Maybe you hadn’t noticed, but Western Civilization is under attack – has been for a while, and the attacks are only increasing. From principles of government to the Bible to traditional marriage to classical education, it’s all under attack.
Have you ever worried that you support or believe something just because that’s what you’ve always supported or believed? Have you wondered if what’s always been done is the right way things should be done?
Have you ever wondered if, perhaps, it’s time to tear down civilization and try again?
As this world gets crazier and scarier and messier, honestly, it’s really tempting.
However, Western Civilization is so fragile, so precious. We cannot let it be destroyed. We cannot let it be unraveled.
The destruction of Western Civilization would lead to the destruction of our nation, of freedom, of opportunity and individuality and potential.
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What is Western Civilization anyway?
This is a somewhat complicated question. It’s not just the culture of the western world; it’s not just the philosophy of the western world. It wasn’t created in 1776, or 1492, or 1215 (when the Magna Carta was signed).
In fact, Western Civilization was around in the B.C. years!
As Ben Shapiro argued in his book “The Right Side Of History: How Reason And Moral Purpose Made The West Great,” Western Civilization is the culmination of two things: the religion of Jerusalem; the philosophy of Athens. In other words, Western Civilization originated from the Greeks and the Hebrews.
But then later, the Christians and the Romans came along (well, in the case of the Christians, came out of Jerusalem), and built on this stuff.
That’s where the terms “Judeo-Christian” and “Greco-Roman” come from.
Because of the Athens side of Western Civilization, we have democracy, philosophy, learning, the arts. Because of the Jerusalem side of Western Civilization, we have monotheism, morality, ethics, and the belief in the value of the individual.
Sometimes, it can seem that the religious and the scientific sides clash. In actuality, they compliment, strengthen, and aid each other.
Both sides are important. Both sides matter. Western Civilization is important. Western Civilization matters.
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Why does Western Civilization matter anyways?
Western Civilization created the first major civilization to seek to abolish slavery; the first to give women the vote (both of these in the 19th century). Western Civilization invented TV, Internet, soccer, basketball, and the Nuclear bomb. Western Civilization produced incredible people such as Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Michelangelo, John Locke, Vincent van Gogh, and Brandon Sanderson. Western Civilization got people to the moon in 1969.
Western Civilization founded the USA, wrote the Magna Carta, ratified the Constitution, created the Bill of Rights.
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As we move forward and try to find America’s place in the world going forward, Western Civilization will make all the difference.
Will we, as a nation, collapse?
Will we rise above our challenges?
Unless we value the individual, unless we understand and maintain individual rights, unless we protect (and in some ways, remake) limited government, unless we value and obtain that classical education, we will fail.
If our Constitution is going to be preserved and strengthened, we need to understand and apply the principles it was built on.
The USA was shaped and defined by Western Civilization. If we want the “founding-era America,” we also need the founding culture, the founding principles and ideals and education and morality. If we want the “founding-era America,” we need Western Civilization.
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However, as I said earlier, Western Civilization is under attack.
Families, as the key unit of society, are under attack. The Bible, with it’s morality that makes everything else work, is under attack. Classical education, with access to great ideas and great people, is under attack. Our nation, steeped in Western Civilization, is under attack.
Is there anything about Western Civilization that isn’t under attack?
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Western Civilization must be preserved.
But how?
We must each learn, value, and defend truth. We must teach the next generations to value and defend truth.
Find the great books, the great ideas, the great people. Find a mentor and study.
Read the Bible.
Teach others to do the same.
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Sources:
“The Right Side of History: How Reason And Moral Purpose Made The West Great” by Ben Shapiro