Relatives of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who have criticized Eric Metaxas are “Jew-hating lunatics,” Metaxas told Glenn Beck Nov. 23.
On his podcast, Beck asked Metaxas about criticism of his portrayal of Bonhoeffer — a German pastor who resisted Hitler and was executed by the Nazis — by 86 Bonhoeffer descendants. Those relatives issued a public letter Oct. 18 saying: “We are horrified to see how the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is increasingly being distorted and misused by right-wing extremists, xenophobes and religious agitators.”
They singled out Metaxas as a primary agitator and expressed concern about a new Bonhoeffer film that portrays the pastor as a spy and assassin.
Metaxas, a Christian nationalist who wrote a controversial biography of Bonhoeffer, laughed out loud when Beck asked about the family’s criticisms.
“Oh, yeah, distant relatives who are guaranteed pro-Hamas lunatics,” he responded. “So these are Jew-hating lunatics claiming to speak for the man who died for the Jews of Europe, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I mean, let’s be clear: So relatives of Bonhoeffer wrote that he would never have seen himself anywhere near the rightwing extremist — yeah violent movements — that are trying to appropriate him today.
Metaxas and Beck (screencap)
“Yeah, oh, the violent movements. What’s the violent movement? What are we talking about? What’s the violent movement — antifa? Oh, sorry, that’s the Marxist left. Who are we talking about””
Then Metaxas explained to Beck: “Look, these people — you’ve dealt with them longer than I have — they’re unhinged. There’s no talking to them. They have their view. It’s a free country but they’re crazy.”
The Bonhoeffer family and most Bonhoeffer scholars think Metaxas is the one who’s daft.
“In the book, he ignored the historical context and misrepresented Bonhoeffer as a fundamentalist evangelical,” the family said in their letter. “Metaxas, now a right-wing Trump supporter, regularly compares U.S. President Biden to Hitler, speaks of ‘total war’ and posts photos of a gun on a Bible: ‘So we can now finally clearly see that Biden is our Hitler. … See my Bonhoeffer book for details.”
Metaxas has played a prominent role among Trump-supporting deniers of the 2020 election and has portrayed the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as driven by anti-Trump agitators, not violent supporters of Trump as has been documented widely.
“Eric Metaxas is once again spreading unbelievable lies and slandering our family.”
In response to Metaxas’ latest attack on the Bonhoeffer family, two spokesmen for the family told blogger Warren Throckmorton: “Eric Metaxas is once again spreading unbelievable lies and slandering our family. No one from the Bonhoeffer family has ever spoken out pro-Hamas or anti-Jewish. On the contrary, we fight terror and antisemitism wherever we can.”
Tobias Korenke and Ruggero Schleicher-Tappeser added: “We are currently examining whether it makes sense to take legal action against Eric Metaxas’ outrageous lies. That someone like Metaxas thinks he can presume to speak and act in the spirit of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a disgrace.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
As to Metaxas’ claim that they are “distant relatives” of Bonhoeffer, Tobias Korenke told Throckmorton; “The signatories of the open letter are all children or grandchildren of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s seven siblings.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer had no children.
“I myself am a grandchild of Ursula, Dietrich’s eldest sister, and her husband Rüdiger Schleicher,” Korenke said.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was not the only person in his family to stand against Hitler and the Nazis, Korenke added. Korenke’s grandfather Rüdiger “was also a resistance fighter and was murdered by the Nazis.” And another of Dietrich’s brothers, Klaus, “was also executed as a resistance fighter, as was another of his brothers-in-law, Hans von Dohnanyi.”
Resistance to the Nazis was a family affair, which is another reason Metaxas’ comments are so painful, he said. “As you can imagine, this history has left its mark on our family. The lies, insults and slander of Eric Metaxas hit us all the harder. How dare he insult us as woke left-wing Jew-haters when our parents or grandparents sacrificed their lives in the fight against the persecution of the Jews and for the rule of law and freedom?”
Related articles:
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What happens when church and state merge? Look to Nazi Germany for answers
New Bonhoeffer film offers a mixed bag of emotions | Analysis by Rodney Kennedy
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