http://www.realclearreligion.com/index.phpreal clearengen@real clearreligion.comCopyright 20072007-03-20T16:38:54-07:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:47:13 -0800gen@real clearreligion.comNone2007-03-20T16:38:54-07:00http://www.realclearreligion.com/the_real_enemy_of_the_west_files/ef4ab6066efcc2a5a4ae9c7cbdc01190-0.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.realclearreligion.com/the_real_enemy_of_the_west_files/ef4ab6066efcc2a5a4ae9c7cbdc01190-0.html#unique-entry-id-0
The true enemy of the West is not Islam, nor is it the decline of morality and decency. These are merely symptoms resulting from a larger problem. The true enemy is the mass apostasy from Christianity.

The last century witnessed the decline of faith at a tremendous rate. The Age of Reason or the "Enlightenment" which was centered in Europe, was the birth of modern thought. Ironically it is also when apostasy took hold. With not only millions, but seemingly entire nations and peoples, leaving the Faith the inevitable consequence is the devastation of reason.

The "enlightenment" rejected the natural harmony between reason and faith. It has now become imperative that this harmony between faith and reason be restored in the West if it is to survive.

We are seeing the fruit of this devastation of reason on a magnified and indeed a global scale in the secular left's approach to Islamic jihad. Unfortunately, the gravity of this threat is barely acknowledged by many in the West. It is understood to be a curious social phenomenon isolated to a few radicalized muslims that have been mistreated in some manner by the West. The proposed solutions invariably take the shape of social programs, blind tolerance and appeasements which are detrimental to Western culture.

Modern secular minds devoid of the light of grace cannot reason through these muddy and tumultuous times. They fail to perceive the danger before their eyes-- and it is precisely in this failure that they become our worst enemies.

"Now the Faith is based upon reason, and everywhere outside the Faith the decline of reason is apparent." --Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals.

The Pope's recent condemnation of the idea of jihad, or holy war, as contrary to reason and God’s plan, highlights how reason, or the lack thereof, translates into a dangerous world view. Likewise, the secular left's approach to Islam reveals a critical failure in the modern mind, and ultimately poses a deadly threat to the West. Without the light of faith, the world is at a loss to comprehend and provide solutions to the West's predicament.

These fallen away Christians of the West tolerate everything except Christianity. It is a self-loathing and self-defeating version of "charity" that condemns all things Western and prefers all non-western ideas.

Evelyn Waugh said..."Today we can see it on all sides as the active negation of all that Western culture has stood for. Civilization - and by this I do not mean talking cinemas and tinned food, nor even surgery and hygienic houses, but the whole moral and artistic organization of Europe - has not in itself the power of survival. It came into being through Christianity, and without it has no significance or power to command allegiance. The loss of faith in Christianity and the consequential lack of confidence in moral and social standards have become embodied in the ideal of a materialistic, mechanized state . . . It is no longer possible . . . to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis upon which it rests."

All around us is splintered christianity. Reason has not only declined in the secular West it has also dismally declined in christianity. In fact, it has declined to such an extent that it is difficult to decipher the mind of a christian vs. that of a worldling. If reason were truly enlightened by the Christian faith, one would hear from the churches that gay marriage is destructive to our culture; that the right-to-die will lead to the duty-to-die; that birth control will lead to promiscuity and depopulation; that divorce and remarriage is bad for children and has generational consequences; that abortion will errode respect for life; and that mothers need to rear their children. Some of these truths are heard in some churches but all of these things, and more, are only heard today from one church--the Catholic Church.

"There is no parallel between the Catholic Church and any other institution. There is no parallel between the Catholic Church and any other man made grouping of opinions or of moods. She is wholly distinct. As with her founder, so with Her: all that is not of Her is against Her; for She claims, and Her adherents maintain the claim, that Hers is the one and the only authoritative voice upon earth."...Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals.

God did not abandon His people to subjective self interpretation. He left us a Church that transcends worldly reason and understanding by the light of faith. Many churches today tickle the ears of members rather than provide sound doctrine. The hard teachings of Jesus have been watered down in the mega and mainline churches. Laxity and feel good psychology is disguised as religion. This laxity however does not hold the masses' loyalty and attention. Rather, it is the counter-cultural hard teachings that demand discipline, true conversion and that ultimately attract the youth and loyal adherents.

Non-catholic christianity fails to speak to the world with one voice on these critically important matters that mean life or death for the West. Now more than ever our world needs a genuine "re-enlightenment" or an enlightenment of the enlightenment--where faith and reason are harmonized again and not based simply upon man's subjective understanding and experience. Without this enlightenment of reason, and a return to the Faith we become the West's worst enemies.

