"The error of Western civilization is that it has divorced Christ from his Cross." These words, probably theatrical in tone, integrate greatly the recent political news arising from our Anglosphere world. Voiced on a rerun of the program A Life Worth Living, hosted by the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the words summed up the greatest threat to our Western society, highlighted by the past few weeks news cycle – the removal of Christianity from the public sphere.
The uproar raised by comments by a back-bench member of the British Parliament and the line of questioning from certain U.S. senators to a judicial nominee are perfect examples of how this campaign by Western liberalism is being normalized. This campaign, based in the misguided belief in liberal "equality," is menacing the order necessary to sustain our society under the mantle of ordered liberty.
Last week in the U.S. Senate, examples of these attempts to bar anyone who holds, in their words, "orthodox" or "extreme" views from the public sphere were on full display. Judicial nominee Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump's nominee for the 7th Circuit Court, was questioned by Democratic senators such as Dianne Feinstein and Dick Durbin on whether her Catholic faith would be an impediment to her as a judge. Questions ranged from "Do you consider yourself an 'orthodox Catholic'?" from Durbin to Feinstein's comments: "I think in your case, Professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you, and that's of concern."
Across the pond in the United Kingdom, Jacob Rees Mogg, a devout Catholic and Conservative member for North East Somerset, advocated his position against abortion and same-sex marriage. This broke a taboo in Britain, and he was met with abuse primarily from the media being called a "bigot," not a Catholic, etc. – and also calls that he should never serve in high public office such as prime minister.
The standard operating key of this campaign is to target anyone who doesn't hold "modern" progressive views. Anyone who espouses the unacceptable teachings of Christ or challenges liberals' view of acceptable Christianity must be removed from public life, because he represents a danger to the Western world's cherry-picked view of Christianity.
While our current Western civilization may espouse Christ and his teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount, it also rejects the basis of where those teachings come from, trying to create an idea of universal human values devoid of Christian roots. Similarly, liberals react with hatred, rejection, and condemnation of the teachings that don't fit with progressive views.
The removal of the unacceptable beliefs of Christianity from public life has been successful to the point that its prime position has been taken over by moral relativist thinking, to the point where we live in a sort of moral free-for-all society. We have moved from the absolutism of God to the anarchistic absolutism of the individual human becoming a god.
Thus, order (order of the soul and order of the government), the principal preoccupation for conservatives necessary for our society, is being undermined as our society removes Christianity from public life. When we remove Christianity, we remove the framework of order that allows for ordered liberty and justice to exist.
The exclusion of the Christian religion amounts to removing the driver from the wheel, with the consequences being a society in decay. So it is absolutely right that Christianity should be at the heart of our public life, not sidelined to a private Benedictine bubble.
Ojel L. Rodriguez, AKC is a freelance writer and graduate from King's College London.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/the_greatest_threat_facing_the_west_.html