Putting aside for now which side is which, C.S. Lewis has defined the basic difference between the political Right and the political Left. One side sees the world as a struggle between good and evil.
The other side battles against those who have such a simple black and white view of the world. I have come to the realization that the words we use to describe our political divide have been defined by the second side, those who do not know about either good or evil. They cannot see the difference. They do not see that the political divide is the ongoing struggle between good and evil. They do not see that evil hides behind good intentions and lives in shades of gray where it rarely reveals its true nature. There is no such thing as an ideological spectrum with Liberals on one end, Conservatives on the other end, and Moderates in the middle. Those on the Left are not Liberals and Progressives fighting against tradition. Those on the Right side are not Conservatives defending tradition. There are no such things as Moderates. Despite the overwhelming acceptance of these perceptions, they are all wrong.
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Barbarism for the Left and Christianity on the Right: That is the correct divide.
ReplyDeleteIn part the Left also seems to be against nature. So, a barbarian or civilised non-Christian would still likely value his family more than one of these secular beasts from the "West" today.
Regarding "Nazis": The fascist argument seems to be that man must pursue power to resist conquest by Communism. That's not to justify what was done.
My approach to politics has been more that I'd like a state that's so difficult to conquer that no one would bother. But not everyone has the geography of Switzerland.
Russia is only able to resist the US, because Russia is strong. China also. So, there's something to be said for strength.
The author has some strange views. Monarchy is certainly not anti-Christian.
I think the author is somewhat in denial about the true situation of the US and Europe. We're post-Christian today, which is a sad thing. We've got some serious problems, and we will not continue to enjoy such power as in the past I think.
The power the West enjoys today we won in part by burning Christianity. We looted the monasteries, pursued efficient, secular living. And we haven't been able to preserve our Christian institutions and customs since then.
So, the Christian civilisation of old was inefficient, had been in need of reform, but it looks to me that we went too far with the reform.
We need, for example, a sort of monastery to protect us from Hollywood. The Greek pagans would never have allowed something like Hollywood to corrupt them. We've fallen below pagans in our cultural openness today.
I'm not saying Catholicism is the answer, but we're too open today. That openness, that classical liberalism, I would categorise as vulnerable to barbarism. Rootless individuals have no defences and so are at the mercy of outsiders.
But the author is correct in his core statement: Barbarism vs. Christianity.
I just don't believe we're necessarily very civilised and Christian today.
I don't want to ever type that I expect bad things in the future, because then I appear to be saying I want such things. But I think we'll have to relearn why societies can't be so open haha, the same way a child gets a spanking. We're going to suffer some losses, but Christ will be victorious in the end.
Monarchy is certainly not anti-Christian.
DeleteWe're post-Christian today, which is a sad thing. We've got some serious problems, and we will not continue to enjoy such power as in the past I think.
The Greek pagans would never have allowed something like Hollywood to corrupt them. We've fallen below pagans in our cultural openness today.
Rootless individuals have no defences and so are at the mercy of outsiders.
Thanks and agreed.
Thanks for the comments on my post. I can see that I need to expand what I mean about monarchies, but, basically it is this: if you are born to be King and my ruler, then I am not born equal to you. The Christian truth is that we are all born as equally pathetic sinners.
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