"The curious have remarked that one institution alone for now nineteen hundred years has been attacked not by one opposing principal but from every conceivable point. It has been denounced on all sides and for reasons successively incompatible; it has suffered the contempt, the hatred and the ephemeral triumph of enemies as diverse as the diversity of things could produce. The institution is called the Catholic Church." Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals. The true enemy of the West is not Islam, nor is it the decline of morality and decency. These are merely symptoms resulting from a larger problem. The true enemy is the mass apostasy from Christianity.

The last century witnessed the decline of faith at a tremendous rate. The Age of Reason or the "Enlightenment" which was centered in Europe, was the birth of modern thought. Ironically it is also when apostasy took hold. With not only millions, but seemingly entire nations and peoples, leaving the Faith the inevitable consequence is the devastation of reason.

The "enlightenment" rejected the natural harmony between reason and faith. It has now become imperative that this harmony between faith and reason be restored in the West if it is to survive.

We are seeing the fruit of this devastation of reason on a magnified and indeed a global scale in the secular left's approach to Islamic jihad. Unfortunately, the gravity of this threat is barely acknowledged by many in the West. It is understood to be a curious social phenomenon isolated to a few radicalized muslims that have been mistreated in some manner by the West. The proposed solutions invariably take the shape of social programs, blind tolerance and appeasements which are detrimental to Western culture.

Modern secular minds devoid of the light of grace cannot reason through these muddy and tumultuous times. They fail to perceive the danger before their eyes-- and it is precisely in this failure that they become our worst enemies.

"Now the Faith is based upon reason, and everywhere outside the Faith the decline of reason is apparent." --Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals.

The Pope's recent condemnation of the idea of jihad, or holy war, as contrary to reason and God’s plan, highlights how reason, or the lack thereof, translates into a dangerous world view. Likewise, the secular left's approach to Islam reveals a critical failure in the modern mind, and ultimately poses a deadly threat to the West. Without the light of faith, the world is at a loss to comprehend and provide solutions to the West's predicament.

These fallen away Christians of the West tolerate everything except Christianity. It is a self-loathing and self-defeating version of "charity" that condemns all things Western and prefers all non-western ideas.

Evelyn Waugh said..."Today we can see it on all sides as the active negation of all that Western culture has stood for. Civilization - and by this I do not mean talking cinemas and tinned food, nor even surgery and hygienic houses, but the whole moral and artistic organization of Europe - has not in itself the power of survival. It came into being through Christianity, and without it has no significance or power to command allegiance. The loss of faith in Christianity and the consequential lack of confidence in moral and social standards have become embodied in the ideal of a materialistic, mechanized state . . . It is no longer possible . . . to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis upon which it rests."

All around us is splintered christianity. Reason has not only declined in the secular West it has also dismally declined in christianity. In fact, it has declined to such an extent that it is difficult to decipher the mind of a christian vs. that of a worldling. If reason were truly enlightened by the Christian faith, one would hear from the churches that gay marriage is destructive to our culture; that the right-to-die will lead to the duty-to-die; that birth control will lead to promiscuity and depopulation; that divorce and remarriage is bad for children and has generational consequences; that abortion will errode respect for life; and that mothers need to rear their children. Some of these truths are heard in some churches but all of these things, and more, are only heard today from one church--the Catholic Church.

"There is no parallel between the Catholic Church and any other institution. There is no parallel between the Catholic Church and any other man made grouping of opinions or of moods. She is wholly distinct. As with her founder, so with Her: all that is not of Her is against Her; for She claims, and Her adherents maintain the claim, that Hers is the one and the only authoritative voice upon earth."...Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals.

God did not abandon His people to subjective self interpretation. He left us a Church that transcends worldly reason and understanding by the light of faith. Many churches today tickle the ears of members rather than provide sound doctrine. The hard teachings of Jesus have been watered down in the mega and mainline churches. Laxity and feel good psychology is disguised as religion. This laxity however does not hold the masses' loyalty and attention. Rather, it is the counter-cultural hard teachings that demand discipline, true conversion and that ultimately attract the youth and loyal adherents.

Non-catholic christianity fails to speak to the world with one voice on these critically important matters that mean life or death for the West. Now more than ever our world needs a genuine "re-enlightenment" or an enlightenment of the enlightenment--where faith and reason are harmonized again and not based simply upon man's subjective understanding and experience. Without this enlightenment of reason, and a return to the Faith we become the West's worst enemies.

