Sam > Sam's Quotes

“The pastors and professors who gave their enthusiastic support to Hitler all were marked by a particularly intense nationalism. Furthermore, this nationalism justified in their minds any number of compromised values.”
― Robert P. Ericksen, Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany

“Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing.”
― Desmond Tutu

“When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

“We must also note that the Bonhoeffer family’s ties to the Christian church were almost entirely through Dietrich. Neither he nor his family had been regular churchgoers during his childhood, so that his youthful decision to study theology came as a not entirely welcome surprise to siblings and parents. It may even be that Bonhoeffer learned to oppose Adolf Hitler because he did not attend church as a child, because most church-going Protestants tended to think Hitler was wonderful. That would help clarify the uniqueness of his response and the loneliness of his battle.”
― Robert P. Ericksen, Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany

“We can remind ourselves that historical circumstances in Germany, especially from World War I through the Weimar Republic, prepared Germans to applaud Hitler’s rise to power and then to become participants in his wild ideas and brutal behavior. The heavy hand of disappointing events worked on pastors and professors too. Therefore, they liked much of what Hitler offered. They indulged in nationalistic emotions, which convinced them that Germany needed to take strong actions to redeem its place in the world.”
― Robert P. Ericksen, Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany

“Germans faced adversity in the aftermath of World War I, and they proved ready to compromise their values in an effort to reestablish national strength and security. That was not only wrong, but disastrous. It led to German destruction and left Germans suffering shame and guilt into the second and third generation.7”
― Robert P. Ericksen, Complicity in the Holocaust: Churches and Universities in Nazi Germany

“Evangelicals are not naïve individuals who were taken advantage of by a slick New York real estate mogul and reality TV star. They were his accomplices.”
― Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism, Second Edition: The Politics of Morality in America

“Trump isn’t the reason why evangelicals turned to racism. They were racist all along.”
― Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism, Second Edition: The Politics of Morality in America