In 1939, Bonhoeffer a German pastor and theologian during WWII joined a secret group of high-ranking military officers based in the Abwehr, or Military intelligence Office, who wanted to overthrow the National Socialist regime by killing Hitler.
He was arrested in April 1943 after money used to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced to him. He was charged with conspiracy and imprisoned in Berlin for a year and a half. After the unsuccessful July 20 Plot in 1944, Bonhoeffer's connections with the conspirators were discovered.
He was moved to a series of prisons and concentration camps ending at Flossenbürg. Here, he was executed by hanging at dawn on 9 April 1945, just three weeks before the liberation of the city
This is the fate of the one who knows not the barrier between the the secular and the sacred and makes no reason to stop bringing God's ethics into his world. For killing Hitler was a lesser evil than silent ignorance.
.jpg)
2 comments:
Is the lesser evil not still evil?
In Ethics, Bonhoeffer wrestles with the essential problem: how can a Christian, essentially a pacifist, justify murder?
His argument can be summarised thus:
Responsible action is how Christians act in accordance with the will of God.
The demand for responsible action - that is, acting in accordance with God's will - is one that no Christian can ignore.
Christians are, therefore, faced with a dilemma: when assaulted by evil, they must oppose it through direct action. They have no other option. Any failure to act is simply to condone evil.
Bonhoeffer seem to suggest that it is more responsible, to practice situational ethics than a dualistic right-wrong morality.
................................
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4906502.stm
http://philosophy-religion.org/kirkpatrick/heroes.htm
Post a Comment