The increasingly technocratic, anti-Christian trajectory of the West and other parts of the world is making traditional family life difficult to begin and sustain. This includes things like the LGBT cult, but also newer evils that go beyond them. Here are a few recent examples to illustrate: Treating pregnancy as a diseaseThe Journal of Medical Ethics, like a demonic oracle, opines:
Of course, this sick reasoning rests upon the un-Christian theory of Darwinian evolution:
Creating synthetic human embryos and growing them in mechanical wombsResearchers have succeeded in creating synthetic embryos for the first time, without stopping to first answer the question of if they should be created at all. The embryos exist without the need for egg, sperm or sexual reproduction of any kind. They were engineered from stem cells and provide a window into the earliest days of human development.1 The scientists behind the synthetic embryos, including Magdalena Żernicka-Goetz, of the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology, hope to study this so-called "black box" development period, as researchers are only legally allowed to grow human embryos up to 14 days.2 . . . While it’s currently against the law to attempt to implant a synthetic embryo into a human womb, the science is rapidly outpacing related regulations. "If the whole intention is that these models are very much like normal embryos, then in a way they should be treated the same," Lovell-Badge told The Guardian. "Currently in legislation they’re not. People are worried about this." In animal studies, synthetic embryos implanted into mice wombs did not survive. Similarly, when synthetic monkey embryos were implanted into monkey wombs, pregnancies were induced, although the embryos spontaneously stopped developing after a few days. However, if the synthetic embryos could one day grow into adults, we’d be entering into uncharted legal and ethical territory. Ethicist J. Benjamin Hurlbut of Arizona State University told Science that synthetic embryos represent "a matter of significant moral discussion and of significant moral concern." Scientists are already working on how to grow life outside of a human womb and, in 2021, Hanna and colleagues grew a mouse embryo in a mechanical womb for about half of a typical gestational term — a time period equal to a human embryo at 5 weeks. Growing mouse embryos "ex utero," the researchers said, is a valuable tool to investigate embryonic development in detail, but it comes with serious ethical questions, including might humans be next? The answer is yes, as Hanna told MIT Technology Review, "This sets the stage for other species. I hope that it will allow scientists to grow human embryos until week five." Are we headed for an "era of motherless births," in which babies are grown in laboratories via artificial wombs? It does seem to be where the research is rapidly headed. . . . According to the Genetic Literacy Project:
If anyone thinks this is just sci-fi fantasy, think again. A member of Sweden’s parliament proposed at the end of 2023 that research be done on artificial wombs so that women would be freed of the ‘burden’ of carrying their unborn babies. Women admit to preferring relationships with AI chatbots over those with actual flesh-and-blood men
All of the above are guaranteed to destroy strong, healthy families and high birthrates; they will not remain isolated cases either but will try to insinuate themselves into the everyday life of the united States (our beloved Southland not excepted). These are certainly evil days. The monks of Grigoriou Monastery on the Holy Mountain (Mt Athos) captured the essence of our times in their denunciation of the Greek parliament, which, under heavy pressure from the Biden administration, redefined marriage to include same-sex couples:
And yet they counsel us not to despair:
The Church must continue to speak out like this, boldly yet compassionately, like the prophets of old, as often as possible, to bring society back to sanity vis-à-vis the family. The Orthodox bishops of Greece published a letter on the Christian family that serves as an excellent example of what could be presented to our neighbors. The following is a central part of it:
Governments must do their part as well. The US federal government is currently too paralyzed and/or too Leftist to do much of anything good, but State and local governments can still act decisively. They can stop pushing the theory of evolution on school children, limit AI and social media use among minors, and outlaw synthetic human embryo research. The Alabama Supreme Court has taken a very positive step in this direction by ruling that all frozen embryos created for IVF purposes are human children subject to the protection of all laws. Southerners may rightfully take pride that this ruling came from one of their own States.
