Toxic Knowledge: How to control an unwieldy weapon

This is NOT Lucy…not that she wouldn’t try this, however…

Daily, even hourly, I hear my granddaughter exclaim, “I can do it! Let ME do it!” At which point I can anticipate hearing a howl or shriek of frustration at least 50% of the time, because in her zeal to do whatever it is she knows how to do, she has acted rashly and dropped, spilled or broken something, or she’s fallen down and hurt herself.

In Lucy’s case it is empirically true that “a little learning is a dang’rous thing.” But in her case it’s because knowledge is imperfect, and accompanied by impulsivity and lack of finesse. How is learning dangerous for adults?

We Have Everything We Need

“Tyranny can scarcely be practiced upon a virtuous and wise people.”

-John Adams (diary, 31 July 1796)

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“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

Therefore…make every effort to respond to God’s promises.

Bonhoeffer and St. Peter, Radical Disciples

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship                     

I think I’ve mentioned previously that our theater company is presenting a play about Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s resistance work in Nazi Germany. So his life and words are on my mind a lot just now. One of his most famous quotes (cited above) was the topic of discussion at rehearsal recently.

Bonhoeffer felt that call. Forced to witness the travesty of twisted dogma which was promoted by the new German State Church under Hitler, he could not keep silent. 6,000 pastors formed a new movement called the Confessing Church.

But still, many others caved under the threat of persecution, imprisonment or death, and took an oath of fidelity to Hitler as part of their ministerial vows. Many Germans willingly turned a blind eye to the punishing new decrees against the Jews and others deemed unworthy to be a part of the “master race.”