Education and economic development are the remedies put forward most often by modern man for society’s ills. This pair was the bulk of a proposal put forward recently for ending New Orleans’s spike in crime.
Those two things are decent goals to aim for, but they cannot stop a crime wave by themselves. Their beneficial effects, such that they are, come from the virtues that underlie them: self-control, focus, thoughtfulness of the future, and such like. But virtues like those don’t sprout from computer coding textbooks; that is Marxist/Communist materialistic thinking. Virtues grow from the soil of religion. If folks want a revived New Orleans, it is in that direction that they will have to look primarily. The second necessary element is external enforcement of order. Let us look at both.
To nurture the virtues necessary for a healthy cultural life, there must be a revival of the Christian Faith. Historically, this has been accomplished primarily through the presence of monasteries of monks and nuns. New Orleans has had this witness from early on with the Roman Catholic Ursuline nuns, and there continues to be a monastic presence within the city, despite attrition and general apathy towards and ignorance of them. But their growth is essential to New Orleans’s spiritual health, just as it has always been in the broader Western world. The present conditions in New Orleans reflect the pre-Christian West in some striking ways, e.g., the lawlessness and violence, but this does not dishearten us because of what we find recorded in history. The Orthodox priest Fr Aidan Keller writes,
Throughout the 7th and 8th centuries, the Gospel was slowly accepted by more and more of Europe, but it must be remembered that much of Europe was still staunchly pagan. Many of the European peoples were so fierce that their eventual acceptance of the gentle Jesus of Nazareth is considered by some historians to be the greatest miracle of Christian history. Evangelism at this time was conducted mainly by monks, and their principles were very sound and are relevant today. They would found a monastery in a lonely place, away from human habitation in a pagan area. Some among them might preach to the people, but only if they had a special gift for this. The other brethren would simply live their Gospel lifestyle to the fullest. With the passage of time, the local inhabitants would discover the true nature of the Christians' lives, and when they liked what they saw, they would be near to Baptism. The compunction and orderly beauty of the church services also warmed the hearts of these peoples, and served to convert them as much as any conversation or reasoning. In Western Europe, it was the Irish monks who were the most active missionaries; in Central Europe, Benedictine monks and nuns from England christianized the German lands.
Furthermore, about the great monastic founder St Benedict of Nursia, Italy (+543 A. D.), Fr Aidan says,
. . .
The rest is at https://thehayride.com/2022/01/garlington-against-the-education-panacea/.
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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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