Posted on 11/11/2018 5:43:39 AM PST by CondoleezzaProtege
Alexander Solzhenitsyn had once asked why, in 1914, a Europe "bursting with health and abundance" had "fallen into a rage of self-mutilation"; and the Russian writer offered the same explanation as he did for all the disasters of the early 20th century: man had "forgotten God".
Anyone will agree that there was a decline in the importance of religion during and after the first world war. Theocratically-based regimes, notably the Russian and Ottoman empires, were replaced by secular ones. In western Europe, Protestant and Catholic clergy struggled to explain the seemingly senseless horrors of the war to their flock. It is more contentious to argue that secularisation was a cause as well as an effect of war.
But in his article, elaborating on an earlier lecture, Mr Weigel lists the secular ideas that were supplanting religion before 1914. They include racial theories based on the superiority of the Slavic or Teutonic peoples, and their incompatibility with each other; Friedrich Nietszche's glorification of destruction and power; distorted forms of Darwinism which saw the survival of the fittest as a prescription for an endless arms race. He thinks that religion itself was corrupted by secular nationalism, to the point where many of Europe's clergy saw nothing but merit in killing fellow Christians of a different nation.
Mr Weigel does acknowledge one counter-argument that would be offered by anybody who knows a bit of European history. The whole political order of modern Europe arguably has its roots in a benign project to stop the endless sectarian conflict which devastated the continent in the 17th century. But he insists that "the erosion of religious authority in Europe...created a European moral-cultural environment in which politics were no longer bound and constrained by a higher authority operative in the minds and consciences of leaders and populations."
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
French President Macron blamed nationalism during his speech in Paris today, but did he give due attention to his own country’s abandonment of the Christian faith?
So, now are we beginning to see why the hand is writing on the wall? Finally?
As much as he may frighten us, we root for our own personal boogeyman to be the villain.
May I add my own? Mine would be the battle between individualism and statism. Makes more sense to me. NAZIs didn't stop at Jews. Russia at democracies. China didn't stop at ... well China never sleeps.
Religion didn’t stop the Ottomans from periodically massacring minorities.
The war started by TERRORISTS, and because of INTERNATIONAL TREATIES OF MUTUAL DEFENSE, it grew into a dumpster fire, where dissent was almost criminalized in part to protect the “honor” of the in-bred monarchs that people were told to fight in the name of.
I would not characterize the Russian regimes as ever being "theocratically based." The Ottomans, sure. They're Islamic. So it naturally follows.
But while the Church played a very important role in Russian society, Russia's rulers were no more theocrats than their counterparts in Prussia, Scandinavia, the Lowlands, or England. There, the leaders paid lip service to Christianity, but their actions in many cases belied their allegiance to biblical principles. Russia under the czars was no different.
Anyone who spent time in Europe traveling about and visiting historic sites would recognize that Europe never fully Christianized.
Intellectual Dribble. Written by someone who likes to hear themselves think. Makes one wonder if the author has ever read Carl von Clausewitz or at least some of his more quotables: War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.”
When the Russian Communists began persecuting the church, the average church attendance dropped from 300 to 15 - a 95% falling away.
Europe and the west is abandoning its ethical and moral foundation . Without that foundation it continues to decline in the face of violent Islam and Chinese encroachment . It will not end well for us and our children.
Europe and the west is abandoning its ethical and moral foundation . Without that foundation it continues to decline in the face of violent Islam and Chinese encroachment . It will not end well for us and our children.
When God states his charges against us they are very clear, not vague, we should do no less.
But I understand the situation. If the issue is homosexuality and one states so, the WHOLE WORLD will be against you. (and we may lose our jobs, wealth and prestige)
oops, sorry, wrong thread.
But yes, we agree and there are consequences. I have often wondered what the faithful thought when the prophets came around and said, “you are going to be captured and carried away.” I guess we will find out... ..
Then I guess it is up to those of us with no jobs, wealth, or prestige to begin with to take the risks.
Then I guess it is up to those of us with no jobs, wealth, or prestige to begin with to take the risks.
Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose? Are we close?
It may not be the actual loss, but the perceived loss?
Then I guess it is up to those of us with no jobs, wealth, or prestige to begin with to take the risks.
When you got nothing you got nothing to lose.
L
There was a sense that nationalism had replaced religion, but it's hard to figure out how true that was or whether that helped to cause the war. Elites were focused on worldly things as before. The poor had too little power and too many problems to be much of a force in politics. Some in the middle classes became fervent nationalists or materialists, but they were stepping into the shoes of the older elites.
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