How ancient Christendom can help save America today
There are essentially two reasons that I post anything on Facebook. One could even call these reasons missions. These missions are themselves driven by one, higher, overarching vision of defending and promoting the Catholic faith. It is the purpose of this essay to bring forward one of these missions in order to discuss what I believe to be one of the most important weapons we have in our country today to defend against the endless subjugation of traditional Christian values to an aggressive onslaught of secularism, multiculturalism, and relativism. And note that I am not proposing an argument here that we are, or are not, a “Christian” nation, nor that we were, or were not, founded as a “Christian” nation. My proposition is simply that whatever we are, and whatever we were founded as, we have nonetheless become a nation that seems intent, both consciously and subconsciously, on driving out what Christian culture we have. That anti-Christian forces are waging a spiritual and cultural war on Christian culture is an objective fact that only the most naive or intellectually dishonest will deny.
Multiculturalism is one of the chief
methods used by secularists to mitigate Christian influence. Contrary to
the warm and fuzzy connotation derived from the label, Multiculturalism
does not at all seek to merely recognize other cultures as being of the
same dignity as the Christian one; the former, in fact, seeks to
vengefully usurp the latter. In this scheme, one must recognize and
tearfully honor non-Christian cultures, but one must not, ever, defend
nor promote the Christian one. Further to this scheme, the former
attitude is called “love and tolerance” while the latter is, well, nigh
on intolerance and hatred. The cultural surrender of Christianity is the
only show of “tolerance” that Multiculturalists will accept. If you
feel oppressed by these intimidation tactics of the non-Christian
cultures, and you feel unable to speak proudly and defensively about
your Christian faith and heritage, you may be comforted by the rest of
this essay. If you disagree with the propositions above, you might be
disturbed by what follows. Either way, you might just find it
interesting.
Now, the two missions are not difficult
to define for even the most casual observer on my page: (1) I zealously
and without shame evangelize for my Catholic faith. The fire of love
roars through my heart for this magnificent Faith, and I care not if I
am mocked or ignored. Evangelization knows nothing but He Whom we love
and cares little for the opinion of man; and, (2) I believe that the
ancestral heritage a majority of us in this country claim, and which
derives from the ancient fields of medieval Europe, is a key to saving
Christian culture in America today. It is actually mission (2) that is
the thesis here.
Let us work our way to this thesis by
stepping back to observe the vision that encompasses it. That vision
driving my missions can be summed up as follows: that Christianity,
notably, Catholicism as the only true and fully authentic Christian
Church, is the true religion, the full revelation of God for the entire
world, and that other religions only contain truth insofar as they fit
with Catholic truths (and if you are Catholic and do not believe
something like the above, I honestly do not know how you can defend what
you do believe about Christianity). Religious relativism IS the state
religion of America. One must not believe anything to be really true so
far as it might assert itself as a dominant belief. (Say what? Jesus
rose from the dead for me, but He did not rise when it comes to my
neighbor? And if I know that He really did rise, can I truly accept my
neighbor’s non-Christian beliefs as being “equal” to mine? They are not
at all equal!)
This is the core reason we have so much
trouble hanging on to Christianity today. Our existing cultural
foundation is weak. It is all based not just on moral relativity but on
religious relativity. What we truly worship as a nation is that no one
should dare say a religion is absolutely true. In other words our state
managed creed is that nothing can be believed (that is, exhibited
outwardly as true belief), so long as it might offend your neighbor.
This is all the legacy of the religious and philosophical skepticism
that has eroded the Western world for the past 500 years and is sadly
the weakness in our otherwise magnificent constitution.
If twisting the absolute truths about the
resurrection of Christ into mere relative and subjective personal
beliefs is the essential problem, the practical issue is that other
cultures do not play by the same rules (and this by the design of the
secularists who wish to use Multiculturalism as a Christianity-snuffer).
But there is a weapon here, a tactic if you will, that we Christians
are not using well enough, nor even at all. It is a tactic that many
would have never imagined.
Many of us growing up were taught, and
rightfully, that separation of Church and State is at the very bedrock
of our constitution. It is the foundational strength of our country’s
creed (and America is founded on a creed). And what was it against which
the comparison was made? It was, of course, the oppressive systems of
Europe driven from antiquity by a superstitious and power driven Church;
ruled by Popes and kept in chains by Inquisitions…and… I simply cannot
go on here… the vision is just too frightful. But we are free of all
that now! No more meddling in the affairs of state nor private life by
curmudgeon Popes. Now, was that not the general thought process in
defending separation of Church and State?
Well, I would suggest that the “thing” we so despised in setting up our
system: (1) was not so horrifying and, in fact, was magnificent and in
many ways superior to our own system, and (2) is a key battle axe for
modern Americans to regain the rights of Christianity in our public
life, including schools and government. Why would I say such a thing?
Christendom, under the auspices of the
Holy Roman Empire, rose from the ashes of the pagan Roman Empire and
preserved civilization through the Dark Ages. In the Dark Ages the
Church found itself as the only viable authority in a wasteland of a
dried up pagan Empire whose capital had been moved far eastward to
Constantinople, leaving the West to wither away. Barbarians did not
overrun the old Empire; in fact, the Roman Empire did not even “fall.”
