Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German theologian with deep interest in issues of injustice. In Nazi Germany, he trained pastors for courageous leadership in dangerous times. Bonhoeffer was jailed in 1943 for opposing Nazi programs of euthanasia and persecution of those not classified as Aryans, the people with pale skin, blond hair and blue eyes.

With Hitler’s ascent to power, Bonhoeffer’s church—the German Evangelical Church—entered the most difficult phase in its history. Strongly influenced by nationalism and unsettled by the chaos of the Weimar years, many Protestant leaders and church members welcomed the rise of Nazism.

In 1933, a group called the German Christians (Deutsche Christen) began to promote the nazification of German Protestantism through the creation of a pro-Nazi “Reich Church.” The German Christians wanted Protestantism to conform to Nazi ideology, and they pushed for the implementation of the state “Aryan laws” within the churches. The German Christians claimed that Jews, as a “separate race,” could not become members of an “Aryan” German Church through baptism.

Holocaust Encyclopedia

Bonhoeffer believed the church had to question state injustice and assist all victims of injustice, regardless of religion. A friend and biographer said he believed Christians should “put a spoke in the wheel” to halt injustice.

After failure of the von Stauffenberg attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944, Bonhoeffer was accused of being part of the conspiracy. He was hanged in 1945, one month before collapse of the Nazi regime resulted in VE Day.

Much has been written about Bonhoeffer and many English translations of his works are available. One that caught my eye was on stupidity. It seems appropriate to review with a vile man likely to be the Republican candidate for President of the USA. If Trump wins, it may be the final Presidential election but that seems not to bother at least 40 percent of the electorate.

That same political performer inspired right-wing extremists in Canada and with Stephen Harper’s direction, helped a major political party disavow rational conservatism and common sense.

Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease.

Against stupidity we are defenseless.

Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed — in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical — and when facts are irrefutable, they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack.

For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous…

BONHOEFFER: On stupidity

Jonathan Haidt’s article in The Atlantic, Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid, suggest social media is largely responsible for today’s weakened trust in the democracy:

An autocracy can deploy propaganda or use fear to motivate the behaviors it desires, but a democracy depends on widely internalized acceptance of the legitimacy of rules, norms, and institutions. Blind and irrevocable trust in any particular individual or organization is never warranted. But when citizens lose trust in elected leaders, health authorities, the courts, the police, universities, and the integrity of elections, then every decision becomes contested; every election becomes a life-and-death struggle to save the country from the other side.

The dart guns of social media give more power to trolls and provocateurs while silencing good citizens.

Second, the dart guns of social media give more power and voice to the political extremes while reducing the power and voice of the moderate majority.XFinally, by giving everyone a dart gun, social media deputizes everyone to administer justice with no due process.

Mark Vroegop