icans understood tinat character was central,nthat what a politician espousedncould not take precedence over his personalnlife, that the policies he favoredncould not be the final yardstick for judgment.nThese days, the worst kind of peoplencan retain popularity simply becausenof their political stance. This, of course,nis what happens in a totalitarian society,nwhere moral judgments are replaced bynpart)’ judgments. This makes possiblenatrocifies on a colossal scale; they are justifiednas ideological necessities.nOrganized religion is not immune tontlie twists, turns, and distorted thinking ofnthe postmodern era. Disbelief is the newnorthodoxy, cropping up even withinnchurches. It manifests itself in the repudiationnof beliefs held from the earliestndays of the Church, hi his passion fornmulticulturalism, the Rt. Rev. MichaelnIngram of the Anglican Church of Canadanhas proclaimed his faith in a newn”interfaith deity who inspires modernnpluralists.” He condemns what he callsn”Christian exclusiveness,” which teachesnthat salvation is found only through JesusnChrist.nAttitudes such as these, says CeorgenForsyth of the Catholic Campaign fornAmerica, “led modern civilization into anmoral wilderness in which the only guidelinesnare derived from emotional intensity.”nThis message is one of moral destruction.nAnyone who truly understands and appreciatesnthe spiritual richness of Westernncivilization is appalled at the prospectnof a materialist, technological society devoidnof spiritual aims. The technoligizingnof Western society leads to an impoverishmentnof the spirit and the loss ofngenuine cultural diversity. The rhythmsnof nature and ordered social life, the ritualsnof communit}’ and celebration of thenspirit established over the centuries, arendisplaced by the demands of a technologicalnregime. The teacher stands in dangernof replacement by a computer, andncorrespondence, a rich mine of humanninteraction, has been virtually wiped outnby impersonal, impermanent e-mail.nEvery aspect of life is being dehumanized,neliminating personal contact.nWliile many of us have adjusted easilynto the new machines, the technology andnits intellectual and spiritual ramificationsnhave barely penetrated our consciousness.nMost people see the new technologynonly as a tool for organizing and storingninformation. They don’t see the riftnbetween the use of the new machinesn44/CHRONICLESnand our aims as human beings. Unlikenthe Marxist revolution of the early 20thncentury, the technological revolutionndoes not deliberately set out to mold anman.nOf course, it would be utterly absurd tonsuggest that the mere use of computersnturns people away from a Christiannworldview. But over a lifetime in whichnevery aspect of life is computerized, computersnundoubtedly have the potential fornchanging a person’s view of existence.nInstead of making people feel closer, thenchange is likely to produce isolation.nWith the spread of the technologicalnsociet)’, deconstructionism has becomeninfluential. Deconstructionism is thendenial of permanent truth and the devaluationnof language and cultural authority.nPresident Clinton, for one, clearlynviewed language as a mere social constructnin which the meaning of words isnindeterminate. This erosion of meaningnin language has a certain relationship tonthe erosion of belief—the understandingnof the fixit)’ of spiritual truth.nAlthough belief in Cod is not dead,nthe number of communities of believersnin the West is down compared to thenoverall population. The force of Christianityndepends on communities of believers.nThe Church is the Body ofnChrist; Christianit)’ is not a solitar)’ affair.nFrom the beginning. Christians have organizednthemselves in communities lednby bishops. They do not have to be largencommunities. For Christians, organizednworship in tiny chapels is as valid andncompelling as worship in giant Gothicncathedrals.nSince the eadiest days of Christianity,nmen and women have lived in monasticncommunities separated —to some degree—fromnthe surrounding world. Thenmonastic life is alien to much of thenmodern world and has suffered severensetbacks in the West in the last 40 years.nStill, it persists. Wliile it is unlikely that,nin the 21st century, monasticism will reclaimnthe place that it held in the medievalnworld, it is possible that it will enjoynsome degree of revival, due to thenincreased pressures and horrors of postmodernnlife. Once again, monasteriesnmay become islands of civilization in anworld where authentic faith and civilizationnare beleaguered.nThe main theater of spiritual struggle,nof course, is the Western world, wherenthe threat of postmodern technonihilismnis greatest. As the communists used tonsay, the front is everywhere. Education,nnnsocial life, the family: All the institutionsnof the Western world are under an unceasingnbarrage from the nihilists. WliittakernChambers, writing in Witless, saidnthat “history is cluttered with the wreckagenof nations that have become indifferentnto Cod, and died.” Indifference characterizesnscores of millions in our time,nwho are obsessed with the consumer culturenand its ways.nChristianit)’ is under siege and retreatingnin the face of secular materialism,nwhich advances through both moral indifferencenand outright hostilit)’. In thisncountry, once proudly Christian, recognitionnof Cod in the public schools andnother public places is prohibited. Religiousnfreedom may be better protected innRussia than in the United States. InnAmerica today, Christians—who, in thenearly days, would not bow to the will ofnthe caesars and who accepted martyrdomnfor their faith—yield their rights with onlynthe mildest of protests.nAs Christians struggle to strengthennand expand the influence of believingncommunities in the face of postmodernntechnonihilism, they cannot permitnthemselves to think that everything cannbe accomplished on this side of eternit)’.nThe forces opposed to Christianity arenstronger now than ever before.nThe Most Rev. Fabian Bruskewitz,nbishop of Lincoln, Nebraska, reminds usnthatnthere are times and places when wenmust share in our common humanityndie concerns and values ofnthe world around us. There arenother times when we must fleenfrom them, oppose them with allnour strength and dare to be different.nThere are parts of fliis world, he continues,nthat are “aggressively anti-Christian,”nwhere manipulation and control extendnto “false beliefs and evil morals.”nTo resist those beliefs and pseudomorals,nto struggle with all our moral andnintellectual energy against the new anticivilization,nis the great mission and tasknfacing Christians in the new millennium.nAnthony Harrigan writes fromnWashington, D.C.n(MsJuJcKDn
January 1975April 21, 2022By The Archive
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