"The curious have remarked that one institution alone for now nineteen hundred years has been attacked not by one opposing principal but from every conceivable point. It has been denounced on all sides and for reasons successively incompatible; it has suffered the contempt, the hatred and the ephemeral triumph of enemies as diverse as the diversity of things could produce. The institution is called the Catholic Church." Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals. The true enemy of the West is not Islam, nor is it the decline of morality and decency. These are merely symptoms resulting from a larger problem. The true enemy is the mass apostasy from Christianity.

The last century witnessed the decline of faith at a tremendous rate. The Age of Reason or the "Enlightenment" which was centered in Europe, was the birth of modern thought. Ironically it is also when apostasy took hold. With not only millions, but seemingly entire nations and peoples, leaving the Faith the inevitable consequence is the devastation of reason.

The "enlightenment" rejected the natural harmony between reason and faith. It has now become imperative that this harmony between faith and reason be restored in the West if it is to survive.

We are seeing the fruit of this devastation of reason on a magnified and indeed a global scale in the secular left's approach to Islamic jihad. Unfortunately, the gravity of this threat is barely acknowledged by many in the West. It is understood to be a curious social phenomenon isolated to a few radicalized muslims that have been mistreated in some manner by the West. The proposed solutions invariably take the shape of social programs, blind tolerance and appeasements which are detrimental to Western culture.

Modern secular minds devoid of the light of grace cannot reason through these muddy and tumultuous times. They fail to perceive the danger before their eyes-- and it is precisely in this failure that they become our worst enemies.

"Now the Faith is based upon reason, and everywhere outside the Faith the decline of reason is apparent." --Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals.

The Pope's recent condemnation of the idea of jihad, or holy war, as contrary to reason and God’s plan, highlights how reason, or the lack thereof, translates into a dangerous world view. Likewise, the secular left's approach to Islam reveals a critical failure in the modern mind, and ultimately poses a deadly threat to the West. Without the light of faith, the world is at a loss to comprehend and provide solutions to the West's predicament.

These fallen away Christians of the West tolerate everything except Christianity. It is a self-loathing and self-defeating version of "charity" that condemns all things Western and prefers all non-western ideas.

Evelyn Waugh said..."Today we can see it on all sides as the active negation of all that Western culture has stood for. Civilization - and by this I do not mean talking cinemas and tinned food, nor even surgery and hygienic houses, but the whole moral and artistic organization of Europe - has not in itself the power of survival. It came into being through Christianity, and without it has no significance or power to command allegiance. The loss of faith in Christianity and the consequential lack of confidence in moral and social standards have become embodied in the ideal of a materialistic, mechanized state . . . It is no longer possible . . . to accept the benefits of civilization and at the same time deny the supernatural basis upon which it rests."

All around us is splintered christianity. Reason has not only declined in the secular West it has also dismally declined in christianity. In fact, it has declined to such an extent that it is difficult to decipher the mind of a christian vs. that of a worldling. If reason were truly enlightened by the Christian faith, one would hear from the churches that gay marriage is destructive to our culture; that the right-to-die will lead to the duty-to-die; that birth control will lead to promiscuity and depopulation; that divorce and remarriage is bad for children and has generational consequences; that abortion will errode respect for life; and that mothers need to rear their children. Some of these truths are heard in some churches but all of these things, and more, are only heard today from one church--the Catholic Church.

"There is no parallel between the Catholic Church and any other institution. There is no parallel between the Catholic Church and any other man made grouping of opinions or of moods. She is wholly distinct. As with her founder, so with Her: all that is not of Her is against Her; for She claims, and Her adherents maintain the claim, that Hers is the one and the only authoritative voice upon earth."...Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals.

God did not abandon His people to subjective self interpretation. He left us a Church that transcends worldly reason and understanding by the light of faith. Many churches today tickle the ears of members rather than provide sound doctrine. The hard teachings of Jesus have been watered down in the mega and mainline churches. Laxity and feel good psychology is disguised as religion. This laxity however does not hold the masses' loyalty and attention. Rather, it is the counter-cultural hard teachings that demand discipline, true conversion and that ultimately attract the youth and loyal adherents.

Non-catholic christianity fails to speak to the world with one voice on these critically important matters that mean life or death for the West. Now more than ever our world needs a genuine "re-enlightenment" or an enlightenment of the enlightenment--where faith and reason are harmonized again and not based simply upon man's subjective understanding and experience. Without this enlightenment of reason, and a return to the Faith we become the West's worst enemies.

"The curious have remarked that one institution alone for now nineteen hundred years has been attacked not by one opposing principal but from every conceivable point. It has been denounced on all sides and for reasons successively incompatible; it has suffered the contempt, the hatred and the ephemeral triumph of enemies as diverse as the diversity of things could produce. The institution is called the Catholic Church." Hillaire Belloc, Survivals and New Arrivals. ]]>