Richard Dawkins' speech at Protest the Pope rally

Great speech, isn't it? Regarding the claim that Hitler was an atheist, PZ Myers suggests that we look at the guidelines for banned books in Nazi Germany. Along with books dealing with "the false scientific enlightenment" of Charles Darwin, also banned were "All writings that ridicule, belittle or besmirch the Christian religion and its institution, faith in God, or other things that are holy to the healthy sentiments of the Volk." Some atheist, huh?

Now Stalin was an atheist. If you want to use guilt by association, there's your man. So why this false accusation about Hitler? Well, the Catholic and Lutheran churches have a long history of promoting rabid antisemitism in Germany. The Holocaust actually grew out of that kind of religious muck. So I suspect that this is simply a way to attack secularists, while also attempting to divert attention from their own culpability.

And, of course, a good offense is the best defense. The Catholic Church has no valid defense for their actions (not just inaction, since they actively protected these pedophile priests and helped them find victims in new parishes) leading to the rape of countless children. So when you have no defense, you attack. Again, you try to divert attention from your own guilt. (Mea culpa, indeed!)

Edit: Also at Pharyngula, here's a list of Hitler quotes, along with with the note that "It's particularly interesting that he outlawed atheist and freethought groups in 1933." Again, some atheist, huh?