The Dark Ages

The Dark Ages
by Jennifer King, Managing Editor

September 3, 2003

"The Heretical Housewife"

Managing Editor Jennifer King As America comes to grips with the realities of life in Iraq, serious questions begin to appear about the quality of life in Arabia overall.

The multicultural apologists have tried mightily to convince us that all civilizations are equally valid. Their abhorrence of Western Civilization is such that they ludicrously weight - with equal value - a head-hunting band of pagans in New Guinea and a house-hunting suburbanite living in Phoenix. The Rousseauian ideal is ingrained so deeply that mere facts cannot stand in the way.

Rousseau, of course, was French. The late scholar and author Balint Vazsonyi spelled the dilemma out clearly in his 1998 book, America’s 30 Years War. Vazsonyi, a renowned concert pianist, was born in Hungary and lived his formative years under the twin yokes of Nazism and later, Soviet communism. Vazsonyi convincingly postulates that there are twin schools of thought - one, a Franco-German school which places its emphasis on Reason and the ability of man to perfectly arrange the ways of his world. The Anglo-American school, on the other hand, sees human reason as bound by limitations and understands the need for moral guidance and individual equality under the rule of law.

King Arthur, the Round Table, the Magna Carta and the Constitution are the heirs of one. The bloody excesses of the French Revolution, the Third Reich and the Soviet Union are the heirs of the other. The elephant in the living room is, of course, Judeo-Christianity, the foundation of Western Civilization. Thomas Cahill, in his book The Gift of the Jews argues that the ancients considered time as circular - rotating like the seasons which reappeared faithfully each year. They worshipped pagan deities, related to naturally occurring cycles such as the full moon. Judaism gave the earth a beginning and an end, as well as a loving Creator who demanded fealty and worked great miracles. Judaism provided proof of the essential worth of individual human beings - each created lovingly by God. This God exuded righteousness, provided justice and His prophets preached compassion for those in need. It was a radical change.

When Christ came, he was born a faithful Jew, of the lineage of David. The great message of Christianity is the redemption of man through Christ’s sacrifice. When He died, the veil concealing the Holy of Holies, the most sacred precinct in the Temple, had suddenly rent in two. Man was no longer separated from God. As the early Church progressed, St. Paul’s mission became one of preaching to the Gentiles. God was now available to all who would believe.

The greatest achievements in European history followed - the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the Renaissance. Glorious cathedrals and stunning works of art were produced. Discoveries were made - of foreign lands, new sea and land routes for commerce. Advancements were gained in science and medicine. Great novels, plays and music was produced. A civilization was born, one which often looked to the Bible for its inspiration. Judeo-Christianity was its linchpin.

Since that time, whole libraries have been written about the validity of the Bible’s claims. Archaeological digs have been conducted, providing compelling evidence for its historical accuracy. Oceanographer Bob Ballard is currently leading an expedition to the Black Sea, where primitive villages have been found underwater - inundated when the Ice Age ended and the Black Sea overflowed. Throughout it all, Judeo-Christianity has stood the test of time.

The multiculturalists, the revisionists and the post-moderns have waged a relentless war against Western Civilization in general and Judeo-Christianity in particular. The irony of their position appears to escape them.

In their zeal to disavow Judeo-Christianity they place themselves solidly on the side of the most regressive and oppressive regimes on Earth. They catapult themselves back to the dawn of Europe’s greatness - to the Dark Ages themselves.

Slavery, the oppression of women, the suppression of education, brainwashing and the murder of innocents are all the product of repressive dictatorships found in the Middle East, not in Western society. While our chattering classes urge us to be “tolerant” and the Arab defenders use our (Judeo-Christian) legal system to deftly defy sensible “racial profiling”, another busload of children is blown up by a radical determined to cow the “infidels”. In Iraq, we are besieged by terrorists who are fighting to impose their dark and murderous worldview on us.

While our own Fifth Columnists decry frivolous nonsense against the West, the true barbarians call us “cannibals” (WSJ, August 28th) and wave an American’s bloody shirt in ecstatic glee. To Westerners, such savagery is uncivilized, to say the least. We left it behind, several centuries ago. ***

Photo of Jennifer King courtesy of staff files