Church and State and Nation:

 

 

"We have all of us- the whole Church and the whole community-we've been thrown into the Tempter's sieve, and he is shaking and the wind is blowing and it must now become manifest whether we are wheat or chaff: Truly, a time of sifting has come upon us, and even the most indolent and peaceful person among us must see that the calm of a meditative Christianity is at an end....

It is now springtime for the hopeful and expectant Christian Church--it is testing time, and God is giving Satan a free hand, so he may shake us up and so that it may be seen what manner of men and women we are...

 

Satan swings his sieve and Christianity is thrown here and to and he who is not ready to suffer,he or she who has called him or herself a Christian only because he or she hoped to gain something for themselves and their nation is blown away like chaff by the wind of time."

Niemoller.

[ Speaking to his congregation under Nazi Germany.]

( from Digital Anvil )