Dietrich Bonhoeffer loved Germany and the German people. He was a minister who cared deeply for his community and worked for the good of his nation. But in the 1930s something happened: Germany became Nazi. Bonhoeffer watched as thugs began to brutalise and terrorise people. Soon there were random arrests and disappearances. Laws were changed to give the government more authority, to privilege the German race above others. Then the churches were expected to change their Gospel message and to conform, or they would be shut down. Bonhoeffer could not stand what was being done. He had a choice to make. 

Some of Bonhoeffer’s compatriots decided to say, “My country, right or wrong,” and just go along to get along. Some had folded completely and joined the Nazi party. But Bonhoeffer decided that to truly care for the people of Germany it was necessary for him to take a stand. Though he loved the German people and loved his country, the government was evil and could not be allowed to continue. So, Bonhoeffer made the momentous choice to work against his government in a war, to work for the downfall and overthrow of an evil regime that had taken control of his beloved country and was hurting and killing its own people and those of other countries.

Because of his love of truth and of what is right Bonhoeffer could not just stand behind his country’s government, but he had to fight. 

Why do I tell this story? Today we are told that we must remain loyal to Canada no matter what. We are told that there were people who died to defend this country, and their blood demands that we remain no matter what happens. We are told that John A. MacDonald called for the union of the provinces to be maintained at any cost. It is a powerful argument. The only problem is that the country that John A. MacDonald built and that these people defended has been coopted by people who hold utterly opposite values. Where the people who went to fight in World Wars did so to halt the spread of authoritarian regimes, now are the country that is drifting to authoritarianism. Where those great men and women fought against Anti-Semitic hatred, now we watch at Jew haters are escorted by police on the streets. Where those great soldiers stood for the great traditions of our Parliamentary Democracy and the rule of law, now the law is overturned, thugs run free on the streets, and we arrest and fine those who dare to speak simple truths. 

There is a time when a country goes the wrong direction. There is a time when real loyalty requires true Canadians to stand up fight against the destruction of all we hold dear. 

Bonhoeffer was imprisoned as a traitor and executed by the Nazis. His fight for the freedom of his country cost him his life. But though he was accused of being a traitor, though he was killed for working against the Nazi government, history recognises Bonhoeffer as a principled hero who worked for the good of his country. Instead of “my country right or wrong,” perhaps a better motto is “Right for my country, and never wrong.”