Posted by
Mike on Monday, November 23, 2009 1:31:24 PM
http://westernperspective.blogspot.com/
Like it or not, the history of Western civilization is
characterized by surrender to the inevitable onslaught from outsiders. The
barbarians, most notably the Franks, carried on Western culture
inherited from the Greeks and Romans through a process of accepting
Christ. They then in turn brought other barbarian peoples, such as the
Scandinavians, the chance for a better life. The Irish preserved
Western learning in the monasteries and reintroduced it to Britain and
the Continent during the Middle Ages, at which time also the
philosophical works of Aristotle were rediscovered from the Muslims of
the near and middle East, and used to help develop Christian theology.
In
today's world, as during the time of the Roman Empire, the main threat
to civilization is from within. The seven deadly sins, particularly
pride and avarice, corrupt individuals and subvert the social order.
The outsiders only gain a chance to conquer when the fruit is already
so ripe for the picking that it is about to fall from the tree.
It
looks as though the Muslims, whose origins are in the ancient heresy of
Gnosticism, are ready to advance intellectually with the help of the
West. The same cannot be said for China which is still trapped amid the
errors of communist materialism.