Tucker Carlson and John Daniel Davidson, senior editor of The Federalist, recently had an enlightening discussion on what the decline of Christianity and the return of paganism to the States and the rest of the West would mean for politics and the wider culture. One of the main conclusions was that with paganism comes actions justified solely by who is physically more powerful in a situation. The acceptance of abortion and euthanasia by more and more people they see as a consequence of this.
It is instructive to look at what the new pagans themselves think about such things. As abortion looms large in the US presently, we’ll focus on it for a moment. One blogger quoted on that subject wrote, “[T]here is no reasonable argument that (at least at most stages) [a fetus] enjoys anything approaching equality with a human being. Given this simple fact, it seems to me that over most of the process leading towards birth, it should be entirely the woman’s choice whether or not to carry a fetus to term.” While a wicca FAQ elsewhere reveals,
Feminist spirituality promotes a belief that women are goddesses. Within feminist spirituality a woman is taught that she is the goddess incarnate. A goddess is both creatress and destroyer. And, since women are seen as the goddess incarnate, women believe that they wield the power over creation and destruction. A woman that thinks she (not God) is capable of creating life has little, if any, qualms bringing that life to an end. Consequently, abortion is considered a logical and appropriate option for pregnant women.
Thus we have confirmation that a new pagan age will involve the replacement of Christ’s example of self-sacrifice (replicated in every age in the lives of a multitude of Christians and especially in the lives of the saints) with the diabolically inspired will to power. One of those saints in the Orthodox Church, St. Sophrony of Essex, England (+1993), describes the good sort of revolution Christ brought to the world vis-à-vis human relationships:
Whereas in normal human interactions there is a negotiation rooted in power and self-assertion, Christ calls his followers to the opposite. Rather than vie for authority, which is a desire to ascend upward through the secular hierarchical ranks, Christians are called to descend downward, imitating the self-emptying love of the Messiah who died for the sake of others. Here the worldly pyramidal structure of society is turned upside down. Summarizing St Sophrony’s explanation of this new reality, Fr Zacharias (Zacharou) writes, “Christ, in order to heal all mankind, to break the deadlock of human injustice and to raise up high all those who are of ‘low degree’ upon the earth, overturns this pyramid of human existence, placing the apex at the base, and thus establishes the ultimate perfection” (Christ, Our Way and Our Life, South Canaan: STS Press, 2003: 54-5). Christ places himself at the very “bottom” of this inverted pyramid, and hence calls humanity to follow after him by descending into the depths of selfless love for others.
To quote the Lord Himself:
But Jesus called them to himself and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (St. Mark’s Gospel 10:42-5).
The last will be first, and the first last (St. Matthew’s Gospel 20:16).
It is precisely this spirit of love and humility that has led to so much generosity to the weak and powerless in Christendom, the founding of so many hospitals and orphanages, the appearance of Holy Unmercenary Physicians (i.e., doctors who heal without asking for payment), a politics of restraint rather than force and violence, and so forth. It is this spirit that inspired so many Christian kings, like St. Alfred the Great of England (+899), to dedicate so much time and effort to providing justice for the downtrodden within their realms:
. . .
The rest is at https://thehayride.com/2024/05/garlington-paganism-means-relations-based-on-raw-power/.
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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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