Hitler Says Send Your Kids To Our Church. Wait. What?
Okay, so maybe it’s not that. But it is a Hitler quote used in a billboard, however short lived, for a children’s ministry in Alabama. While no harm was intended by the quote, which without the Adolf Hitler footnote may be a nice enough thing to promote your church, the billboard is being removed.
The quote is, “He alone, who owns the youth, owns the future,” which Adolf Hitler said in a speech to encourage German youth to join the Nazi party in 1935. 1935, you know? When he was killing people.
The billboard also featured a very lovely bible verse which was clearly overshadowed by the Hitler quote, not only because of the tyranny behind the name, but also by the font size. Obviously, getting your Hitler point out is much more important than the bible verse.
Twitter twits had plenty of comments about the Hitler quoted billboard:
If you’re going to promote your youth church on a billboard, you probably shouldn’t include a quote from Adolf Hitler.710 #Dumbass @Mix1065
— Pope and Marla (@popeandmarla) June 4, 2014
A church group in Alabama put up a billboard with a Hitler quote next to smiling children. So, religion. — Cartoons Plural (@assfacebeerstad) June 4, 2014
Moral of the story:Just cuz Hitler is quotable doesn’t mean you should actually quote him.On a billboard.With kiddies http://t.co/OtoNWG8qGw — Alice Gomstyn (@AliceGomstyn) June 4, 2014
A church in Alabama actually used a Hitler quote for their advertising on a huge billboard. Wow. Just stunning.
— John Ericson (@jericson1963) June 4, 2014
How does something like this get past an editor? Did someone at the billboard company, an artist, manager, the salesperson all agree that this is a good idea? Did anybody advise the decision maker at this ministry that perhaps a Hitler quote is not the best form of a tagline? Has the damage been done for this church?
All good questions which will likely never be answered. However, founder James Anderegg did speak about the unfortunate billboard by saying, “We are pulling the billboard and certainly never intended to cause confusion. … Herbert Hoover would have been a far better one to quote when he said, ‘Children are our most valuable resource,'” founder James Anderegg told the Ledger-Enquirer. “We are a children’s organization and had honorable intentions and nothing less.”
Herbert Hoover would have been a better person to quote. At this point, Whitney Houston’s “I believe that children are our future,” would have been a better quote, or a quote from my grandma when she said, “You kids are gonna be the death of me!” One thing is for sure, anything would have been better than a Hitler quote!
