German Philosopher Georg Hegel once wrote that “the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.” His observation during his life was very accurate, both for the past and future generations. Each generation of men builds on the lessons from their ancestors, and whatever lessons that are not learned are forgotten. This is not per se a bad thing- except when the lessons you have to learn are critical to your survival or that of others.
The Course of Empire, Part 1
An example of a lesson which can be forgotten is my father knew how to use a slide rule while growing up. I don’t know how to use a slide rule- I have a calculator. Would it be nice to know? Yes. But it is not necessary.
However, some lessons- many lessons- are just important to learn for your own safety. Things like “look both ways before crossing the street,” or “don’t trust whatever strangers tell you.” These are things that, while they can be rephrased for a modern context, are timeless lessons because they teach principles which guide a child for life and are not tied to one specific skill set.
The Course of Empire, Part 2
One such lesson that is of critical importance as it pertains to governing societies is that a civilization is a precious organism, a delicate life form that is hard to acquire and easy to lose, and once it is lost it may never come back. Yet it is precisely civilization that allows man to realize his greatest capabilities in this life, and for traditional Christian civilization, to direct this to the love of God and of neighbor.
If civilization is the goal of human social organization, then it must be consequently understood that not only are people who participate in society supposed to work for the greater good of each other, but they are also to work against the enemies of civilization. One such common example are criminals, and by that I mean people who intentionally undermine the social order by engaging in behavior that is inherently dangerous to civilization. Things like theft, robbery, rape, and murder, but also smaller acts such as public urination, wanton intoxication, fighting, and just being a general nuisance all, in varying degrees, damage the bonds which hold society together. Too much damage and the society will collapse. Sure, people may still live in that area, but it will be just that- an area inhabited with people but no bonds between them other than simply nominal associations. The end result is a shell of a people that once was, and uncivilized civilization that exists without existing and, like a car on an empty highway, follows a road to nowhere.
The Course of Empire, Part 3
The disorder that other humans cause is the reason why government exists. If there was no original sin, there would be no need for a government in a human sense because the law of God would be so emblazoned on our hearts that we would know to choose right becuase, given that evil is a perversion of good, we would not know how to choose the perverse over the righteous.
But clearly, we live in a post-original sin world and have for quite some time. Men are prone to all kinds of sins, public and private, and some men will stop at nothing to realize their own gains of money or power regardless of the damage they do to others. Some people just do not care about society and want to destroy it for reasons of malice. There are countless reasons, but all are the same in spirit, since they are based on the idea that some men want to destroy society and do not care about the consequences it has on others.
The Course of Empire, Part 4
Governments and the institutions they erect theoretically are meant to serve the public. Borders and laws as well as prisons keep people out of society who are unable or unwilling to participate in it through civilized means as much as they protect civilized people from the barbarians outside the gates. Put simply, and this is not popular to say in the west today, but some people are not fit to live in society with others.
vs.
Who do you want for neighbors?
I used to be able to say this comparison was an exaggeration, but not so much any more
Put this into the context of the current “refugee” crisis in Europe today. Germany just invited 61,000 Muslim “refugee” this month alone, not counting the previous.
61,000 people is basically a small city. And cities are very diverse, dynamic places with their own characteristics. Merkel is just dumping them into her society like a landscaper dumps grass clippings into a trash barrel. However, if you have ever done grass cutting before, you know that grass clippings are (a) heavy, (b) they fill up trash bags fast, and (c) are a burden because they are often times heavy and can break the trash bag they are being carried in. Just like you cannot keep dumping grass clippings into a bag, you cannot keep dumping refugees into a society because that society will break- there is a limited capacity of how much that bag (or society) can physically bear without falling apart. If the society falls apart, the old bag gets thrown away, the clippings put in a new bag, and then dealt with.
Civilizations and people are far more important than grass clippings in bags. Grass grows back- people not so much, and the same for civilizations. When they are gone, they are gone.
I am reminded of a little town on the Ohio side of the OH-WV-PA border. Steubenville, OH is home to a large college administered by the Franciscan order, and the college is the best thing the town has going for it. Steubenville is, outside of the campus, a midwestern ghetto. The downtown area is questionable during the day and can be dangerous at night. The little houses on the mountain going up the ridge away from the campus beginning at Wellesley Avenue are outright dangerous to traverse during the day and an absolute no-go zone after dusk- you do not go up there after dark, and if you are a local you close your doors and windows and lock them.
