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Rated: E · Essay · Cultural · #2331367
Culture-bound philosopher priest understands what stupidity is.
Insane asylum inmate hides inside his overcoat.

This morning I stumbled on this video re: Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the Peril of Stupidity
Holy Spirit Moments, with Fr. Kerry Walters

https://youtu.be/KA5vytp9JPU?si=wtB7fB4-QAn7M4vS

I consider Benhoeffer's dissection of 'stupidity' spot on; however, not his recommended solution. Bonhoeffer chose a solution from the culture in which he was immersed. He had no choice. The terrifying idea of 'no solution' would have been impossible to imagine and insupportable.

The idea that people are locked within the cultures from which they come occurred to me while in Zambia in 1968 when I heard of a schizophrenic person who was practicing witchcraft. The guy expressed his madness within the framework of his culture. Had he been an overly devout Catholic in Michigan, he might have taken up hauling around a big wooden cross instead. It is highly unlikely that practicing witchcraft, Zambian style, would have occurred to him. Later, in the 70's I had a schizophrenic client who complained of marijuana smoke coming through the pipes in her house; and, for reasons known only to her, would shoot out car engines. Both schizophrenics acted out their madness from within the culture they knew. They could not do otherwise.



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