Triumph of the Will (What a Morbid Concept)

Walter Little is one of the smartest men I have ever met. He is also one of the kindest and most decent, although it would be far from his mind to tell you any of this. He would tell you that he catches more fish than I do on a regular basis. And he would be correct.

Here is an e-mail he sent me yesterday. I'm sure you will find it as insightful and powerful as I did.

I stumbled across a Wikipedia article today on the first of the modern breed of propaganda films, done by the Nazis in 1935 and called Triumph of the Will. Its title is wonderful "found" irony, coming from Nietzsche and unintentionally showing the depth of the truth of The Bondage of the Will. The movie shows not just some free-floating national evil, but what happens when our sinful hearts join in common cause to bring our enslaved wills together to worship a common idol.

Further, Triumph of the Will is truly a book of the Scriptures of the antigospel. Hitler is portrayed as creator, messiah, and bringer of truth to the German nation. Massive liturgical celebrations of National Socialism in the form of rallies, sermons, hymnody (The Horst Wessel Lied), and celebrations of the "saints" of German history are at the core of the film.

So long as each of us thinks of the Nazis as "other" and do not recognize that they are "I," and that their hearts and wills are no different from ours, we cannot fathom the meaning of that particular chapter of human history. Our "free" wills moved us to stand with one crowd and cry out "crucify him," and the same wills were moved by the same hearts to stand with another crowd and proclaim, "Sieg Hiel." To see the article, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Will

Soli Deo gloria,
Walter