A church billboard featuring Hitler's quote was abruptly removed Tuesday from public display after many expressed their disappointment on why the church group used a statement from the notorious leader of the Nazi Party for their advocacy campaign.
The billboard showing Hitler's quote: "He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future" was taken down in the city of Auburn, Alabama as a result of the slew of criticisms it got from the public's scrutiny. The church group that put up the sign was also the one responsible for the removal of the billboard.
In an attempt to promote their church group, Life Savers Ministries reportedly purchased the billboard message containing Hitler's quote. Alongside the Nazi leader's statement was the biblical quote: "Train up a child in a way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it," according to Reuters.
The Hitler's quote billboard was reportedly placed Friday next to a popular shopping center to draw attention from the people who frequently crowd the area.
However, instead of sending a positive message to the passers-by, the church billboard containing a Hitler's quote generated backlashing and aggressive criticism on social media.
"We are pulling the billboard and certainly never intended to cause confusion. ... (Former U.S. president) Herbert Hoover would have been a far better one to quote when he said, 'Children are our most valuable resource,'" Life Saver Ministries founder James Anderegg said. "We are a children's organization and had honorable intentions and nothing less."
"It was put up at client request and will be taken down at client request," Lamar Advertising, the company that rented the billboard, spokesman Hal Kilshaw said.
Life Saver Ministries is a church group that works with under-privileged children from local housing projects. The said ministry was founded in 1996 and as of today, it has "six school buses and a magnificent facility of its own where hundreds of boys and girls are brought from around 20 different rough and tough locations throughout Opelika and Auburn."
According to Daily Mail, the Hitler quote on the billboard could be traced back to the Nazi Party leader's controversial speeches in the 1930s, at a time when Hitler discussed the Nazi youth programs.
