Bonhoeffer: The Christless Religion of the American University

Faith Without Works is Dead

I took my sons to see the new Bonhoeffer movie, and it is an impactful film for young men to watch. For now, set aside debates about his theology or whether he should be considered a Christian martyr or a civilian hero. The movie portrays him as deeply troubled by the German church’s shift from a living faith in Christ to placing trust in the government for salvation. He calls this “Christless religion.”  It serves as a powerful reminder that courage and moral clarity are essential, and that men must stand between wickedness and the innocent to protect those who cannot yet protect themselves.

I first encountered the issue of dead religion in reading Kierkegaard, who like Bonhoeffer called out the Lutheran Church of his time, urging them to wake up and embrace a living faith. Theologically, Bonhoeffer seems to have been a confused Kierkegaardian who didn’t know how to handle Higher Criticism. He was much better at calling Christians to wake up. Many have worried about this same problem in the American church. Today, many American Christians are more passionate than ever about restoring our society under the reign of King Jesus. But let’s not forget that we are funding university professors—through both taxes and tuition—to spread their vile ideologies in classrooms, often in the humanities, although not exclusively.

At the end of the movie, after the credits roll (so no spoilers), the audience is reminded of the concerning rise of anti-Semitism in certain political and academic circles of the United States today. Had Harris been elected, the pro-Hamas sentiment among some American university professors might have gained further momentum, amplifying the anti-Semitic rhetoric present on campuses. Professors promoting “anti-settler-colonialism” ideologies—like those found at Arizona State University—would likely have felt even more emboldened to push for a decolonization of the curriculum and engage in hate speech targeting Israel and Jews. This underscores the growing need to address and challenge such narratives in academic and public discourse.

Thankfully, Harris did not win. Yet, we are still left with the challenge of these university professors. Many American parents continue to pay tens of thousands of dollars for their children to be educated by those who promote anti-settler-colonialism studies and anti-Semitism. In the movie, Bonhoeffer is reminded that courage comes with a cost. For us, the consequences of speaking up are minor compared to what is at stake. The threat remains: a Harris-type candidate could win in the future, emboldening anti-Semitism and allowing these professors to shape the minds of America’s college students. Now, more than ever, we must have the courage to confront this issue head-on.

Let’s take a moment to examine what these professors teach, and you tell me what this brings to mind.

First, these professors divide humanity into racial categories and teach that one race—what they call “whiteness”—is the root cause of all the world’s evils. They teach all history under conflict theory. They instill in students the belief that white people, particularly white men, pose the greatest threat to their lives. Some professors have even gone as far as instructing white male students to sit in the back of the classroom and refrain from speaking or asking questions. According to their teachings, “whiteness” must pay reparations to other races, in addition to the taxes already funding social programs and government assistance.

Second, these professors select which humans are worthy through the justification of child killing. They teach their students that a child who is “unwanted” has no intrinsic value as a human being and can be murdered without legal or moral consequences. This ideology has led to the deaths of countless thousands—if not millions—of children, leaving many mothers (and fathers) scarred for life. While those parents bear moral responsibility for their choices and should reject such blatant lies, we must ask: why are we funding the salaries of professors who teach college students that human life is only valuable if it is “wanted”? Why are we allowing such liars to spread their disdain for humanity by claiming that human dignity is subject to the whims of others?

Even more troubling, this ideology is often paired with a resurgence of pagan Earth-worship and the claim that humans are a “cancer” on the planet that must be eradicated. Such teachings represent a profound hatred of humanity and an outright denial of the inherent worth of human life. Why are we tolerating these destructive lies in our universities?

Third, after Trump’s election victory, the primary concern among professors in my department was for transgender students. In ASU emails, they falsely claimed that Trump would “directly target” transgender students, creating a supposed need for special counseling. These same professors teach their students that the solution to gender dysphoria is surgery. They promote the harmful idea that the way to resolve inner conflict is to amputate healthy parts of one’s body. Shockingly, we pay these professors to spread such teachings to students.

Despite the devastating consequences of their guidance, these professors are not held legally accountable—but they should be. Students who believed their harmful lies and underwent such unethical surgeries should have the right to sue these professors for the irreparable damage done to their bodies. It is unacceptable that these individuals continue to spread falsehoods and harm without consequence, all under the guise of education.

Fourth, Bonhoeffer condemned the German church for becoming a Christless religion, and today we see a similar phenomenon in the leftist ideology that has infiltrated American universities for over six decades. This Christless religion claims to promote love, empathy, and charity, yet in practice, it advocates for killing some babies as undesirable and for irreversible surgeries to solve inner mental turmoil. It has replaced truth with lies and substituted righteousness with destructive ideologies.

