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Bishop Athanasius Schneider gave an address on 16 May 2019
at the Rome Life Forum on the theme “City of man vs City of God – Global One
World Order vs Christendom.” Consider
the theme of this Forum: a Global one world order (city of man) vs. the
decentralized governance that was an inherent feature of “Christendom” (City of
God) – in other words, the European Middle Ages.
Before getting into this address, a brief discussion on the
topic: it is an examination of political universalism vs. political
decentralization. This distinction is a
point of conflict not only in the libertarian world, but in the West more
broadly.
The universalists see and value no meaningful difference in
culture, yet are known for championing “diversity”; those for decentralization
see and value meaningful differences in culture, yet are known for being
enemies of “diversity.” I know, it
doesn’t make any sense. The
universalists look forward to one law for all; those for decentralization
understand that this is a wish for global totalitarianism.
On to Bishop
Schneider (and for those who find this too “Christian,” keep in mind the
context of universalism vs. decentralization):
Ultimately it is the replacement of
the kingship of God and concretely of the kingship of Jesus Christ by the
kingship of Satan or the kingship of godless or atheist men.
It was the Enlightenment that finally freed man from any
connection to God. “God is dead,” as
Nietzsche infamously observed, to be replaced by man’s reason. The consequence of this, according to
Schneider?
The city of Man contains in its
root the impulse to totalitarianism, to a global totalitarianism which will
demand total submission and which will not tolerate the reign of the true king
of this world and of humankind, who is the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ.
I can see a lot of eyes rolling out there: “bionic has
finally fallen off of the deep end.”
Hey, I have fallen off of more deep ends than you know, but on this
one? I don’t think so. Christianity has proven to be a necessary,
but not sufficient, foundation for liberty; this plays out in the dividing line
of universalism vs. decentralization or “woke” vs. “deplorable.”
If you had to read that about six times, join the club. It makes no sense to me – the Vatican is
attacking a gesture toward the Christian faith.
Even the Vatican has declared war on Christianity. Let’s get some details:
The Catholic Italian politician [Matteo
Salvini] with whom Pope Francis reportedly refuses to meet because of his
immigration stance held and kissed a rosary during a political rally over the
weekend and invoked the Blessed Mother…this while Francis has met on repeated
occasions with supporters of abortion and other issues in conflict with Church
teaching.
The universalist pope vs. the decentralizing politician.
Jesuit Father Antonio
Spadaro…issued several critical tweets, spreading the criticism on Facebook as
well, saying Christians should be outraged.
Christians should be outraged that a politician invoked
Mary? Well, OK, I mean I know this might
not sit very well with many Protestants, but still…outraged?
Bishop Domenico Mogavero, of Mazara
del Vallo…said Salvini can no longer call himself a Christian…
Invoking Mary – does this make him a Muslim? A Jew?
There are at least a few with contrary views:
Catholic Herald columnist and
associate professor of theology for the Catholic University of America C.C.
Pecknold…acknowledged a globalist effort to de-Christianize the West via mass
migration. [He] noted that Salvini
quoted Sarah in his speech, along with G.K. Chesterton, Pope Saint John Paul
II, and Pope Benedict XVI.
Quoting any of those three will get you thrown out of polite
company.
Returning to Schneider:
Never has it been so capitally
important to understand clearly the true foundations of all social life as in
these days when humanity, diseased by the poison of social errors and
perversions and tossed by a fever of conflicting desires, doctrines, and aims,
has become the unhappy prey of a disorder created by itself, and is
experiencing the disruptive effects of false social theories that neglect and
contravene the laws of God.
If you like, you may replace that last part with “the laws
of liberty,” or “the laws of economics”; because the same poison has consumed
all three – and all three have their common roots in Natural Law grounded in a
Christian ethic and worldview.
Conclusion
Schneider quotes Juan Donoso Cortés, a Catholic Spanish
politician, who gave a speech to the Spanish Parliament on January 4, 1849:
“When the religious thermometer is
high, the thermometer of political repression is low; and, when the religious
thermometer low, the political thermometer—political repression—tyranny is
high.”
Something will provide governance: a common culture and
tradition or a tyrannical state. There
is no third option.
“Today, the way is prepared for a
gigantic, colossal, universal, and immense tyrant; everything is ready for it.
…there are no moral resistances because all wills are divided and all
patriotisms are dead.”
Universalism – whether libertarian or otherwise – is
ushering in this tyranny.
I doubt whether Augustine of Hippo raged against universalism in his contradiction between the City of God versus the City of Men. As I understand it, it was above all a document against idealism; in the sense that in the City of Men, with people being what they are, there can be no utopia. Therefore Utopia can only exist in the City of God, which is, of course, an idealized, unreachable place, maybe with the exception of a life after death. But even then, people will have to change significantly. How are they going to know what, when and how to change? With that, it's a testament against utopianism, which is, always has, and probably always will be, the terrain of the young, of students. It's a plea for conservatism, even against libertarianism, you may argue. The current Pope is an idiot. But that's a different subject.
ReplyDeleteAs I read this, a parable occurred to me that I will call "The Parable of My Grandmother's Soup".
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother was NOT a good cook. Every Wednesday, she would take all the leftovers from the previous week - mashed potatoes, meat, peas, rolls - EVERYTHING she had in the fridge, put it all in a pot and heat it. Depending on the consistency, it was either soup or stew. Sometimes it was OK but most of the time it left a lot to be desired.
But it occurs to me that once you put all the ingredients into a pot and make soup (or stew), you can't very well use them for anything else - you're pretty much stuck with soup. The individual ingredients are no longer individually useful. If I just want some mashed potatoes and gravy - well, good luck getting them out of the soup. Or stew.
I feel like the people who urge "diversity" are actually doing the opposite of promoting diversity. They are putting everything together into one pot and making soup. Once this is done, it'll all be soup and there will no longer be anything like "diversity".
This homogeneity, I think, is what they are actually striving for - it's right out of Nineteen Eighty-Four:
War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
Homogeneity is Diversity
Wow, Woody. Talk about cutting to the chase! Thank you. Peggy
DeleteHey! Kudos to your grand-mother. Great soups are made this way. Talking about not letting food go to waste. Spices make a big difference in taste.
DeleteDry bread crumbs and potatoes can be to thicken soups.
But, I do get the metaphor.
Thank you - I'm glad you liked it!
DeleteUniversalism "diversity, is indeed preparing the serf-minded for a totalitarian world government.
ReplyDeleteAlong with the other signs, history is approaching its climax. The Beast of Revelation 13 comes ever closer. An embedded chip already is reality, already used in pets and livestock, already gone through more than a few human trials, and already touted by academics, for a decade already used in higher-ups of Mexican government. And around 1998, a security and lighting salesman told me & wife that they had a number of millionaires down south using them in case of kidnappers.
--trutherator