Dear Friends in Christ,

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor and theologian executed by the Nazi regime in the closing days of World War II, wrote with piercing clarity about a condition that erodes independent thought and moral discernment. In his essay “After Ten Years” (often published under the title “Ten Years Later”), he described what he called a kind of “stupefaction”:

In conversation with him, one virtually feels that one is dealing not at all with him as a person, but with slogans, catchwords, and the like that have taken possession of him. He is under a spell, blinded, misused, and abused in his very being. Having thus become a mindless tool, the stupid person will also be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil.

Bonhoeffer was not speaking merely about ignorance. He was describing a loss of moral freedom — a surrender of conscience to ideology and crowd pressure. When slogans replace reflection and allegiance replaces discernment, people can be led to justify what they would otherwise recognize as wrong.

History offers sobering examples beyond Nazi Germany: the Cultural Revolution in China, the Crusades in medieval Europe, the Bolshevik Revolution, and systems of organized racism. Such movements do not arise in a vacuum. They depend upon leaders who exploit fear and grievance, and upon people who relinquish their capacity to think, question, and judge faithfully.

Scripture itself names this danger. In the Gospel of Matthew 27:20 we read: “Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowds to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus killed.” A crowd, stirred and steered, calls for the death of an innocent teacher and prophet. Properly motivated, even religious people can lose their moral footing.

Bonhoeffer’s warning continues to echo in every nation and every age. The question is never whether such forces exist, but how far they will be allowed to progress — and whether communities of faith will cultivate courage, clarity, and compassion in response.

I take heart whenever Bonhoeffer’s costly witness is remembered and his insights are taken seriously. Lent invites us into precisely this kind of self-examination: Where have we surrendered discernment? Where have we allowed slogans to substitute for prayerful judgment? Where is Christ calling us back to truth and freedom?

May this holy season deepen our wisdom, steady our conscience, and strengthen our resolve to follow Christ with clear minds and faithful hearts.

A blessed Lenten season to you all,

Pastor Keck