Fifth, in pursuing their misguided goals, university humanities professors are neglecting their true purpose. The aim of a humanities education is to make students wise. This should be achieved by engaging with great books that wrestle with the perennial questions of human existence. Students should be learning to think critically, examine their own lives, and pursue meaning. One of the fundamental challenges they must grapple with is the problem of evil and the search for the meaning of life.

After watching the Bonhoeffer movie and reading these five points, do you have a clearer picture of what the “religion” of leftist professors looks like? It’s a worldview built on race blame, selecting which babies should be allowed to live, and irreversible surgeries as so-called solutions for mental health struggles. These ideologies dominate the classrooms of our universities. I have highlighted the lies of these professors, but we know who the father of lies is. Let’s chase him away from our universities in the name of Christ.

We are all familiar with some version of the saying, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.” This rings especially true today. Parents and students, I urge you to speak up about what you witness in your classes. Silence allows these destructive ideas to persist. We must expose the Christless religion that has overtaken the American university system and reclaim the pursuit of truth, wisdom, and genuine education.

Two objections to consider:

First, isn’t the university supposed to be Christless?
Not in this sense. What has happened is that an anti-Christ religion is being preached under the guise of the separation of Church and State. Because it is not explicitly one of the world’s religions, it claims to be neutral and presents itself as “just the facts of the matter.” However, it bears all the marks of a false religion or cult. I call it the Marx-Kinsey-Money cult, named after its most prominent influences. This cult has been given access to our college students for far too long. It is a Christless religion that promises relief from mental illness and economic suffering while only delivering emptiness and pain. 

Next, won’t our objections threaten academic freedom?
Friend, if you think there is true academic freedom at a state university, I have some stories for you. These institutions are overwhelmingly dominated by leftist ideologies—about 95% of faculty hold such views—and the few conservatives who remain often face professional repercussions if they speak out.

True academic freedom means the ability to hold public debates and present competing ideas grounded in reason. Unfortunately, this is currently stifled on university campuses. Academic freedom will only return when we expose and challenge the Christless religion dominating these institutions. Without action, the suppression of diverse perspectives will continue unchecked.

What can parents and students do?
Parents, the first step is to educate your children about what they will confront. This ideology is not confined to the American university—it has infiltrated media, businesses, and nearly every aspect of American culture. Parents must equip their children with the tools to recognize and reject the falsehoods of this anti-Christ system. It is only by exposing it for what it truly is that we can begin to counter its influence.

For example, please visit my Substack to learn about how my own academic freedom has been restricted at ASU. One glaring example is the cancellation of my Introduction to Christianity class, the only course among ASU’s 180,000 students next semester with “Christianity” in the title. Meanwhile, there are seven classes on witchcraft.

Students, you can make the content of your courses public.  If you want, email screenshots to me and I will post it on my Substack.  You can also ask your professors, respectfully, if they know what is good for a human.  Don’t be satisfied with a false answer.  Ask them how they know.  If a professor in the humanities cannot tell you what is good for a human, you should tell the public and take a different class.

It’s time to rise up with that same fervor and declare, “No more—it stops now.” We can address this issue through our state and federal representatives by advocating for changes to how student loans and federal assistance are distributed to universities. Additionally, we can take action by refusing to send students to these ideological factories. By cutting off funding and enrollment for humanities programs that teach this religion, we can begin to reclaim education for truth and wisdom.

The end of the movie quotes Bonhoeffer: “The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves its children.” But what can be said of a society that murders its children in the name of comfort, ambition, and “health”? What about a society that fails to help the mentally ill and instead hands them over to “scientists” for experimental surgeries? Such a society fails not only its children but its very foundation, abandoning the moral responsibility to protect the most vulnerable and uphold the dignity of human life.

Bonhoeffer reminds us that faith without action is dead. As parents and tax-paying citizens, we must demand accountability from these universities. They can no longer be allowed to operate as institutions that use humanities classrooms to teach radical leftism. It is time to end their reign of anti-Christian bigotry.  It is a Christless religion that talks about love, empathy, and helping the marginalized while killing and harming the weakest among us and denying the Lordship of Christ.  Faith without action is dead, but action without Christ is ultimately meaningless chaff.

Write to your legislators—both state and federal—and make your voice heard. Tell these universities that your children will attend elsewhere unless meaningful change occurs. If financial or other considerations require your child to attend a state university, boycott their humanities programs until they are accountable and change.  The universities still have many other useful programs that do not require learning this ugliness.  Let’s have the courage in our day to confront the evil in our society and to promote what is good, true, and holy. Together, we can stand firm in our faith and work to restore education to its rightful purpose.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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