But governments need to go further. They need to codify via resolutions, laws, and amendments, the teachings of the Church outlined above regarding the family. The structure of the tax code and other laws and regulations must be rewritten to give preference to families, especially those with lots of kids, rather than to atomized individuals. Nullification of Obergefell v Hodges is also essential. The technocratic assault on the family must be faced manfully. Special sessions have been called in Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and other States to deal with issues like tax rates, redistricting, and crime. Those are worthwhile issues to discuss, but they pale in comparison to strengthening the family. Governors and legislatures ought to adjust their schedules accordingly.
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It is not very often that we would say something good came of the Super Bowl, but this year is a little different thanks to the dustup over the response (or lack thereof) to the Black National Anthem: ‘White Tennessee Democrat Congressman Steve Cohen was incensed that Super Bowl fans did not stand in respect for what he called the “Negro National Anthem” during Sunday night’s big game.’ Those who disagree with Rep. Cohen have generally stuck to some form of the argument that because the United States is one nation, it should and does have only one national anthem. It is precisely here that a helpful opportunity presents itself, an opportunity to remind one and all that the United States are not one country, but many countries. This may be done via two ways. First, politically. Fifty States make up the federation called the United States. Each one is a sovereign, independent country. This truth has been expressed since the earliest days of their independence from the British Empire. One important example: The Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the war between Great Britain and the States, says explicitly that each State is a nation in her own right: ‘His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and Independent States; that he treats with them as such . . . .’ It has generally been the authoritarian centralizers in the US who have tried to spin out a different version of reality – that the 50 States are one country – folks like Alexander Hamilton and Justice Joseph Story. Abraham Lincoln took their theory and put into practice by force of arms in an illegal, unjust war, but delusions will last only so long before falling apart. The Soviet Union affirms that: Fifteen very different countries forcefully united under the rule of Godless communists in Moscow broke apart in 1991. The European Union is constantly in danger of falling apart because it is similarly trying to amalgamate 27 independent countries into one giant supernation; Charlemagne’s earlier version of a European superstate fell apart for similar reasons. The United States are not immune from these political dynamics. Dissatisfaction with an all-powerful government in DC continues to manifest in the States. Texas’s de facto nullification of the Biden administration’s and the federal Supreme Court’s immigration directives is just the latest example. It appears that it will be only a matter of time before one or more States leave the present union. There is a second, and more fundamental, way that the United States are many countries rather than one: culturally. The easiest way to illustrate this is the Red State/Blue State dichotomy. In this regard, there are at least two countries existing within the current boundaries of the US – the conservative-leaning Red States and the liberal-leaning Blue States. But there is more to it than that. Because of the immigration patterns that have occurred in North America, there are several distinct cultural regions that have formed within the US. Speaking very generally about them, New England, because of her settlement by the people of southeast England, shares their penchant for cities and industry, and for egalitarianism and radicalism in politics and religion. Dixie, settled by folks from southwest England, is the opposite, favoring agricultural pursuits, rural lands, and hierarchy and tradition in politics and religion. On we could go: The Great Plains are more Scandinavian and German; the Rocky Mountain States are heavily Mormon; the Desert Southwest has a lot of Spanish influence; etc. All of this is well-attested to by authors such as David Fischer, Joel Garreau, and Colin Woodard. Religion, bloodlines/heredity, language, geography, and climate all combine to form unique cultures and countries that deserve as much autonomy as is possible within reasonable limits. Many in the US deny these very plain and simple truths, however, thinking that allegiance to a political creed is enough to empty people of their historical and cultural memories and roots and create new, blank-slate men and women who will inhabit a utopia called America. That didn’t work with the overly collectivist, individual-erasing communist ideology in the Soviet Union (the direction the EU seems to be going as well); it won’t work with the overly individualistic, community-erasing liberty ideology of the US either. Both are simply secular substitutes for the Christian Church – the only Body in the world capable of creating a new united race of men through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. Because of this, we get second-rate ‘national’ rituals like the Super Bowl to help foster our unity rather than major feast days of the Church for the Lord Jesus Christ, His Most Pure Mother, other major saints, and so forth (to see what the South could be celebrating throughout the year, look here, here, and here). The healthier path for the States will be to recognize and nurture the various cultures amongst them, to allow them to coalesce into new confederations along rational regional/cultural lines, thereby putting to an end a lot of unnecessary clashes between States and cultures that hold opposing views on incendiary issues like abortion, drug legalization, transgenderism, immigration, marriage, guns, and the rest. Tell us again of the birth of God, When the sun was dying And humanity old and frail. Tell of the strong Deliverer, Who broke the chains around our necks, And the compassionate Healer, Who removed the iron lances from our hearts, Placed there by the murderous tyrant. Tell us of the young Maiden, The Mother of God, who knew no man, Whose womb became more spacious than the skies. Tell us of the new stars in the heavens, The new gods and goddesses – the martyrs and the saints – Replacing the old constellations of the pagans, Andrameda, Perseus, Hercules, With those reborn and recreated in Christ, St. Katherine, St. Paisius, the Great Basil. Tell us again of the deep, dark night When the Omnipotent was born as a helpless child, And hosts of the bodiless powers appeared, Singing praises while beholding a mystery. Tell us of the brilliant Light That erupted within hell, Crushing its bars and blinding its guards, And leading the captives home to heaven. Tell us again, and once more, and yet again Of the Love that united Godhead with manhood forever, That slew death like a viper struck with a sword, That will seat us next to Christ at table In Paradise, without fear of ever being cast away; Instead, deepening our union with Him As years and ages and aeons unfold In that world not made by human hands, Where together God, men, and angels will always abide. A woman is a mysterious thing, Whose simple, single ‘How’s it goin’?’ Is enough to befuddle a man, To frustrate his focus, To weaken his strength. The women who want to exercise Maximum power in the world By putting on a pair of pants And sitting on a corporate board Or in a senator’s chair Have got it all quite wrong – All they need do Is grab the men-folk rulers By their collars And tell them softly, ‘I love you so!’ There you stand Payne Murphy,
Beneath the thick bough of an ancient oak, With Allyson, the answer To your heart’s yearning, Glowing beautifully in the late evening sun, As a bride shall do. But in that holy moment, The two of you before the minister, Your own Uncle Boyd, Transformed in a mystery From an individual man and woman Into husband and wife – One flesh – in Jesus Christ, There beside you also stand The souls of Percy Murphy, Raiford, James, many forebears Of our family, looking with hope and joy Upon their offspring, Now growing to maturity. The future rests upon your shoulders, And upon all the youthful generation – The future of our family, the future of the Church, The future of the Southern people. October is the time of nature’s waning; Leaves grow sere and shadows lengthen. But in the Grace of a wedding, This law is overturned, As renewal enters the world: A new branch of the family tree emerges, Formed of P. M. and Allyson Fife, And our eyes look with longing For the fruit that it will bear. AG Jeff Landry made his final appeal to Louisiana’s voters on Oct. 12th in the campaign for governor (which he subsequently won on Oct. 14th). In short, it could be summed up as ‘Louisiana ought to be great.’ In his own words:
We fully supported Mr. Landry for governor, believing that he has the right mix of experience and temperament, the right view of State sovereignty vis-à-vis the federal government, etc., to bring some beneficial changes to Louisiana. However, his words in this last appeal of his leave us concerned, for we have seen nearly this same kind of campaign unfold amongst our cousins in France under Charles de Gaulle. Now, General de Gaulle was an extraordinarily gifted leader. He nearly single-handedly kept the nation of France alive at times during WWII. After the end of the war, France lay prostrate, exhausted and dispirited. And again de Gaulle raised her up. He entered politics with the aim of making France a renowned country once again, politically stable, economically prosperous, and a prominent player in world politics. And he achieved a measure of success in those things – influential in Africa, rejecting complete subordination to NATO, protecting French interests in a European commonwealth – as well as giving France a new constitution that stabilized her political life and a reinvigorated economy. But once de Gaulle retired from politics, most of his achievements unraveled quite rapidly. Socialism/Leftism became the dominant ideology in the succeeding decades, remaining so today, with all its caustic attendants – open borders, hatred of the native culture, an oppressively large government, etc. When political leaders fail to raise the eyes of their peoples above the horizon of the earth, they doom them to precisely the kind of materialistic nihilism that France has fallen into. Politics is not an end in itself. Politics, like everything else, is a waysign, pointing us to the ultimate reality, to God. When we turn our eyes from Him, exchanging the infinite, uncreated God for some limited, created thing as the ultimate good, we bring trouble upon ourselves. Gen. de Gaulle had a wonderful opportunity, given his many talents, to rouse his people to true greatness, that is, to Christian holiness. But he failed to do so, and France has suffered much because of his failure. AG Landry, if