The Lethal Combination of Evil and Stupidity

It’s putting the health of humanity in serious jeopardy

Allow me to begin with a long quote:

 
“Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”
 

These are the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian theologian who was murdered by the Nazis in 1945. This quote is included in an essay on Daily Kos by Anakai, which John Loftus posted on this blog, with thanks to Robert Conner who brought it to his attention. Anakai wrote in response to our recent presidential election: “So I’ve had a few weeks now to ruminate on recent events - kept my own counsel, tried (and largely succeeded) to contain my white-hot anger, resentment and disgust while keeping foul language around the house at a minimum.”

We are indeed confronting evil and stupidity on massive levels, much of which can be blamed on religion. I’ve noted here before the special brand of stupidity displayed by Mike Pence, who doesn’t believe in evolution. He has stated that when he dies, he’ll ask his god if evolution is true or not. This is stupidity fueled by aggressive ignorance. Lazy Pence seems not to have studied evolution at any serious level, nor does he appreciate the scope of the Cosmos. Does he really imagine that a creator deity who supervises hundreds of billions of galaxies will take the time to have a chat with him to correct his blatant, prideful ignorance? 

Stupidity was also a factor when a devout Catholic woman, at a Christmas eve party, ten days after the murder of twenty children and six adults at a school in Connecticut (14 December 2012), referenced the massacre: “God must have wanted more angels.” That too is a special brand of stupidity—but that’s a specialty of the Catholic church, which has convinced its gullible followers that communion wafers and wine become the actual body and blood of Jesus during the “miracle of the mass.” Such magic potions are more appropriate in fairy tales!

Religion thrives on stupidity, and Bonhoeffer was right that combatting it is much harder than confronting evil. Later in his essay, Anakai notes that he has received lots of emails encouraging him to resist. He points out that he’s been resisting for more than thirty years, 

But his efforts have been “…drowned out by John Birch republicans, Lyndon LaRouche head bangers, rabid evangelical christo-fascists and upward-creeping Klanners—and now we have Nazis joining their party.” He points out that the election of Trump deepens “…America’s decline into diving headlong into turning itself into the world’s most humiliating intellectual, spiritual and political ghetto.” Also, “Party loyalty has morphed from fanaticism into cultism, and finally blossomed into mass cultural stupidity, as Bonhoeffer observed and described.” He ends his essay on a very pessimistic note, asking the question, “Is the United States of America really worth saving anymore?” –and concludes: 

“Regrettably, no. I don’t think so. At least not right now. The outcome of this past election has demonstrated that doing so has become a waste of time, energy and mental capital to even attempt it; Bonhoeffer correctly observed that attempting to approach stupidity with reason is dangerous — and mostly results in the exact opposite of the desired outcome.”

At moments I tempted to believe he’s right. Just on a whim I decided to check the presidential election results in the Indiana county where I grew up. I was not surprised to learn that 77.5 percent of the vote went to Donald Trump. Certainly Bonhoeffer’s comments about stupidity came to mind. But we can’t be too surprised, given the overwhelming obsession of our citizenry with entertainment instead of education. For more than seven decades now, television has contributed to the dumbing down of our nation (and other nations as well, for that matter). We have been devoted to watching sit-coms, variety shows, soap operas, talk shows, Westerns, cops and robbers, news as entertainment—and endless broadcasts of sports events. Surveys have shown that there has been a substantial decline in the reading of books: entertainment instead of education. Moreover, it has become so easy to spread misinformation on the Internet. It’s a major challenge to dig for the truth. No wonder a convicted felon, rapist/racist, and champion liar has been elected president.      

On 4 December, John Loftus posted on his Facebook page a link to a video produced by Holy Koolaid, titled, How to Save Democracy—

with this graphic depicting Trump in military uniform. The video, featuring Thomas Westbrook, creator of Holy Koolaid, is about 23 minutes long, and is well worth your time. He is blunt about the dangers we face with authoritarian Trump back in the White House, but he also points out the realities that will work against the “orange führer” (Anakai’s label) trying to become dictator. Westbrook also is working on a major project to lobby against forces that support Trump and Christo-fascism.

In his Facebook post, Loftus wrote this:

“I'm hoping to join this project! The solution offered by my friend Holy Koolaid to a Trump Presidency is right up my ally! We need to produce more content that debunks Christianity. We have two years until the mid-term elections (in 2026) and four years until the next Presidential election (in 2028), along with millions of new young eligible voters who typically vote Democratic. Let's ramp it up!”

“We need to produce more content that debunks Christianity… Let's ramp it up!” 

Exactly. The Christo-fascists took a major step forward with the election of the orange führer. Their enthusiasm was no doubt fueled by a high level of panic because Christianity has been losing ground. There are more “nones” now than ever before. But oh the irony, that their hero is one of the least religious, least moral, humans on the planet. That is a tremendous flaw, a colossal blunder we can use to our advantage. 

I confess that I have been discouraged and depressed since the election. But the Holy Koolaid video restored some of my hope. It fueled my determination to not give up. Bonhoeffer spoke the truth about the difficulty of challenging stupidity, but so many formerly devout folks have escaped stupidity by embracing education and critical thinking; maybe these, somehow, just snuck up on them. And it’s highly likely that some of the supporters of the orange führer will realize that they voted against their own interests. 

I have been writing for the Debunking Christianity Blog since 2016, when I was invited by John Loftus to be a contributor. And I’m ready to ramp it up. I’m 82 years old, and have to deal with lower energy levels that come with advancing years. As Bette Davis once said, “Old age is no place for sissies.” But Christianity provides so much fuel for ramping it up! The New Testament overflows with flaws, irreconcilable theologies, and ancient superstitions. Little did the various authors of this charter document of the Jesus cult realize how many blunders and errors they made. When the devout snap out of piety and notice these blunders and errors, they are more likely to head for the exit.

I’m totally up for producing more content that debunks Christianity.   
 
 
David Madison was a pastor in the Methodist Church for nine years, and has a PhD in Biblical Studies from Boston University. He is the author of two books, Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief: a Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You Should Ditch the Faith, now being reissued in several volumes, the first of which is Guessing About God (2023) and Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn’t Taught: And Other Reasons to Question His Words (2021). The Spanish translation of this book is also now available. 
 
His YouTube channel is here. At the invitation of John Loftus, he has written for the Debunking Christianity Blog since 2016.
 
The Cure-for-Christianity Library©, now with more than 500 titles, is here. A brief video explanation of the Library is here.