Posted on 01/03/2023 8:49:44 PM PST by george76
Paula Bonhoeffer saw the risks of educating her small, impressionable children in the state’s schools.
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), the German theologian who was hanged in April 1945 by the Nazis for spying on and opposing Hitler’s regime.
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Eric Metaxas’ biography of the Christian martyr—Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Spy—... time to learn more about the man who defied Hitler and paid with his life.
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Metaxas’ work offers a penetrating look into Bonhoeffer’s life, mind, faith, and family.
Bonhoeffer was not the only remarkable person in his family. Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer—Bonhoeffer’s parents—brought eight children into the world in the span of a decade. Dietrich was born on February 4, 1906, minutes before his twin sister, Sabine. He was the family’s fourth son and sixth child.
Many of his siblings would go on to do remarkable things, but one of the first things that jumped out at me in the book is the powerful character of Bonhoeffer’s mother, whom one cousin called “the soul and spirit of the house.” A devout woman, she had a deep-seated (and impressive) distrust of the German public school system, refusing to allow her children to attend them at a young age.
“She was openly distrustful of the German public schools and their Prussian educational methods. She subscribed to the maxim that Germans had their backs broken twice, once at school and once in the military, she wasn’t about to entrust her children to the care of others less sensitive than she during their earliest years.”
This was of course decades before teachers were required to swear oaths of loyalty to National Socialism, but Paula understood the risks of educating her small, impressionable children in the state’s schools. A skilled teacher, she was able to educate her children herself, teaching them an assortment of hymns, poems, and folks songs. She also allowed them to learn and explore on their own in the natural environment around Breslau and in the Glatz Mountains near the Bohemian border where the family often vacationed. As a result, when her children did eventually enter the public school system—with a foundation of solid values—they excelled.
Unfortunately, a subsequent generation of German mothers would not have this luxury. In 1920, school attendance was made mandatory in Germany. This of course would play right into the hands of Hitler, who abolished primary schools ran by churches.
We’re currently witnessing an exodus of students from public schools in America, and I think the reason is pretty clear: many schools have become borderline dystopian.
The solution to this problem is fortunately not difficult, and it begins with ending mandatory schooling laws, as my colleague Kerry McDonald, author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, has pointed out.
“The first step to restore education freedom and empower parents with choice and opportunity for their children is to eliminate compulsory schooling laws that authorize state control of education. States could still require cities and towns to provide public schools to those who want them, but the power to compel parents to send their children there would disappear.
In its place, a decentralized network of educational opportunities (including, but not limited to, various types of schooling) would unfold, fueled by visionary parents, educators, and entrepreneurs. Parents, not the state, would decide how and where their children are educated. New possibilities for education innovation would emerge as the shadow of forced schooling waned. Education freedom begins when government compulsion ends.”
It’s clear to me the world needs more men and women like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. As I read Metaxas’ book, it occurs to me that the world might never have had the opportunity to witness his courage, fortitude, and sacrifice had Germany passed its mandatory schooling law just one decade earlier.
That saddens me a little. It also frightens me.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Faith and Redemption in the Garden of Evil Part 1 (Benicia Herald)
He was a very interesting man. He participated in one of the plots to kill Hitler and reconciled with the Lord for the justification in doing so. The man was very heroic. The linked piece gives a summary of the man’s life
Eric is quite the dude as well. He poked fun at obama at a prayer breakfast many years ago.
SunkenCiv has a Dietrich Bonhoeffer / Eric Metaxas list.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4114186/posts
“If I see that a madman is driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can’t as Christian simply wait, comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrest the steering wheel out of the hands of the madman.”
—Bonhoffer
It was a result of watching the prayer breakfast speech that I became interested in the Bonhoeffer book
Homeschooling related bump with some interesting history about the need and eventual prohibition of homeschooling in early 20th century Germany.
Metaxas was speaking, not Bonhoeffer.
>>Paula Bonhoeffer saw the risks of educating her small, impressionable children in the state’s schools.<<
Nazi history is repeating itself in Biden’s America.
LOL. Of course he was! That’s what I get for not proofing it!
The film BONHOEFFER: AGENT OF GRACE failed to present Bonhoeffer as a Biblical strict constructionist and one who despised liberal theology. Likewise, the film I saw about Sophie Scholl downplayed her Christian faith. Filmmakers like to present these Christians as cool and trendy instead of who they really were.
Vouchers for parents who want structured education for their children but NOT the commie/sexual weirdo crap we have today - would be a nice step in the right direction.
Thanks.
I will have to ping it out later. My monitor died so I can’t use my main computer for posting, which has all my files on it and therefore can’t access my list. That should be resolved by tomorrow.
Took the hint and did a search on Eric Metaxis’ remarks at the Prayer Breakfast. Interesting results, have to go back for more study.
Thank You for the tip.
Why launder the money through a corrupt government?
Abolish government schools and abolish the property taxes which support them.
Great article. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this... Will be off reading it today.
I do? :^)
Oh, that kind of list. :^)
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