Gassed and blinded soldiers
I'm sure there'll be a lot of interesting programs included, though I can't imagine anybody having time to watch it all.
Lately I've been thinking of something else in connection to that war. George Weigel and others have remarked that the 20th century - politically and culturally - began in 1914 and ended in 1989. In other words, the essence of that century began with the First World War and ended with the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
This blog isn't the place for an in depth consideration of that argument, but to me it holds a lot of truth. The general attitude prevailing in western civilization before WWI was one of optimism about human progress. That 'war to end all wars' shattered this rosy optimism and ushered in an era of decadence in morals and art (the two go hand in hand). Furthermore, the idea of human or societal progress was taken up in a brutal fashion by communism and fascism.
So what ended in 1989? I think that's the more interesting question. The general line goes that the western idea of individual freedom won and collectivist-statist authoritarianism lost.
The smiling face of Statism, then . . .
. . . and now
I suppose so, to a degree. However, Western Europe and Canada have been - and America is increasingly becoming - very statist. Those in government know better and more and more decide what's best for the individual. The sphere of government power grows as individual liberty and responsibility shrink.
And I don't think I need to differentiate here between liberty and libertinism.
André Malraux once wrote that "the next century (the 21st) will be religious, or it won't be at all."
Whenever it was that the 20th century ended, I think what marks the 21st century is the confrontation between a vibrant, militant Islam and a morally confused and weak west (Europe, North America, Australia).
Those who continually say that religion has been the cause of all wars are either willfully stupid or just ignorantly parroting what they hear from the stupid. However, at a deeper level it really is all about religion. Cult is the root word in culture. I mean of course cult in its primary sense, not the Jim-Jones-following-freak sense.
Islam is an incomplete religion but it's a much stronger force than the wishy-washy 'whatever' relativism which currently has a vise grip on the western mind.
The west has already lost the battle, I'm afraid, though we still retain the superior technology and military hardware. That won't save us ultimately.
Here's what will:
Love has made you a Christian
and you are a Christian for Love.
Nothing else made you a Christian
and you were made a Christian for no other reason.
If you forget Love you make yourself absurd;
if you betray Love you become monstrous.
No justice can ever dispense you
from the law of Love.
If you turn away from Love
to receive something greater
you are preferring riches to Life.
If you turn away from Love
so as to give something greater than Love,
you deprive the world of the one treasure
that you were destined to give it.
If Love is more or less an optional extra for you,
don't bother setting out for Abidjan
or anywhere else for you are good for nothing.
We are free of every obligation
but totally dependent
on the one thing necessary: Love.
Love is our life becoming eternal life.
When we give up Love, we give up our own life.
One act of Love is one immediate resurrection.
You win Love by desiring it, asking for it,
receiving it, and passing it on.
We don't learn Love, we get to know it little by little
as we get to know Christ.
Faith in Christ makes us capable of Love;
the life of Christ reveals to us what Love is;
the life of Christ shows us how to desire Love
and how to receive Love.
The Spirit of Christ makes us alive with Love,
active with Love,
fruitful with Love.
Everything can be of service to Love
but without it everything is barren -
first and foremost ourselves.
by Madeleine Delbrêl
(pictured below)
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