Preserving the Good in an Age of Cultural Decline

Lydia McGrew, at What's Wrong With the World, has a post on my all-time favorite novel (except for The Lord of the Rings, which is in its own category): A Canticle for Liebowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. She is correct to say that although there is darkness in the book: "At the same time, Canticle is an intensely Christian book and never succumbs to despair."

After introducing the novel, she talks about how it is about preserving good things in the midst of destruction, decline and decadence.

If you know the novel, read this. If not, go to her post here and read her brief introduction to it first. Then continue reading below.

At the moment, none of us expects all of human civilization to be wiped out by nuclear weapons. But there are plenty of destructive cultural forces to go around. In the end, what will be preserved will be preserved only by those who have a powerful creative impulse, an impulse not only towards saying what is wrong with the world but also towards saying what is good, what is great, what is beautiful and important, and what therefore must be preserved, however we are able to keep it.

If you are to be a preserver, you must know not only what you oppose, what you fight against (though you do need to know that) but also what you love, what you guard, what you uphold. It may be the truths of theology, of philosophy, or of science. It may be dance, literature, mathematics, music, or the beauty of visual art. It may be the lives, minds, and hearts of children. It may be the order and peace of a home or the love between man and wife. All these things can be served and nurtured. There are always good things, great things, things worth knowing and worth doing, to the greater glory of God. How blessed we are that, unlike the earliest monks of the Order of Leibowitz, we are able to understand what we preserve, to know not only that it is valuable but why it is valuable.

Everyone who loves the permanent things is invited to join the Order of St. Liebowitz.

Are the Dirty 30's Back Again?

Who was it that said "History does not repeat itself, but sometimes it rhymes"? I'm pretty pessimistic these days compared to the "Progressives" who currently run most of Western civilization, but of course I call it "realism" because a Christian can't be pessimistic long term. But once you have rejected the idea that the world is getting better and better all the time, to think that we are replaying a previous era in significant ways is not really a sign of pessimism, but of optimism. Let me explain.

I see four major parallels with the 1930's in our contemporary situation (the beginning of the 10's).

First, there is another outbreak of the pathology from which Western civilizations has suffered throughout its history: Anti-Semitism - or more accurately: Jew-hatred. For about half a century the liberal side of the spectrum was opposed to Jew-hatred and most North American Jews are well to the left of the political spectrum. Anti-Semitism was something associated with the Right. But in recent years anti-Jewish sentiment - from boycotts of Israel to rejection of biblical morality to (especially in Europe) pro-Arab sentiment - has been growing like a cancer. Now it falls to conservatives - especially member of the much maligned "Religious Right" - to defend Jews.

Second, we are witnessing a huge resurgence of eugenic thinking and behavior. From New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman's glowing approval of China's repressive, one-child policy to the anti-natalism of the new environmentalist religion, we see a greater and greater openness to government dictated policies concerning babies and families. We also see bolder and bolder forays into new reproductive technologies such as cloning, babies with three parents and so on. The ability of the political class to "manage" the population like a herd has grown far beyond the wildest imagination of a Huxley or an Orwell. And, ominously, at this precise moment the idea that human beings are unique beings made in the image of God with an immortal soul is dying out in the West.

Third, we see growing economic crises enveloping the Western world. The European social democratic model is unsustainable and the Obama administration's suicidal economic policies are scaring the wits out of the moderate, independent American voter. We shall see how much progress we have made and to what degree history is over once employment jumps and recession lengthens.

Fourth, we have a fascist, totalitarian, fanatical group of extremists trying to overthrow Western governments and impose their will on the population. This time it is not the Nazis but Islamist terrorists. No one takes them seriously at the moment, just as Hitler's movement was dismissed in the early 30's.

This is a pretty depressing list; so on what basis can I claim to be an optimist instead of a pessimist? Well, it is clear that we have big problems and yet we have faced big problems like these and survived before. So it is not time to get out the "The End is Nigh" signs just yet.

The important thing is to ask how we, as Christians, can live faithfully in such times? And the answer must be that in season and out of season we must proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

My Predictions for 2010

Politics and the Economy
1. The Conservative Party in the UK will fumble a glorious opportunity to win a large majority in the Spring election and one of the smaller parties (either UKIP or the BNP) will make astonishing gains thus changing the electoral landscape radically, possibly even to the extent of holding the balance of power in a hung Parliament.

2. The Conservative Party of Canada will win an historic majority in a Fall election.

3. The Republicans will either gain, or nearly gain, control of the House and gain at least 4-5 seats in the Senate during the 2010 mid-term elections, which will be a referendum on Obama's fiscal, health care, environmental and abortion policies.

4. By late 2010 there will be fierce debate over the introduction of a European-style Value Added Tax and drastic cuts to military spending in the United States in response to a spiraling deficit.

5. By the end of 2010 polls will show Sarah Palin leading Barack Obama and there will be talk of Hilary Clinton challenging Obama for the nomination in 2012.

Religion
6. The Emergent Church movement will gradually fade, though it will take longer than a year for it to be absorbed completely into liberal Protestantism.

7. The Church of England will begin to splinter in 2010 as the Anglican Communion divides into the section that remains in communion with The Episcopal Church and the section that does not.

8. Pope Benedict XVI will succeed in bringing the Society of St. Pius X back into full communion with the rest of the Church. He will continue to be vilified by the liberal media and will continue to view that as a good sign that he is doing his job.

9. John Paul II's Theology of the Body will begin to be recognized by Evangelicals as the theoretical foundation of an alternative to the sexual revolution and will be increasingly embraced by conservative Christians of all stripes.

Culture
10. The debate over whether global warming is man-caused or part of the natural cycle of the planet's constantly changing environment will accelerate in 2010 and climate change alarmists will be increasingly placed on the defensive.

11. It will become widely recognized in 2010 that declining world population growth rates mean that a drop in population by mid-century could result in economic disaster.

12. There will be another major terrorist attack in the United States in 2010.