he is not careful, is poised to repeat the mistake of de Gaulle. His final appeal is bereft of any mention of God, Christ, Church, etc.; it is concerned only with a worldly kind of greatness. But worldly greatness satisfies people for only a short time; then the spiritual hunger for something deeper awakens, and if it does not find Christ, people will try to satisfy it in all kinds of ways, many of them harmful – cults, drugs, crime, alcohol, suicide, overeating, endless social media use, etc. Louisiana is already experiencing many of these. Less crime, more economic opportunity, and better education will help to a degree, but not for long. Louisianans desperately need to be reacquainted with the exhilarating quest for holiness, and, once again, it is a French kinsman who provides a helpful illustration for us, St. Martin of Tours (+397 A.D.), the Patron Saint of France. Even a brief look at his life will show us the kinds of meaningful encounters that await those who seek after God sincerely and using the right means (prayer, fasting, the Divine Liturgy, etc.):
Worldly greatness is ephemeral. It quickly dissolves into nothingness. But holiness makes things immortal. Ten, twenty, fifty years from now, no one will care about our NFL stars and their statistics; no one will care about our GDP output. But generation after generation will continue to be in awe of the architecture of an abbey like Mont St. Michel off the coast of Normandy; they will continue to be drawn to the otherworldly beauty of illuminated manuscripts like the Lindisfarne Gospels; they will continue to seek consolation from the relics of the saints, which remain incorrupt and miracle-working because of the Grace of God that dwells within them. St. John Maximovitch (+1966), a saint who touched most of the world in some way, a saint everyone should know at least a little bit about, shows us how holiness overturns the normal working of the laws of death and decay. His holy relics were uncovered in 1993 in San Francisco, 27 years after his blessed repose:
We are grateful to God for the Landry victory on the 14th. It is critical, however, for Mr. Landry, State legislators, school board members, and for all the rest of us here in Dixie – both those in government and those outside of it – to remember that unless a political vision and agenda are linked to a higher spiritual reality, it will all be for naught. Worldly glory and achievements fade and wither like the grass in August, but deeds done for love of God and neighbor, deeds infused with the holy Grace of God, last forever.
Or, to say it more plainly, a holy Dixie is an immortal Dixie. Mr. Mark Atkins’s essay of 26 Sept. 2023, ‘What Is the South? What Is Dixie?,’ contains many fine passages, which is not unusual for things written by him. There is one that is cause for concern, however:
The land is undoubtedly an important factor in defining Southernness, but this passage makes something more of it than it ought to. The land in this telling has been transformed into some kind of dark, brooding deity that we must struggle with to receive a blessing, and along with the blessing, wounds. Mr. Atkins has retold the story of Jacob wrestling with God, replacing Jacob with Dixie and God with Land:
Further, it is ultimately not something external that we struggle with (the land), but something internal, sin. That is to say, the sins of men and women are the cause of the rebellion of the creation against mankind. When sinfulness is quelled in man, then harmony between them is restored. There are numerous instances of this throughout Church history in the lives of her saints. We will look at only a couple, for the sake of brevity, from the life of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne (+687) by another English saint, St. Bede of Wearmouth-Jarrow Monastery (+735). In his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, St. Bede writes,
Now, supposing a land full of Christian holiness in which there is little struggle with the land, would that people be bereft of a rich culture because of that absence? Certainly not! But what would be the source of culture in such a place? Just what it has been in every other place – the religion of the people, the Christian Faith. The country of Georgia, which we have mentioned before in some past essays, is a wonderful testimony to the culture-building nature of Christianity. Georgia was baptized into the Orthodox Church under the holy King Mirian in the 4th century, about the year 324 A. D.; she has not departed from the Church despite numerous brutal assaults upon her by the enemies of Christ. During St. Mirian’s reign, we see a Christian culture in its early formation:
As Southerners, we adore the land of Dixie, which provides us our sustenance, in which rest the bodies of our departed forefathers, from which grow our beautiful live oaks, white oaks, azaleas, and so many others, upon which gallop our half-mythical horses. The theme of land appears over and over again in our poems, in speeches, etc. But let us not claim more for it than we ought. True and lasting culture is born from worship of the Holy Trinity, the same Holy Trinity that King Mirian enjoined his son to adore – not Mr. Atkins’s trinity of family, People, and Land, but rather the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It is He Who sustains and protects and enriches a Christian people’s culture, if they are willing to co-operate with Him, as the histories of Georgia and other Christian countries attest. The land will always be a large part of that culture, but we must be wary of taking a part and making it into the whole.
