Scoundrels or Fools? 

     Germany's Dietrich Bonhoffer, writing from his Nazi prison cell 80 years ago, asked: "Which is more dangerous, the scoundrel or the fool?" 

     He answered himself: "Folly is more dangerous than evil." 

     Columnist Lynn Vincent wrote, "One can protest against evil, and if need be, prevent it by force. Against folly, we have no defense. Reasoning is no use. Facts can simply be disbelieved, even criticized, or just pushed aside."

     "So, the fool is self-satisfied; he can easily become aggressive. Bonhoeffer considered folly more dangerous because fools are the scoundrel's foot soldiers. He wrote, 'Any violent display of power produces an outburst of folly. The power of some needs the folly of others.'"

     Vincent: "The fool is a dupe...who is not even aware he has sold what makes him human. Bonhoeffer wrote that 'one is dealing not with the man himself, but with slogans, catchwords and such.'" 

     "Catchwords like: Rights. Freedom. Justice. Access. GIVE NOW." 

     Bonhoeffer: "The fool will be capable of any evil and at the same time incapable of seeing that it is evil." 

     "Evil imprisoned Bonhoeffer, but it was fools who killed him. Some men are both."

     Views: On TV this week we saw our own fools prancing and defacing and burning in our nation's capital city.

              Jimmy