Bonhoeffer (Documentary on PBS MONDAY Feb6)

pbs.org ^ | current (2-5-06) | uncredited

[VOA]

from the PBS website for "Bonhoeffer":
He was born into a comfortable, upper middle class family and he
risked it all to join the German Resistance. He had deep respect
for human life, but he committed himself to joining plots to
assassinate Hitler. Facing the death sentence in prison, he wrote
some of the most compelling theology of the 20th century.
(snip)
Bonhoeffer is the compelling story of one man’s struggle against
Nazism and its intimidation of the German Church. His legacy
includes a poignant body of work that documents his struggles to
determine the will of God and his exemplary calm and concern
for others as he faced the prospect of his own death.
(snip)
Rare archival footage, interviews with former students and
family members and the voice of Klaus Maria Brandauer
(Out of Africa) bring this moving story to life.

[Truthsearcher]

Watching this really made me think. I think this program proves the lie that somehow "the Germans did not know better, that they were surround by lies".

Men like Bonhoeffer risked their lives to speak out, and in so doing took away that execuse. They had a chance to hear both the lies and the truth, and had a choice as to which they would follow and which they would reject.

[VOA]

I think this program proves the lie that somehow "the Germans did
not know better, that they were surround by lies".

The level of knowing culpability amongst WWII Germans probably lies
across the spectrum.
But when you see the huge crowds at the rallys, you would have to be
a bit skeptical about the old saying of "I vas not involved".
Even if many didn't have direct knowledge of the atrocities
being committed as a matter of statecraft.

At the same time, this film did bring more clearly into focus the picture
of how the general clergy in Germany did respond to the Nazis.
I'd heard of Bonhoeffer and the "Confessing Church", but had not
had a clear picture of how there had been a clear "choosing sides"
movement amongst the clergy well before the war broke out.
Overall, a good documentary and too bad it was edited to fit an hour
time-slot.

[Bernard Bate]

I was amazed by the courage of Bonhoeffer and the 'Confessing Church.'

What an astonishing and terrifying idea: 'when Christ calls you, he calls you to death.' It seems the polar opposite of the usual understanding of the message American biblicist Christianity presents which appears to stress the concept of eternal life.

But Bonhoeffer precisely articulates and acts upon the message that Jesus himself embodied while he lived on earth: the courage to go up against established hierarchies -- which are by their very nature conservative -- and speak the truth to them. It frequently ends badly for those who do so. As it did with Bonhoeffer who embodied a Christ-like sacrifice for a greater truth.

This is far from a conservative stance on the world.

So the question to my friends at freerepublic.com becomes: how can you be conservative and still follow the example of Jesus?

[Dad yer funny]

"zing goes the pings of my heart" [bookmk]