It died, leaving in its wake a battle for supremacy between barbarian
warriors who had hitherto been integrated into, and were actually part
of, the old Roman Army. The baptism of Clovis in the late 5th century,
followed by his military victories, began the establishment of true
Christian culture as heir apparent in the Roman West (thus facilitating,
even precipitating, the end of the Arian heresy that had nearly
subjugated the decree of Constantine in the 4th century). A few
centuries forward, toward the end of the Dark Ages, the crowning of
Charlemagne by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in the year 800 marked the
beginning of a truly temporal religious Empire ruled by Christian
authority. This Empire would last through the 19th century on paper but
had been irreparably crippled by the Protestant Revolution in the 16th.
The people of Middle Ages Christendom
would have revolted by sword against the idea of separation of Church
and State. They not only did not feel oppressed in the Holy Roman
Empire, they gave their lives to protect it. After the chant rose of
“Deus Vult!” (in Latin), or “God wills it!” in the aftermath of Pope
Urban II’s call for Crusade at Clermont in November of 1095, the
Crusaders marched toward Jerusalem in a mob of one half to three
quarters of a million souls, families in whole, women and children, who
followed the knights to defend their land, their culture, and their
religion against the aggression of the Mohammedan. Who in the United
States today would voluntarily leave everything to take their family on a
two thousand mile hike to likely death to defend our land and culture?
These were not oppressed people; they were more alive than we are today
in the Western world. They actually believed something.
And more, this Empire developed the
higher education university system we have today along with the
translations of Greek and Arabic texts that introduced the scientific
method in the West. It developed the foundations for the economic
sciences. Christendom produced one who is considered by many to be the
greatest philosopher in the two thousand years between Aristotle and
Descartes, that is, St. Thomas Aquinas. It was Christendom that produced
the Renaissance, St. Francis of Assisi, King St. Louis, St. Joan of
Arc, Copernicus, Michelangelo, Blaise Pascal, and, yes, even Galileo.
Oppressed and ignorant? Hardly. (Galileo’s theories were accepted and
welcomed by the Church, as were Copernicus’ similar theories well
before, but restrained until they could be proven. Galileo’s
unwillingness to cooperate with that cost him some freedoms, but he was
given a quite comfortable “house arrest.”)
So, just how is it that we can leverage
this powerful civilization to help America today? Foremost, we can
leverage it through the cultural battle. Today, one is silenced and
shamed (maybe even arrested) when speaking publicly of Christian
religion (though not of any other religion). Christianity is banned from
the public spaces and our schools. But “cultural diversity” programs
are all the rage. We are required (as part of our unwritten and
non-articulated state religion) to admire and honor everyone. If a New
Age Wiccan comes to school to celebrate the greatness of pre-Christian
Ireland and it’s Druid paganism, we must all applaud (for “love” means
tolerance and acceptance of every belief – except, of course, the
Christians who cannot even present at the event). The same scenario
would hold true for any other non-Christian culture.
Well, I have an idea. How about I stand
up and unveil the cross of the Templar Knights who courageously fought
the pagan Mohammedans in Jerusalem? Or maybe a discussion on how St
Francis truly reformed society through reforming the Church in the 13th
century? A little philosophy from Thomas Aquinas would “do you real
good” as we used to say back home in Oklahoma. How about the
Benedictines who developed a rule of life for that whole society
(superior, perhaps, to that of Confucius? Heaven forbid you say that!)
and who kept the Bible alive in handwritten copies for almost one
thousand years before the development of the printing press?
“But you cannot bring Christianity to
school!” The heckers (imagine a tougher word there) I can’t. It is part
of my ancestry. My ancestors from Christendom had a vibrant civilization
that was inherently tied to the institutionalized Church and the
Christian Faith. They were one and the same. Europe WAS the
institutional Church in those days. The institutional Church is not only
a religious and historical fact, it is a cultural identity. And therein
lies the trap we have set for the anti-Christians. You may expel my
religion, but dare you expel my culture and heritage? After the Druid
guy is done and the Buddhist poetry reading is over, let’s talk some
more about Christianity in the Middle Ages. Let’s teach it accurately in
world history (and a history of the West that excludes what I have
outlined above is no history at all.) I have every right to expect my
ancestral heritage to be as honored and recognized as the next guy’s (or
gal’s). We may not be able to bring Christianity into the schools but
dare anyone exclude Christendom?
Yes, that antiquated system and
institutional Church that served as the anti-government in the forming
of our own constitution may be just the thing to help save Christianity
in our country today. Where is Crusader Appreciation Day in the list of
school holidays?
Those of us who descend from ancient
Christendom, and who wish to save Christian culture (and therefore our
country) have a duty to rise and defend our cultural heritage. We do not
desire to elevate ourselves above others; on the contrary, we are
currently lying almost dead on the floor. I would think other cultures
who embrace Christianity (e.g., the African continent is the savior of
the Church these days; the Philippines and Mexico remain among the most
ardent and true; it is the European West that is actually dead in faith
today) would be looking down at us on the floor and begging us to just
get up. “Get up ancestor of Christendom,” the African, Asian, and Latin
American faithful should be begging us, “and fight for the proper
respect of your heritage. And through it you will perhaps revive a sense
of wonder and gratitude among our school children for Christianity in
the West. Maybe we can bring Christianity back to our schools after
all.”
Yes, rise up ancestors of Charlemagne, of
the Crusaders, of that magnificent civilization of Christendom. Rise up
and demand the same air time in schools and government functions. Do it
proudly. After all, “God wills it”.
Deus Vult.
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