Sacred relics have often been a unifying force in pre-Modern societies. The Western historian Christopher Dawson relates one account of this phenomenon from Uganda:
‘Moreover
in Ankole, at least, the state cult of Bagyendwana, the royal drums, which are
the national fetish or palladium, transcends the distinction of classes and
castes. The serfs as well as the nobles
can bring their offerings to Bagyendwana and appeal to it for justice. For all the peoples of Ankole are “the
children of Bagyendwana” “who is like the king only greater. For the king is the servant of Bagyendwana” (Religion and Culture, Washington, D. C.,
Catholic U of America Press, 2013 [1948], p. 151)’.
Here
in the States, an attempt was made at creating this sort of transcendent,
unifying, sacred object. The result has
been a series of documents spelling out the revolutionary propositions the
‘American experiment’ is based upon: the
Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of 1787
and its later amendments (the Bill of Rights, etc.), and the Gettysburg
Address.
All
of these have proven quite useless at attaining the desired end, but this
should have been the expected result all along.
When one embraces the Gnostic notions of a divine individual whose own
subjective experiences shape his beliefs about truth and reality, and whose
personal sovereignty allows him to be in or out of the political order as his
whim dictates (all principles which flow from these documents to one degree or
another), then there will necessarily be a great variety of interpretations of
the texts and the lessons we should draw from them regarding societal
organization, morality, etc.
Said
another way, when an object is sacred because of a deifying force outside of
itself and outside of the will of man acting alone, that is, because it is
united with the Divine, then it will have the power to overcome the divisions
that beset the men and women of a tribe, country, etc. But when sinful men who believe they are holy
try to impart that imaginary holiness to an object, as the ‘demi-gods’ (Thomas
Jefferson’s word) did, for example, when meeting in Philadelphia to craft the
1787 governing charter, it will be an utter failure at encouraging the oneness
of the people.
What
will result is what we are seeing come to pass in the States year after year,
i.e., more and more strands of individual or group identity: conservative, liberal, libertarian,
socialist, straight, gay, trans, and on and on.
The latest era of ‘divided government’ in Washington City and throughout
the various States is part of this ongoing process; and so too is the
tremendous divide in dozens of cities between the racist BLM/Antifa rioters and
those seeking some semblance of a peaceful life.
This
counterfeit Political Church of America has thus shown its uselessness and
harmfulness once again. The contrast
with the experience of the Orthodox Church could not be greater. But what does that look like, particularly as
it regards holy relics and the unity of peoples?
First,
we should note what makes the relics of the saints so important for Orthodox
Christians. St Justin Popovich of Serbia (+1979) writes,
‘Everyone
and all are set on their mystical path toward God, toward the God-Man. Inasmuch
as it was created by God, the Logos, matter possesses this same theocentricity.
Moreover, by His advent into our earthly world, by His all-embracing
condescension as God and Man for the redemption of the world, the Lord Christ
clearly demonstrated that not only the soul, but matter also was created by God
and for God, and that He is God and Man; and for it, matter, He is all and
everything in the same manner as for the soul. Being created by God, the Logos,
matter is, in its innermost core, God-longing and Christ-longing.
. . .
The
rest is at https://www.geopolitica.ru/en/article/role-relics-america .
--
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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