Articles by Bruce Strom

About Bruce Strom
I was born and baptized and confirmed as a Lutheran. I made the mistake of reading works written by Luther, he has a bad habit of writing seemingly brilliant theology, but then every few pages he stops and calls the Pope often very vulgar names, what sort of Christian does that? Currently I am a seeker, studying church history and the writings of the Church Fathers. I am involved in the Catholic divorce ministries in our diocese, and have finished the diocese two-year Catholic Lay Ministry program. Also I took a year of Orthodox off-campus seminary courses. This blog explores the beauty of the Early Church and the writings and history of the Church through the centuries. I am a member of a faith community, for as St Augustine notes in his Confessions, you cannot truly be a Christian unless you worship God in the walls of the Church, unless persecution prevents this. This blog is non-polemical, so I really would rather not reveal my denomination here.
Civil Rights

Tensions Between WEB Du Bois and Booker T Washington, Accommodation or Activism?

10/19/2022 Bruce Strom 2

As WEB Du Bois, our contrarian activist leader, rose in prominence in the black civil rights movement, he came into conflict with the accommodationist Booker T Washington, founder of Tuskegee Institute. While Booker T Washington always encouraged blacks be subservient and work hard and save their pennies so that someday their lives will improve, WEB Du Bois demanded dignity, civil rights, and real economic opportunity for blacks. […]

Civil Rights

Autobiography of WEB Du Bois: His Youth and School Years

10/14/2022 Bruce Strom 3

To understand WEB Du Bois, you must first know that he was truly an intellectual, you could almost say that he was incapable of pouring out his feelings; rather, he can instead deliver a thirty-minute soliloquy of his feelings, displaying little emotion. Indeed, this is how WEB Dubois describes his autobiography: “This book is the Soliloquy of an old man on what he dreams his life has been as he sees it slowly drifting away; and what he would like others to believe.” […]

History

Pope Pius XII, Wartime Pope, Could the Pope Have Done More To Save the Jews?

10/12/2022 Bruce Strom 6

The major questions raised about the wartime policies of Pope Pius XII were:
Why did the pope say so little when the Nazis were committing brutal atrocities, both against Jews and also Catholics in Poland?
Why did the pope not protest more forcefully against the persecution of the Jews?
We wonder why Hitler, when the Nazis occupied Rome, didn’t simply march into the Vatican and capture or at least intimidate the pope? […]

History

Pope Pius XII, Wartime Pope, Allied Powers Turn the Tide of War

10/07/2022 Bruce Strom 6

When do the Italians first realize that Mussolini and Hitler might possibly lose the war? Our beloved author gives us a hint exactly halfway through his book, The Pope At War, when, “late on the night of October 22, 1942, wave after wave of British bombers swooped below the clouds over Genoa, Italy, and released hundreds of bombs.” Later, Milan and Turin would be bombed. Soon after, Rommel’s Afrika Corps would be defeated, and American soldiers waded ashore in North Africa in Operation Torch. […]

History

Pope Pius XII, Wartime Pope, Axis Powers March Across Europe

10/05/2022 Bruce Strom 7

The complete archives of Pope Pius XII were opened in 2019, then were closed for Covid, and our favorite author David Kertzer was waiting on the steps for the archives to open so he could begin his next enthralling book, The Pope at War, filling in much detail on the years of the war. Maybe he should have titled the book, The Pope Behind Enemy Lines During WWII, but he did not ask me.

Cardinal Pacelli, former Nuncio, or ambassador to Nazi Germany, was crowned Pope Pius XII, taking the same name to signal that no major changes were planned in his papacy, mere months before World War II erupted in Poland. […]

Five Minute History

How Did Confessing Christians Tolerate Hitler? Excerpts From Post-War Interviews

09/23/2022 Bruce Strom 2

The war softened the hearts of many Germans. One German remembers shopping during the time of the brutal Allied bombing of Berlin, the “shopkeeper was talking to another customer whom she knew and said, ‘This is the punishment for what we’ve done to the Jews.’ And she dared to say that much, although I was a stranger in her shop.” […]

Five Minute History

WWII Lessons: What Happens When Politicians Promote Violence? Comparing Mussolini and Hitler to Trump

09/21/2022 Bruce Strom 0

The Fascist movements in Italy and Germany came to power with assistance by large gangs of fascist thugs who bullied, beat up, and sometimes murdered their opponents. These fascist thugs were drawn from the millions of veterans of the bloody fighting in the tranches of World War I. After assuming dictatorial powers Mussolini promised the Pope that he would reign in his thugs, but this was a promise he never fully kept, in part because these fascist gangs were hard to control, in part because he wanted to remind the Pope who was really in charge, who alone could rein in the gangs. […]

AntiSemitism

Viktor Frankl’s Logo-therapy, Man’s Search For Meaning in Life, Love, and Suffering

09/16/2022 Bruce Strom 5

Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, is a life-changing book and one of my favorites, it touched me deeply when I first read it many years ago. The main theme of the book is no matter what challenges you face in your life, or how busy you are, you always have time to be kind to all those whom you encounter, to be a positive influence on the lives whom you touch. Although he does not directly mention stoicism, his account of how he survived Auschwitz is a living example how a stoic mindset can help you survive and thrive through any challenge life may throw at you. […]