A Public Service of Santa Fe Community College
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

3/10/2025 Lessons to Remember Today from Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Nazi Germany

Dr. Larry Rasmussen, professor emeritus at Union Theological Seminary, discusses with co-hosts Peter Smith and Talitha Arnold when the guardrails of our nation’s democracy are being tested, we should reexamine the life of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, an influential anti-Nazi dissident.

In this program, the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is discussed with special attention focused on what we might learn today from his opposition to Hitler. In 1930, the young scholar arrived in the United States to study at New York’s Union Theological Seminary. This introduction to America exposed him to racism and social injustices that existed especially towards African-Americans. Interestingly, this experience led later to his deeper awareness of Hitler’s attacks on Jews which, Bonhoeffer explained, was not an attack on one’s religious faith but rather “race.”

Bonhoeffer’s work reminds us that it only took a few months for Germany to go from being a democracy to becoming a fascist state. Here in the United States, as concern grows that the institutions and guardrails that gird our democracy are under threat, Bonhoeffer’s warnings deserve a revisit.

Dr. Larry Rasmussen, a longtime resident of Santa Fe, and professor emeritus of social ethics at Union Theological Seminary, discusses with Forum co-hosts Talitha Arnold and Peter Smith the lessons we should take from Bonhoeffer.

Hosts: Peter Smith & Talitha Arnold

Guest: Dr. Larry Rasmussen, professor emeritus of social ethics, Union Theological Seminary