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Thread: Book Review "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"

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    Team Gunsnet Platinum 06/2016 ltorlo64's Avatar

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    Book Review "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"

    I just finished the book “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy” by Eric Metaxas. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is a biography of a German man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer who lived from 1906-1945. Pastor Bonhoeffer was educated in theology and received a PhD in this field before he reached the age of 22 and then went on to earn a second. He is remembered because he acted as a spy and took part in plots to assassinate Hitler while performing his duties as a pastor.

    This book documents the life of a German patriot who actively fought against the Nazis. The book is interesting in that it provides a fairly clear picture of how a civilized people could come to perpetrate the evils that Germany did. In general some Nazis were elected and then, using existing laws that were written for one thing but they used for another, were able to consolidate power. This was not lost on the people that were not Nazis but they, being law abiding, tried to use the law to remove the Nazis. The Nazis were not law abiding, however, and were able to stop all legal action to remove them from power. By the time law abiding citizens realized what it would take to remove the Nazis from power Hitler had started WWII and they were fighting. They did not necessarily support the Nazis but they did support Germany and were fighting for their homeland while trying not to lose it to the people who were in power.

    The other interesting part of this book was watching how a government could take over a religion. It also covers why a government would want to and what happens when it actually happens. The other interesting thing the book did was debunk the common notion that Hitler was a Christian. The author shows how Hitler used “Christian” speech for his own advantages but how he looked with general disdain on Christians and all other religions except those who believed in merciless victory over his enemies.

    This book was 542 pages long but once I started reading it I could not put it down. If you are looking for a great book for the new year I recommend you look for this one.
    "Nothing ever gets so bad that government "help" can't make it worse." Pat Garrett, March 22, 2014

    "HATE IS GOOD, WHEN ITS DIRECTED AT EVIL." PROBASCO, April 20, 2012

    I tried to push the envelope, but found that it was stationery.

    Have you heard about the new corduroy pillows? They're making head lines!

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    Forum Administrator Schuetzenman's Avatar

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    Interesting. I may check into it.

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    Thanks for the review. How did the man die 39 is not that old.
    I do not know if you read your own review but it strikes me as scary
    the way you wrote this and the alignment it has with current events
    and things that are being pushed and said.

    I know you read your own review, what I mean is......
    Ah hell I hope you know what I mean, like 3rd party or something.
    While no one ever listens to me,
    I am constantly being told to be quiet.

    In a world of snowflakes,
    be the heat..

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    Team Gunsnet Platinum 06/2016 ltorlo64's Avatar

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    Quote Originally Posted by l921428x View Post
    Thanks for the review. How did the man die 39 is not that old.
    I do not know if you read your own review but it strikes me as scary
    the way you wrote this and the alignment it has with current events
    and things that are being pushed and said.

    I know you read your own review, what I mean is......
    Ah hell I hope you know what I mean, like 3rd party or something.
    He was hung by the Nazis on a personal order from Hitler. The sad thing is he was executed about 2 weeks before the war ended.

    I do draw some parallels between how things were done by the Nazis and how things are being done now. I am not saying that our government or any of our politicians rise to the level of the Nazis, but that I see parallels between some things done by both (especially by our more liberal politicians). I tried to be careful in my review because I posted this to my FB account as well and I was hoping that some of my more liberal friends might read the book based on my recommendation.
    "Nothing ever gets so bad that government "help" can't make it worse." Pat Garrett, March 22, 2014

    "HATE IS GOOD, WHEN ITS DIRECTED AT EVIL." PROBASCO, April 20, 2012

    I tried to push the envelope, but found that it was stationery.

    Have you heard about the new corduroy pillows? They're making head lines!

    NRA Endowment Member

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    The National Socialist Workers Party didn't rise to the level until they were able to take
    control and then issue orders and manipulate a population that said "this could never happen."
    While no one ever listens to me,
    I am constantly being told to be quiet.

    In a world of snowflakes,
    be the heat..

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    Team Gunsnet Platinum 06/2016 ltorlo64's Avatar

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    I am not saying it couldn't happen, I believe it could, I just don't think it will be exactly the same way. This is one of the reasons I am so interested in the history of WWII and especially what happened in Europe. They were an intelligent, well educated people that went from civilized the savages in a very short period of time. We are never as far away from this as we think, especially when we start ignoring the controls that were placed on our government to prevent this sort of thing.
    "Nothing ever gets so bad that government "help" can't make it worse." Pat Garrett, March 22, 2014

    "HATE IS GOOD, WHEN ITS DIRECTED AT EVIL." PROBASCO, April 20, 2012

    I tried to push the envelope, but found that it was stationery.

    Have you heard about the new corduroy pillows? They're making head lines!

    NRA Endowment Member

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    Quote Originally Posted by l921428x View Post
    The National Socialist Workers Party didn't rise to the level until they were able to take
    control and then issue orders and manipulate a population
    that said "this could never happen."
    Enabling act of 1933. Similar to ndaa 2012.
    "And how we burned in the camps later thinking, what would things have been like, if every security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain, whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?"

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