With
all the pretentious snottiness a true believer in the modern American project
can muster, Mr Larry Tomczak lectures all the benighted souls in the world as to
why ‘America’ is the greatest nation ever.
A few lines are all that is needed to get a feel for the whole article:
In the book, The 5000 Year
Leap – A Miracle That Changed the World, the authors point out that “from the
beginning of recorded history until the founding of the American nation, human
civilization made relatively little progress. Those who came to the New World
in the 1500s and 1600s were still plowing fields behind animals, moving about
in ox carts, and hand-weaving cloth the same way they had for thousands of
years.”
“Then, beginning with
Jamestown and Plymouth, something remarkable happened – the human spirit was
set free, creativity flourished and experimentation abounded. Americans were
learning how to experience freedom. After the proven principles of liberty were
institutionalized by the US Constitution in the 1780s, it took less than 200
years before men were walking on the moon!”
Later
he unrolls a list that he believes proves the greatness of ‘Murca. Here is part of it:
Imagine what life
would be like without America and the following innovations. Let’s tone down
the negative and major on the positive to celebrate life-changing contributions
we’ve made:
·
Free-market
economics, harnessed electricity, internal combustion engine,
jet propulsion, nuclear energy, automobile assembly-line, telephone,
jet propulsion, nuclear energy, automobile assembly-line, telephone,
·
Sustained
air travel, sustained electric light, electronic hearing aid,
Franklin stove, lightning rod, catheter, bifocals, cotton gin, refrigeration,
Franklin stove, lightning rod, catheter, bifocals, cotton gin, refrigeration,
·
Suspension
bridge, fire hydrant, coffee percolator, circular saw, telegraph,
sewing machine, dental floss, combine harvester, steam shovel, mason jar
sewing machine, dental floss, combine harvester, steam shovel, mason jar
·
Ice
cream maker, grain elevator, rotary printing press, baseball, volleyball,
American football, basketball, softball, stock car racing, racquetball,
American football, basketball, softball, stock car racing, racquetball,
·
Duckpin
bowling, gas mask, dishwasher, inverted microscope, fire alarm box,
burglar alarm, jackhammer, electric stove, vacuum cleaner, escalator,
burglar alarm, jackhammer, electric stove, vacuum cleaner, escalator,
·
Ironing
board, roller skates, motorcycle, denim jeans, silo, urinal, dental
drill, sanitary pad, metal detector, electric iron, thermostat, machine gun,
drill, sanitary pad, metal detector, electric iron, thermostat, machine gun,
. . .
Computer mouse, balloon catheter, cordless
telephone, CD, copiers, GPS,
central heating, handheld calculator, lunar module, Email, laser printer,
Facebook and Google,
central heating, handheld calculator, lunar module, Email, laser printer,
Facebook and Google,
Virtual Reality, personal computer, MRI,
iPhone, iPad, texting, Internet,
digital camera, contact lens, DNA computing, tilt-n-roll luggage, voicemail,
digital camera, contact lens, DNA computing, tilt-n-roll luggage, voicemail,
Space shuttle, nicotine patch, Heimlich
maneuver, drones, scoreboards,
whole body scanner, catalytic converter, microprocessor, backpack,
whole body scanner, catalytic converter, microprocessor, backpack,
. . .
Source: Same as above
Put
aside the fact that some of these great inventions are being used to build a
total surveillance state tyranny here in the [u.] S. more monstrous than
anything all those old-fashioned kings and nobles Mr Tomczak sneers at could
have imagined. Put aside the fact that
some of them are simply killing machines (are we really supposed to celebrate
the invention of the machine gun?). They
also represent something else: spiritual
sickness. When the soul cannot find rest
in the inner contemplation of God, it tries to find solace in outward works, in
restless busy-ness. This is acedia, and it is in this that America’s
true ‘exceptionalism’ lies.
Modern
America is actually the place in the world that is poor, naked, blind, and
wretched, not from a physical point of view but from the ghostly, for she has
no holiness. Only one or two men who
have been born in and lived in the modern States have possibly become saints,
Blessed Father Seraphim Rose of Platina, Ca., and Archbishop Dmitri Royster of
Dallas, Tx. Otherwise the awe-inspiring
American civilization is quite bereft of any real greatness.
Without
holiness there is nothing truly meaningful or lasting: no saints, relics, icons, monasteries, hymns,
teachings, homilies, and so on that bring spiritual light and healing to the
people (and oftentimes bodily healing as well) and inspire them to live holy
lives themselves. These are the true wealth
of nations, and the modern American union simply does not have them.
But
Orthodox countries, among those stagnant backwaters that Mr Tomczak laughed at
earlier as having ‘made relatively little progress’, are the most truly ‘progressive’
amongst mankind since they have within them the blazing fire of the Grace that
flows from the Holy Ghost, oneness with Whom is the end that man was made for, rather
than some utopian technological paradise on earth. They have not lost inner stillness or pure
prayer; they have not lost the vision of and union with the Uncreated Light of
God in the nous, the eye of the
heart. Let’s have a look, then, at the
list of some of the Orthodox nations’ ‘life-changing contributions’ to the
world:
July 2
Venerables
Tikhon, Basil and Nikon Sokolovsky (16th c.) (movable holiday on the 1st
Sunday after June 29th).
