Dominic quotes Bonhoeffer:
Bonhoeffer said this, in his _Ethics_:
"When the national socialist says, 'My conscience is
Adolf Hitler',
that...is an attempt to find a foundation for the
unity of his own ego
somewhere beyond himself. The consequence of this is
the surrender of one's
autonomy for the sake of an unconditional heteronomy,
and this in turn is
possible only if the other man, the man to whom I look
for the unity of my
life, fulfils the function of a redeemer for me."
(Fontana library edition, 1964 - p. 243)
I agree with him entirely. But surely his argument
applies equally to anyone who says "God is my
conscience"? They're both trying to shrug off
responsiblity for their own actions on to someone or
something else, and in the second case the something
else may not even exist. The moral would seem to be
that the only person who can "redeem" you is you.
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