Nazi Germany

Matthew A. Sutton’s Double Crossed is an important book that offers a case study of how religious leaders contributed to national security in a challenging wartime environment.

On May 8, 1945, the Allies accepted Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender. Shortly thereafter, Reinhold Niebuhr explained why the victors should be sober and humble.

Beginning in 1940, Reinhold Niebuhr made the case for a sober, realistic, and morally grounded US involvement overseas, out of the central admission that whatever America’s own faults, a punctilious detachment from world affairs might very well result in the triumph of greater imbalances and injustices

Christianity and Crisis published the following editorial by Reinhold Niebuhr on February 19, 1945. He explains not only why his publication criticized the United States’ foreign policies as the country fought Nazi Germany, but also why Christians should not have uncritical loyalty to the nation.

Americans should be willing to condemn China’s great crimes while also critiquing America’s mistakes. Democratic citizens’ right to criticize their government is a key reason why the US is better than China and why democracies ultimately outperform autocracies.

Understanding how Christian statesmen like John Foster Dulles viewed difficult foreign policy issues can help Christians respond to contemporary dilemmas.

Formal religious adherence is declining, but America’s longtime religious self-identity as a lodestar of democratic responsibility in the world continues unabashed.

What will be lost to many—including too many Christians—is the fact that this pledge of “never again” is, if it is to mean anything at all, a promise to fight if, in the last resort and with the aim of peace, nothing else will protect the innocent, requite an injustice, or punish evil.

How should Christians respond to the killing of someone so monstrous that their death seems to be a net gain for the world, a victory for the goods of justice, order, and peace?