St. Arsenius, bishop of Tver (movable holiday on the 1st Sunday after June 29th).
Synaxis of saints of Tver (movable holiday on the 1st Sunday after June 29th).
Hieromartirs Neophytus, Jonah, Neophytus, Jonah, and Parthenius of Lampsacus (movable holiday on the 1st Sunday after June 27th).
The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos at Blachernae (5th c.).
St. Photius, metropolitan of Kiev (1431).
St. Juvenal, patriarch of Jerusalem (458).
"Pozai" (17th c.), "Theodotiev" (1487) and "Akhtyr" (1739) Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos.
St. Juvenal, protomartyr of America and Alaska (1796).
Right-believing King Stephen the Great of Moldavia (1504) (Romania).
St. Monegunde of Chartres (530) (Gaul).
New Martyr Lampros of Makri (1835) (Greek).
Uncovering of the relics (2003) of New Hieromartyr Priest Sergius Florinsky of Rakvere, Estonia (1918).
Feast of the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos (Georgia).
St. Oudoceus, bishop of Llandaff.
St. Swithun, bishop of Winchester.
St. Arsenius, bishop of Tver (movable holiday on the 1st Sunday after June 29th).
Synaxis of saints of Tver (movable holiday on the 1st Sunday after June 29th).
Hieromartirs Neophytus, Jonah, Neophytus, Jonah, and Parthenius of Lampsacus (movable holiday on the 1st Sunday after June 27th).
The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos at Blachernae (5th c.).
St. Photius, metropolitan of Kiev (1431).
St. Juvenal, patriarch of Jerusalem (458).
"Pozai" (17th c.), "Theodotiev" (1487) and "Akhtyr" (1739) Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos.
St. Juvenal, protomartyr of America and Alaska (1796).
Right-believing King Stephen the Great of Moldavia (1504) (Romania).
St. Monegunde of Chartres (530) (Gaul).
New Martyr Lampros of Makri (1835) (Greek).
Uncovering of the relics (2003) of New Hieromartyr Priest Sergius Florinsky of Rakvere, Estonia (1918).
Feast of the Robe of the Most Holy Theotokos (Georgia).
St. Oudoceus, bishop of Llandaff.
St. Swithun, bishop of Winchester.
July
1
Holy
and Wonderworking Unmercenaries Cosmas
and Damian,
martyrs at Rome.
New Hieromartyr Arcadius priest (1918).
New Hieromartyr Alexis deacon (1942).
Martyr Potitus at Naples (2nd c.).
Venerable Peter the Patrician, monk, of Constantinople (854).
St. Angelina, despotina of Serbia (16th c.).
Venerable Nicodemus of Svyatogorsk (1809).
Translation of the relics of Venerable John of Rila (946) from Turnovo to Rila (1470) (Bulgaria).
Holy Julius and Aaron, protomartyrs of Wales (ca. 304) (Celtic & British).
St. Servanus, Apostle of Western Fife of East Scotland (6th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Leontius, bishop of Radauti in Moldavia (15th c.) (Romania).
Venerable Gallus, bishop of Clermont (551) (Gaul).
25 Martyrs in Nicomedia (Greek).
Venerable Basil, founder of the Monastery of the Deep Stream in Cappadocia (10th c.) (Greek).
Martyr Constantine the Wonderworker and those with him, of Cyprus (Greek).
St. Leo the Hermit (Greek).
St. Serf, bishop of Kinross.
St. Eparchius the Recluse of Gaul (581).
New Hieromartyr Arcadius priest (1918).
New Hieromartyr Alexis deacon (1942).
Martyr Potitus at Naples (2nd c.).
Venerable Peter the Patrician, monk, of Constantinople (854).
St. Angelina, despotina of Serbia (16th c.).
Venerable Nicodemus of Svyatogorsk (1809).
Translation of the relics of Venerable John of Rila (946) from Turnovo to Rila (1470) (Bulgaria).
Holy Julius and Aaron, protomartyrs of Wales (ca. 304) (Celtic & British).
St. Servanus, Apostle of Western Fife of East Scotland (6th c.) (Celtic & British).
St. Leontius, bishop of Radauti in Moldavia (15th c.) (Romania).
Venerable Gallus, bishop of Clermont (551) (Gaul).
25 Martyrs in Nicomedia (Greek).
Venerable Basil, founder of the Monastery of the Deep Stream in Cappadocia (10th c.) (Greek).
Martyr Constantine the Wonderworker and those with him, of Cyprus (Greek).
St. Leo the Hermit (Greek).
St. Serf, bishop of Kinross.
St. Eparchius the Recluse of Gaul (581).
These
are only two days’ worth of the Grace-bearing saints, relics, and icons that
the Orthodox Church has given to the world.
And to sit before any one of them for a single day, for a single hour,
in their caves or huts, their monasteries or churches, would be worth
infinitely more than the possession of every last one of Mr Tomczak’s beloved
American inventions.
Come
out from among her, Southron. Come out
from Babylon-America (Rev. 18:4).
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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