Amy and the Anchoress
"From the dawn of the Republic, America's quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator." Pope Benedict XVI, The White House, Washington, Wednesday, 16 April 2008. Yes, of course, many crimes have been committed in the name of God, but no Christian leader was ever as barbaric as Hitler, or Stalin, or Mao, or Pol Pot or Saddam. Those monsters were not constrained by a moral order based on the dominion of a forgiving God. They were God. They were unforgiving. Our secularist friends who worship reason and adore Darwin need to think very carefully about what might happen if the Christian God is removed from our culture. The tolerant and inquiring societies they live in are not the ultimate products of secularism. Opposition is not welcomed and the arts do not flourish in China or Cuba. Russia and Vietnam do not endure dissent. Reason is a very fine thing, indeed, but, as the 20th century proved, when the heart rules the head the road can lead to the abattoir. Benedict's words should give us cause to ponder on what happened in the secularist societies of the recent past.
The Anchoress has some very acute observations about the man in white and Amy Welborn is insightful and wise when it comes to assessing the big picture.
Comments
How is Russia not a christian country? How was nazi Germany not a christian country? Will Ireland cease to be a christian country if Brian Cowen doesn't go to mass every sunday?
Posted by: coc | April 17, 2008 11:51 AM
Er, Communist Russia was officially atheistic. The gulags held many clergy and believers. There were also some Orthodox priests who worked as informers and stooges for the Communists.
Clerical collaborators -both Protestant and Lutheran - also existed in Nazi Germany. But there were also many brave priests and ministers who were martyred for resisting Hitler's regime. Ever heard of Sophie Scholl and 'The White Rose?' Sophie and her friends were devout Catholics.
In "Hitler's Table Talk," he is recorded as saying that when the war was over and he was master of all Europe, he would hang the Pope in St. Peter's Square. He also predicted that the Christian faith in Europe would dwindle away under the 1000 year Reich and the only people left in church would be "old women."
Well, it looks like he wasn't entirely wrong, now, was he?
Posted by: Donna | April 19, 2008 4:36 AM