- Feb 5, 2002
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Let us avoid talk of a ‘culture war’ when what we are engaged in is nothing less than a lethal spiritual conflict.
The biggest mistake we make is in believing that we are in a so-called ‘culture war.’ The phrase ‘culture war’ assumes that both sides have rival cultures they are battling to defend and promote. However, the enemies of civilisation, of life, and love, have no culture. If anything, their aim is not only to destroy the great cultural and spiritual achievements of the West, but to lay waste to anything that transcends the diabolical and obscene. Culture presupposes beauty, order, and tranquillity. It assumes those moral and spiritual values upon which harmony and holiness depend. In word, rite, song, and ritual; it idealises what William Blake termed “the human form divine.” In our “brave new world,” however, the human form is considered neither divine nor worthy of reverence or respect. It has been reduced to what Roger Scruton called its “animal essentials”—a purely natural object that can be remade in the image and likeness of anything but God. Put simply, the only ‘culture’ that is on offer is that of death and desecration, of defilement and the demonic.
Therefore, let us avoid talk of a ‘culture war’ when what we are engaged in is nothing less than a lethal spiritual conflict. If you perceive the assault on marriage, the family, innocence, and the very nature of the biological order, as a culture war, you will be at a loss to explain why there is a such a ferocious attack on the sanctity of sexuality. You will struggle to explain to children why heterosexuality is not simply one of many competing options, or why euthanasia is not an act of mercy for the critically ill, or why puberty blockers are not a lifestyle choice but an outrageous violation of natural sexual development. That is why we must see this confrontation for what it is: a spiritual war in which the forces of darkness are seeking to ravage everything that is good, beautiful, and true.
When you observe our current predicament from that standpoint, the prevailing madness makes perfect sense. However, most Christians and conservatives hesitate to use the word “evil” when describing the forces that we face. Having bought into the psychobabble of the age, they often opt to explain it in purely naturalistic or psychological terms. I did so myself for many years until I realised the gravity of what was happening around me, and that it simply could not be explained as an ideological aberration. I did so until I understood that the sacred scriptures do not confuse psychological and spiritual sickness. Christ, in other words, did not mistake clinical depression for diabolical possession.
Continued below.
europeanconservative.com
The biggest mistake we make is in believing that we are in a so-called ‘culture war.’ The phrase ‘culture war’ assumes that both sides have rival cultures they are battling to defend and promote. However, the enemies of civilisation, of life, and love, have no culture. If anything, their aim is not only to destroy the great cultural and spiritual achievements of the West, but to lay waste to anything that transcends the diabolical and obscene. Culture presupposes beauty, order, and tranquillity. It assumes those moral and spiritual values upon which harmony and holiness depend. In word, rite, song, and ritual; it idealises what William Blake termed “the human form divine.” In our “brave new world,” however, the human form is considered neither divine nor worthy of reverence or respect. It has been reduced to what Roger Scruton called its “animal essentials”—a purely natural object that can be remade in the image and likeness of anything but God. Put simply, the only ‘culture’ that is on offer is that of death and desecration, of defilement and the demonic.
Therefore, let us avoid talk of a ‘culture war’ when what we are engaged in is nothing less than a lethal spiritual conflict. If you perceive the assault on marriage, the family, innocence, and the very nature of the biological order, as a culture war, you will be at a loss to explain why there is a such a ferocious attack on the sanctity of sexuality. You will struggle to explain to children why heterosexuality is not simply one of many competing options, or why euthanasia is not an act of mercy for the critically ill, or why puberty blockers are not a lifestyle choice but an outrageous violation of natural sexual development. That is why we must see this confrontation for what it is: a spiritual war in which the forces of darkness are seeking to ravage everything that is good, beautiful, and true.
When you observe our current predicament from that standpoint, the prevailing madness makes perfect sense. However, most Christians and conservatives hesitate to use the word “evil” when describing the forces that we face. Having bought into the psychobabble of the age, they often opt to explain it in purely naturalistic or psychological terms. I did so myself for many years until I realised the gravity of what was happening around me, and that it simply could not be explained as an ideological aberration. I did so until I understood that the sacred scriptures do not confuse psychological and spiritual sickness. Christ, in other words, did not mistake clinical depression for diabolical possession.
Continued below.
The Religion of Antichrist
Let us avoid talk of a ‘culture war’ when what we are engaged in is nothing less than a lethal spiritual conflict.
europeanconservative.com
