When I was a young lad I wasted too much time reading outrageous things. One useful bit of all those hours lost reading nonsense came to me today. I was writing the introduction to this article when I remembered an old tale by a Russian author. That writer used a very ingenious device to place the readers outside history looking in.
Imagine a report, written by a quasi-immortal being from a very old race living in a distant galaxy. We will call him Lord Blot, a man exiled to a planet in the vicinity of Earth. Blot committed some serious sin back in his youth, when he was barely two million years old. Men of Blot’s race live very long lives, almost as long as the lives of some stars. So shameful were Blot’s faults, that his betters condemned him to exile. They sent him off to conduct a long scientific study on the development of humanity on Earth.
Young Lord Blot lands on Mars about the time Abraham was born, some forty centuries ago. Armed with a potent telescope and assisted by powerful computers, Blot begins to take notes diligently. He hopes his betters will see his good disposition and reduce his sentence to a few million years at most.
Today, we will try to look at a snapshot of human history through the eyes of Lord Blot. For the next few minutes, pretend that you are a soul several millions years old. You are watching human beings whose lives, compared to your own, are as long as the life of a gnat.
Lord Blot observes the emergence of Modern Capitalism in Western Europe. The first corporations organize, making and losing big fortunes. Those companies make enormous profits trading with China, India, and the Americas. Some even have huge armies and fleets of ships fit for trade and war. These networks of trade extend their influence around the globe. At that time there are still kings that practice the ancient religions. Their subjects are for the most part Christians, recently divided in two bands: Catholics and Protestants. The old Christendom shatters in a number of “national churches” that continue to teach most of the Christian moral truths. Eventually a great rebellion grabs control of France. The French Revolution spreads its ideas around the world and soon new movements are born: Liberalism, Socialism, Communism, etc.
The abundance of money allows many to have lots of free time. Ingenious men begin to harness the forces of nature. Men discover electricity, magnetism, gravity and other natural forces. By the mid 19th century, factories produce goods faster and faster. Societies that remained stable since the days of the Roman Empire are changed almost overnight. From the 17th, to the 20th century Capitalism grows, virtually conquering the world. About the end of the 19th century, religion begins to lose its foothold among the common people. By the end of the 20th century, the influence of religion diminishes greatly. After two World Wars and plenty of social upheavals Capitalism begins to die.
The death of Capitalism begins when religion is expelled from schools and public life. The State begins to monopolize dialog in the public square and gradually grow more and more hostile to religion. The forces unleashed by the French Revolution a few centuries before are now in control of large portions of Government. Enormous social problems develop as societies gradually abandon the old moral codes.
In time, that free-for-all mentality invades even the hallowed halls of Capitalism. Decoupled from their social and moral obligations, the corporations “go global.” They focus on generating quick profits anywhere at any cost. The same forces that pulled millions out of poverty and squalor are transformed to extract as much money from global markets as possible, never caring about the moral consequences.
Without the guidance of religion both the populace and the upper classes enter a dark age of affluence without satisfaction. Common life, business life and political life are approaching total chaos at an increasing speed.
At this point, our imaginary Lord Blot writes home to his supervisors, in that far distant galaxy:
“Unless mankind returns to God, their world will be lost. They do not seem to know that it is impossible to sustain social systems for long without good morals.”
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When Jesus of Nazareth began to preach, he started with: “Repent, and believe in the Gospel!” It looks like our societies, even the leaders of the Church, need to hear that again. “Repent” means to turn around. “Believe in the Gospel” means to learn about Jesus’ message. Christianity can keep human societies running smoothly without other compulsion than that of a good conscience. That is not only cost-effective; it leads men and women to live happy, fulfilling lives.
When observed from afar, Capitalism began to lose momentum when it began detaching from Christian morals. No one in his right mind can imagine that a world without moral boundaries could end in anything but a bloodbath.
In a few days, Americans will have a chance to begin turning this process around. Keep in mind that winning one election, even a dozen elections, is not going to solve this problem. We have to be ready to push back the hordes of chaos for the next generation or two, even beyond. God is still in control but … we may plunge into a long age of darkness if we don’t do our part.
We all have our God-given talents; this is the time to use them well.
Precious little story. Thank you for the lessons in it. Here are my thoughts:
This is a dark time in its beginnings. It is the time of the lukewarm Church which Jesus said He would spit out of His mouth. Our hope is in the Lord God of Hosts Who made Heaven and earth. We are being reproved and disciplined and taught so that we can help others. Jesus told John to write the following.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
15‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.16‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.17‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Revelation 3:14-22.
God bless you, Carlos! C-Marie
Since the miracle two years ago, I have had hope that we may find a way back, that we will overcome the forces of evil eating away at our culture and avert the catastrophe that it’s hard not to think we deserve. I remain hopeful today, on yet another fateful Tuesday in November, although I cannot, for the life of me, see how we find our way back from the abyss of the enlightenment project.
Fortunately for us, God’s ways are not our ways, which means that He may see a path to bring us closer to Him, even though we cannot. At any rate, I stand ready to play my little part in another Great Awakening or, if necessary, to follow Eliot’s prescription and preserve the Faith “through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide.”
Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, Carlos and others, on this momentous occasion in salvation history.
Take any large urban area in the west (and probably the east – I have never been there) and review the “social problems” encountered. Leftish people used to talk about the root cause of poverty – that being imagined to be money. But if you give money to one who is given over to some addiction, drink, drugs, sex, gambling, narcissism, overeating, sugar, idleness how will that money be spent? These days, the leftish have drifted from the concept of money as the root cause because they tried that and found it wanting. Now the concept is more centered on flattery, although it is called “esteem”. If a person feels important, or “empowered” (by flattery) then that person must necessarily make better life choices it is reasoned. This is the bar bully’s option. “Here! Wot are you looking at!?” The bully is in the bar to chemically assuage tender feelings of inadequacy and looking for any signal, no matter how slight, that another is “looking down” on him. The bully’s eyes are constantly active looking for any sign that might signal disrespect. Any such signal must be immediately challenged. Those who do not submit must be thrashed, even unto death should the issue not be settled sooner.
What is the only root cause of social dysfunction? Or, better phrased for the leftish, how can any program designed to “solve” social dysfunction not include a moral component? It can’t. Money thrown at those with no moral formation will enable more poor life choices. “Empowerment” by flattery and incitement induces only resentments, which may be useful for political purposes, but which tend to be expressed in anti-social ways, and acutely in mob action. Better not to attempt to ride that tiger.
The elimination of the concept of social responsibility is a kind of flattery. Social responsibility is a requirement that mandates attention and offering. The flatterers selling “liberation” (really, from social responsibility) are putting forth the idea that the individual is above the demands of reciprocity, or stated more simply, “one may do unto others as one desires.”
Since morality is founded on love, liberation from morality must be founded on that which is not love – the self. And we see that it is. The poor require charity, and “charity” comes from the root caritas or love. Charity includes donations of material needs, but even more so, includes concern for the genuine welfare of those in poverty. Liberation, cuts each individual off from charity. Social programs without a moral basis can only make the lives of the recipients of those programs worse. And we see that it does. Power is not charity. Force is not love.
Well said. Thank you.