Western Civilization is coming apart

Society seems to have forgotten glue of Christian faith that held it together

My Glass is Half Full

By MARK PICKUP

Is it just me or do you get the feeling that western culture is unravelling?

In particular, I am referring to western Christian civilization that gave us many of the institutions, ideals and a moral consensus previous generations held dear.

Not more than 65 years ago my father's generation was prepared to die to defend that Christian civilization and what it stood for.

Now, secularists are aggressively dismantling it all. In many jurisdictions, the name of Jesus Christ has been banished from the public square (other than as profanity). Christian prayer has been banned from schools and legislatures.

Even Christmas is such anathema that many stores prohibit the greeting Merry Christmas in favour of Happy Holidays: the word Christmas bears the offensive word "Christ." Nativity scenes dare not appear on public land.

In the city of San Diego, the presence of a Christian cross on Mount Soledad is so offensive that a court threatened to fine the city $5,000 a day until it was removed from public property.

In Scotland, apparently it is an offence to make the sign of the cross. Last year, Celtic goalkeeper, Artur Boruc, found himself in legal hot water with Scottish authorities for crossing himself during a football game at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.

In 1998, SwissAir flight 111 crashed off Peggy's Cove killing all 229 passengers on board. The official Canadian memorial service banned any readings from the New Testament or mention of Jesus Christ by clergy during the service. Need I carry on?

Okay, the Bible was declared hate literature by a Saskatchewan Human Rights tribunal.

Centuries of marriage defined as the union of a man and a woman has been altered to include homosexual marriage. Similar legislative change is being considered in America.

Cornerstone altered

The foundational, cornerstone institution of society has been altered based on fashion and no evidence verifying that such a structural change to the definition of the family is good for society.

Pornography is routinely aired on prime-time television.

Is it just me, or do you get the feeling that western Christian civilization is dying? The glue of Christian faith that held it together and gave rise to a gigantic surge of love and creativity for the better part of 2,000 years is being swept away by a tidal wave of pervasive and pernicious secularism.

It was Christianity that gave the Western world's art, music, literature, common law, its cathedrals, mores and yes, its religion.

But let me ask what Western society's secular elites offer to replace Western Christian civilization?

I think we have a number of indications, beginning with abortion on demand that is responsible for the global extermination of more human life annually that all human life lost during the entire Second World War.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide of the chronically and terminally ill and the handicapped is increasingly viewed with favour in public policy circles. Some new elites even advocate that the chronically ill have a duty to die to relieve burdens on their families and society.

Utilitarian bioethics has put forward the idea of classifying pvs patients as dead so they can be used in medical experiments and a ready source of organs.

Health officials in the United Kingdom have proposed animal/human embryo hybrids. It was reported on May 18, that the UK is permitting this abomination. What overarching common good do they believe will be ultimately served by making cow-human hybrids? It would possibly give short-term gain for a monstrous and perverted future.

This should not come as a surprise to anybody? If there is no God then there is no transcendental purpose to life. A human being has no more intrinsic value than a cow, a dog, a rat or a slug.

There are many animal rights fanatics who will argue in favour of this point. Princeton University professor Peter Singer argues that a monkey has more value than a disabled child. Western Christian civilization is being dismantled in a shockingly short period of time in favour of secularism.

On the sidelines

Ordinary Christians - good and decent people - have largely stood on the sidelines watching the changes occur. They have allowed themselves to be relegated to the backwaters in influence.

This is not the salt and light that Jesus asked us to be in the world. In the ancient world, salt served as a preservative. Christians who have lost their saltiness in the culture or whose light remains hidden are of limited value for the kingdom of God.

I believe we are being called to preserve Western Christian civilization beginning in our individual communities. We are to be reflectors of Christ's light in the New Dark Age we are entering.

Wear your Christianity for all to see. Pray without ceasing for God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Do not tire standing up for the sanctity of all human life. Do not be afraid to confront evil when you see it.

Become beacons of Christ's love in your community. Demand politicians enact legislation that upholds and cares for the dignity, sanctity and equality of all human life.

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