times be prepared, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath.
The SS oath, on the other hand, was a personal one. Remember that any member of any branch of the SS was also a member of the Nazi party.
“I swear to you, Adolf Hitler, as Führer and Chancellor of the German Nation, loyalty and bravery. I vow to you and to my superiors designated by you obedience to the death. So help me God.”
All of this is a salient lesson in reminding Christians of Jesus Christ’s admonishment to refrain from taking oaths. Matthew 5:33-37
“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.