Bonhoeffer on Stupidity (entire quote) | Southside Messenger

Bonhoeffer on Stupidity (entire quote) | Southside Messenger: Bonhoeffer%20on%20Stupidity%20%28entire%20quote%29%0A%0A%A0%A0%A0Written%20by%20Averett%20Jones%20on%20December%2031%2C%202019%20at%2011%3A04%20am%0A%28This%20week%u2019s%20editorial%20is%20from%20Dietrich%20Bonhoeffer%2C%20one%20of%20my%20personal%20heroes.%A0%20Bonhoeffer%20was%20hanged%20by%20Adolf%20Hitler%20in%201945.%29%0A%0ATaken%20from%20a%20circular%20letter%2C%20addressing%20many%20topics%2C%20written%20to%20three%20friends%20and%20co-workers%20in%20the%20conspiracy%20against%20Hitler%2C%20on%20the%20tenth%20anniversary%20of%20Hitler%u2019s%20accession%20to%20the%20chancellorship%20of%20Germany%u2026%0A%0A%u2018Stupidity%20is%20a%20more%20dangerous%20enemy%20of%20the%20good%20than%20malice.%20One%20may%20protest%20against%20evil%3B%20it%20can%20be%20exposed%20and%2C%20if%20need%20be%2C%20prevented%20by%20use%20of%20force.%20Evil%20always%20carries%20within%20itself%20the%20germ%20of%20its%20own%20subversion%20in%20that%20it%20leaves%20behind%20in%20human%20beings%20at%20least%20a%20sense%20of%20unease.%20Against%20stupidity%20we%20are%20defenseless.%20Neither%20protests%20nor%20the%20use%20of%20force%20accomplish%20anything%20here%3B%20reasons%20fall%20on%20deaf%20ears%3B%20facts%20that%20contradict%20one%u2019s%20prejudgment%20simply%20need%20not%20be%20believed-%20in%20such%20moments%20the%20stupid%20person%20even%20becomes%20critical%20%u2013%20and%20when%20facts%20are%20irrefutable%20they%20are%20just%20pushed%20aside%20as%20inconsequential%2C%20as%20incidental.%20In%20all%20this%20the%20stupid%20person%2C%20in%20contrast%20to%20the%20malicious%20one%2C%20is%20utterly%20self-satisfied%20and%2C%20being%20easily%20irritated%2C%20becomes%20dangerous%20by%20going%20on%20the%20attack.%20For%20that%20reason%2C%20greater%20caution%20is%20called%20for%20than%20with%20a%20malicious%20one.%20Never%20again%20will%20we%20try%20to%20persuade%20the%20stupid%20person%20with%20reasons%2C%20for%20it%20is%20senseless%20and%20dangerous.%0A%0A%u2018If%20we%20want%20to%20know%20how%20to%20get%20the%20better%20of%20stupidity%2C%20we%20must%20seek%20to%20understand%20its%20nature.%20This%20much%20is%20certain%2C%20that%20it%20is%20in%20essence%20not%20an%20intellectual%20defect%20but%20a%20human%20one.%20There%20are%20human%20beings%20who%20are%20of%20remarkably%20agile%20intellect%20yet%20stupid%2C%20and%20others%20who%20are%20intellectually%20quite%20dull%20yet%20anything%20but%20stupid.%20We%20discover%20this%20to%20our%20surprise%20in%20particular%20situations.%20The%20impression%20one%20gains%20is%20not%20so%20much%20that%20stupidity%20is%20a%20congenital%20defect%2C%20but%20that%2C%20under%20certain%20circumstances%2C%20people%20are%20made%20stupid%20or%20that%20they%20allow%20this%20to%20happen%20to%20them.%20We%20note%20further%20that%20people%20who%20have%20isolated%20themselves%20from%20others%20or%20who%20live%20in%20solitude%20manifest%20this%20defect%20less%20frequently%20than%20individuals%20or%20groups%20of%20people%20inclined%20or%20condemned%20to%20sociability.%20And%20so%20it%20would%20seem%20that%20stupidity%20is%20perhaps%20less%20a%20psychological%20than%20a%20sociological%20problem.%20It%20is%20a%20particular%20form%20of%20the%20impact%20of%20historical%20circumstances%20on%20human%20beings%2C%20a%20psychological%20concomitant%20of%20certain%20external%20conditions.%20Upon%20closer%20observation%2C%20it%20becomes%20apparent%20that%20every%20strong%20upsurge%20of%20power%20in%20the%20public%20sphere%2C%20be%20it%20of%20a%20political%20or%20of%20a%20religious%20nature%2C%20infects%20a%20large%20part%20of%20humankind%20with%20stupidity.%20It%20would%20even%20seem%20that%20this%20is%20virtually%20a%20sociological-psychological%20law.%20The%20power%20of%20the%20one%20needs%20the%20stupidity%20of%20the%20other.%20The%20process%20at%20work%20here%20is%20not%20that%20particular%20human%20capacities%2C%20for%20instance%2C%20the%20intellect%2C%20suddenly%20atrophy%20or%20fail.%20Instead%2C%20it%20seems%20that%20under%20the%20overwhelming%20impact%20of%20rising%20power%2C%20humans%20are%20deprived%20of%20their%20inner%20independence%2C%20and%2C%20more%20or%20less%20consciously%2C%20give%20up%20establishing%20an%20autonomous%20position%20toward%20the%20emerging%20circumstances.%20The%20fact%20that%20the%20stupid%20person%20is%20often%20stubborn%20must%20not%20blind%20us%20to%20the%20fact%20that%20he%20is%20not%20independent.%20In%20conversation%20with%20him%2C%20one%20virtually%20feels%20that%20one%20is%20dealing%20not%20at%20all%20with%20a%20person%2C%20but%20with%20slogans%2C%20catchwords%20and%20the%20like%20that%20have%20taken%20possession%20of%20him.%20He%20is%20under%20a%20spell%2C%20blinded%2C%20misused%2C%20and%20abused%20in%20his%20very%20being.%20Having%20thus%20become%20a%20mindless%20tool%2C%20the%20stupid%20person%20will%20also%20be%20capable%20of%20any%20evil%20and%20at%20the%20same%20time%20incapable%20of%20seeing%20that%20it%20is%20evil.%20This%20is%20where%20the%20danger%20of%20diabolical%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