My Kind of Martyr

The assassins’ bomb went off at 12:50PM with a blinding flash and a deafening bang. Everyone in the room was thrown to the floor, eardrums pierced. Some were severely injured by shrapnel, flying pieces of wood and other debris. Pockets and boots were full of glass. Everyone’s hair stood up from the suction and heat of the explosion. The intended victim, however, was largely unharmed.

The date was July 20, 1944. The target was Adolph Hitler.

At the time, the attempt on the life of the Fuhrer raised profound ethical questions among some German theologians.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was not one of them.

A Precocious Child, Theologian, Activist

Born in 1906 to a prominent professor of psychiatry and neurology, and one of the few men of his generation to obtain a university degree, Bonhoeffer was a precocious child. At 10, he was playing Mozart piano sonatas. By 21, he had earned a doctorate in theology.

Raised in a household that was indifferent to religion, Bonhoeffer shocked his family at age 14 when he announced his intention to become a pastor and theologian. His older brother Karl-Friedrich, who later became a distinguished physicist, tried to talk him out of it, arguing that the church was weak, silly, irrelevant and unworthy of a young man’s lifelong commitment.

“If the church really is what you say it is,” Dietrich replied, “then I will have to reform it.“

As a young man, he traveled to the United States in the early 1930s, recognized the plight of minorities and worked among impoverished blacks in Harlem. He traveled to India to study non-violent resistance under Gandhi.

As Hitler rose to power, however, Bonhoeffer became upset that Germany’s Protestant church – shaped by nationalism and obedience to the state – supported the maniacal dictator.

Bonhoeffer spoke out openly against Hitler’s anti-Semitism. The Gestapo reacted by banning him from preaching, then teaching, and finally any kind of public speaking.

In 1943, Bonhoeffer was arrested for helping several Jews escape Germany through Switzerland. He was later released.

 

Death Sentence

When his involvement in the plot to kill Hitler was uncovered, he was quickly apprehended and sentenced to death.

During his incarceration, Bonhoeffer voiced frustration with his church through numerous papers and letters. He felt that in choosing between its principles and its survival, the German Lutheran church had opted for the latter.

Bonhoeffer began advocating what he called “religionless Christianity.” He argued that genuine spirituality is about action not words, that what we do is infinitely more important than what we believe.

“If you board the wrong train,” he said, “it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.“

After his arrest, Bonhoeffer was moved from one concentration camp to another, ending at Flossenburg.  Fellow captives described how he aided and consoled them right up until the end.

Bonhoeffer was executed 11 days before the liberation of Flossenburg, less than a month before the fall of Berlin.

 

An Excruiating Death

It would be comforting to imagine that such a gentle soul experienced a relatively quick and painless death.  This was not the case.

According to Wikipedia, “Like other executions associated with the July 20 Plot, the execution was brutal. Bonhoeffer was stripped of his clothing, tortured and ridiculed by the guards, and led naked into the execution yard. A lack of sufficient gallows to hang the plotters caused Hitler and Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels to use meathooks from slaughterhouses to slowly hoist the victim by a noose formed of piano wire. Asphyxiation is thought to have taken half an hour.”

Bonhoeffer was 39.

 

An Extraoridnary Man

By any measure, the life of this Lutheran minister was extraordinary. He took enormous risks. He wrangled with his church, eventually leaving it to found another. He struggled with his conscience, telling the Bishop of Chichester in neutral Sweden that through the German Resistance movement he feared he was “sacrificing his righteousness.” But he asked his followers to contrast cheap grace with costly grace. Costly grace, he said, is grace that impels action.

Philosopher Daniel Dennett concurs.  In “Breaking the Spell,” he writes, “There are many people who quite innocently and sincerely believe that if they are earnest in attending to their own personal “spiritual” needs, this amounts to living a morally good life.  I know many activists, both religious and secular, who agree with me: these people are deluding themselves.”

True religion, Bonhoeffer argued, is not about meditation, fine sentiments or heartfelt prayers. It is first and foremost about following the dictates of conscience – and taking action.

Some may find it odd to canonize a young pastor who flouted authority, abandoned his church and helped plot an assassination. The world we live in, however, is not always a neat and tidy one. People, government – and religious institutions – can disappoint.  Our challenge is to do the right thing anyway.

“The ultimate test of a moral society,” said Bonhoeffer, “is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”

Carpe Diem,

Alex