[October 2000 journal entry]
I do not think Bonhoeffer – in his 30 April 1944 prison letter -- was jettisoning everything that could be called ‘inward’ or ‘conscience’. However, just as ‘religion’ is a burdened term (to the point that I have long since stopped using the term), so also are the terms inward and conscience. In my variation on a ‘non-religious’ spirituality and ethics, inward has to do with the reflective side of an ‘action-reflection’ rhythm for living. I am drawn to the Quaker idea of simultaneity -- i.e., maturing to the point of experiencing the temporal and the eternal at the same time. Conscience is very important, but should not be the single or final determinant of ethical decision-making. Much is done in good conscience that falls far short of a unifying, altruistic, and self-sacrificing way of life that accentuates respect for ‘the least of these’. To use Bonhoeffer’s phrase, the ‘outer line’ experience should set the agenda for individual and corporate introspection. On what are Bonhoeffer’s 30 April 1944 thoughts about spirituality and ethics based? I do not expect to decipher a very finished answer from the prison letters. I think Bonhoeffer was still in a very early stage of tracing out – beyond the threshold of the ‘religious’ sphere -- the implications of a ‘non-religious’ approach. For me, the basis is an interweaving of perspectives illustrated (1) by Koholeth’s inability to separate his thought from those in tragically desperate circumstances and (2) by Job’s wife who is disturbingly presented in the story as ambivalent at best re maintaining respect for Job. I am convinced that all ‘religious’ bases for spirituality and ethics melt down or die when pressed scientifically and existentially ‘from below’.
I do not think Bonhoeffer – in his 30 April 1944 prison letter -- was jettisoning everything that could be called ‘inward’ or ‘conscience’. However, just as ‘religion’ is a burdened term (to the point that I have long since stopped using the term), so also are the terms inward and conscience. In my variation on a ‘non-religious’ spirituality and ethics, inward has to do with the reflective side of an ‘action-reflection’ rhythm for living. I am drawn to the Quaker idea of simultaneity -- i.e., maturing to the point of experiencing the temporal and the eternal at the same time. Conscience is very important, but should not be the single or final determinant of ethical decision-making. Much is done in good conscience that falls far short of a unifying, altruistic, and self-sacrificing way of life that accentuates respect for ‘the least of these’. To use Bonhoeffer’s phrase, the ‘outer line’ experience should set the agenda for individual and corporate introspection. On what are Bonhoeffer’s 30 April 1944 thoughts about spirituality and ethics based? I do not expect to decipher a very finished answer from the prison letters. I think Bonhoeffer was still in a very early stage of tracing out – beyond the threshold of the ‘religious’ sphere -- the implications of a ‘non-religious’ approach. For me, the basis is an interweaving of perspectives illustrated (1) by Koholeth’s inability to separate his thought from those in tragically desperate circumstances and (2) by Job’s wife who is disturbingly presented in the story as ambivalent at best re maintaining respect for Job. I am convinced that all ‘religious’ bases for spirituality and ethics melt down or die when pressed scientifically and existentially ‘from below’.
