Ethics

Re-dedication? Cease exploitation! Dedicate yourselves To defend the low-stationed. Rededicate? I hate your “fasts.” Won’t hear your supplication Over the cries of those you’ve chained To stop illegal immigration. Oh, you’d like a Christian country? Then try this rededication: Sell all you have And give it to the poor across the nation. Take every gun And melt it to a plow to fight starvation. Make every congregation Known for love, not condemnation. Rededicate? Until widows, orphans, refugees Are cared for, there’s no point. Unless you turn in dust and ash, I will never anoint All you’ve dared to claim My Name for I won’t spare your greedy land I won’t bless your “Christian” country Til you open up your hands To feed the hungry, House the homeless, Clothe the naked, Serve the Lord, Bless the migrant, Love you neighbor, Or else, what’s a nation for? So, if you dare, rededicate Your nation to the Cross, But, take care, before you do Repent! And count the cost.

Let’s try to define (or at least describe) fascism, shall we? Fascism: “a populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition” (Merriam-Webster) Notoriously difficult to define, Umberto Eco nevertheless highlighted 14 aspects of what he called “Ur-Fascism” (PDF): ...

In his “Letters and Papers from Prison,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer made some remarkably insightful observations about the nature of stupidity and its dangers to society. These reflections, perhaps more relevant today than ever, deserve our careful attention. Here they are in full. On Stupidity (DBWE 8:43-44) Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed—in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical—and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous. ...