Yet at one point Steubenville was possibly one of the wealthiest towns in America, and certainly the midwest. The coal and steel industry made it very prosperous, but with the decline of American manufacturing and the destruction of the steel and coal industries, the wealth declined to such a point that the town died and has never recovered. The skeleton of its former prosperity remains amidst the wandering meth heads, cheap hookers, and grimy feel that permeates its streets.
Steubenville is not coming back for a LONG time, if ever.
Yet how is Germany, a nation with a long, proud history, any different or perhaps, exempt, from the lessons of the past?
Absolutely not.
The same thing is happening in the UK. Recently, the Church of England wanted to put advertisements for people to say the Lord’s Prayer of the iconic buses of London, and they were refused. However, Muslims have been allowed to put “Allahu Akbar” and other openly Muslim sayings on these same buses:
The slogan reads ‘Subhan Allah’ – which translates as ‘Glory be to God’ – and will feature on hundreds of buses across the country as part of a campaign by the Islamic Relief.
The group have targeted the ad campaign to raise money for victims of the Syrian Civil War during the holy month of Ramadan in June, when muslims traditionally fast and give to charity.
But the campaign has caused anger among some Christian groups after an advert featuring the lords prayer was banned from UK cinemas in the run up to Christmas.
The advert, which featured the Archbishop of Canterbury along with a variety of parishioners reciting the Lord’s prayer, was banned from Odean, Cineworld and Vue cinemas.
Former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said: “If other religions are allowed to put their religious banners up, then so should Christians.”
Unlike cinema advertising regulators, Transport for London does not have any rules against religious advertising.
…
“If we are allowing these adverts for Islam, then we need to give the Christians far more freedom to express themselves.”
The posters are set to appear in areas with large Muslim communities, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leicester and Bradford.
Simon Calvert of the Christian Institute was hopeful the Islamic relief campaign would signal “the beginning of a new era of greater expressions of the Christian faith, which seems to have become persona non grata”
The false optimism is sickening.
Let’s face the facts- if you are a Christian in the West, you will find yourself like how it was in the Early Church. And no, I am not talking about the thousands of tiny congregations who claim they are following the “early church” when really their definition of “early church” and “old tyme religion” is 19th century American camp music mixed with gospel. I’m talking about real early church- like make sacrifices to the emperor or go to the lions, but in this case it would be “prostrate to Allah or die.”
This is a lot closer to the “early church” than I want to admit, but it is true.
And what have the fruits of Islam been? England and Germany are both rapidly descending into a maelstrom of chaos. In Norway a cameraman was attacked by Muslim “refugees” for reasons unknown and unprovoked. In Germany, a Muslim went on a stabbing rampage- stabbing random German people while screaming “Allah Akbar.”
Yet should we be surprised? This is the fruit of Islam coming to pass into a position of prominence in society. We are only reaping that which we have sown for many, many years. This is the fruit of “tolerance,” which it the death of the tree of our civilization.
There were many causes for how we got to where we are right now, but the short answer is this- it began with heresy, then entered into apostasy, and is now in the final stage, which is Islamization. As I have maintained before, Islam is actually a weak religion that cannot survive except off of heresy, as Muhammad was the heresiarch of haeretists. Take away the heresy, take away Muhammad’s power. It is why the Spanish nation went out and conquered literally half of the world and was the terror of the Muslims globally, but today we see Spanish people- Mexicans, none the less- converting to Islam is sizeable numbers and small Islamic posts cropping up in the Spanish world, because heresy is rampant in Latin America, thanks to the USA and her “missionaries” that have sown division, dissention, and disunity among Christians above all else.
Ultimately, solving the problem with Islam comes down to a religious matter- a conversion of heart. However, as one of the temporal steps that must be taken, is to protect the society from invasion at all costs- especially from people who literally do not care about you and will seek to destroy your way of life and ultimately, YOU.
I leave you with the above paintings of The Course of Empire by the American painter Thomas Cole. Look well upon them, as barring a miracle, they portend our future.
And just as the Romans before us, we have learned nothing, only the stakes now are greater than ever before as the blackness of a new dark ages descends upon us.