The White House on the Potomac, The portal to power, wealth, and fame – To wield its dark demonic forces Innocence is lost and the blood of man is shed; Malicious lies are told, Allegiance is bought and sold, Deceptive arts unfold. Your hope does not lie there, Southern man, In demagogues making a noisy scene, But in the glittering white house – The church of Candida Casa – Of Blessèd Ninian in Whithorn, Nestled on Galloway’s bay, Built by the hands of the saint, Who lived and prayed in a little cave. The Southern heart, aching for a noble, loving father, Will not find him amongst the greedy gangsters And the sham showmen of DC, But rather in that royal-born Briton, St. Ninian, who put aside crown and kingdom To bring the Good Tidings of Jesus Christ To a branch of Dixie’s kin, the warring Scots; Who nourished them with preaching, Sacraments, and his prayers, And who will tenderly guide us, And work wonders for us, If we will entreat our Elder, As a child would his father. Exile from one’s homeland can cause overwhelming grief to flood over him, a condition illustrated poignantly in the familiar Psalm 137, which begins with the words, ‘By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.’ However, internal exile gives rise perhaps to even sharper pains, as these exiles must stand by and watch as piece after piece of their tradition is destroyed before their eyes. Internal exile is the situation of traditional Southerners today. And though there are differences between internal and external exile, they are sufficiently similar that Dixie can draw wisdom from the experiences of those who have suffered external exile. Two especially superb examples of Christians suffering patiently and joyfully despite their exile come to us from the early 5th century: St. John Chrysostom and St. Olympias. St. John is one of the finest pastors the Church has ever known. His surname, Chrysostom, means ‘golden tongue’, a name given to him for the excellence of his many sermons. He was exiled from Constantinople by the God-hating rulers of his day who falsely accused him of various infractions. St. Olympias was born into a well-to-do family, but devoted her life to God after her betrothed died. She became a deaconess in the great cathedral of Hagia Sophia under St. John and was sent into exile because of her loyalty to her godly pastor. Many letters of these two to one another have survived to our day, and they offer a wealth of helpful advice on how Southerners can deal with our current woes. In one letter St. John helps us put suffering in its proper perspective. It is in fact something that makes up the very nature of the Church:
Suffering joyfully, without complaint, because of our trust in God is, furthermore, a great virtue. He writes to St. Olympias many moving words about this:
The South can find the will to endure by meditating on the lives of the martyrs and confessors who have gone before us:
And while we are being buffeted by the waves of heavy trials, in order to avoid being crushed against the shoals of despair, it is imperative to remember that God’s love governs the universe:
That same love directs the fate of Dixie, too. And, in a passage reminiscent of General Lee’s on hope in God’s providence, St. John tells us to trust God with the final result of our struggle for an independent, Christian Southland: ‘Therefore, my friend, wait for the final outcome. For all things will certainly turn out, whether in this life or the life to come. In every circumstance, yield to the incomprehensibility of God’s providence.’ Yet, however things turn out for the South, we must praise God, for His ways are beyond searching out:
May our Loving Lord, Jesus Christ, allow the South to achieve all her godly goals, through the prayers of the righteous sufferers, St. John and St. Olympias! Note: All quotes from St. John are from this essay by Mr. Christopher Hall.
When her stomach is unsettled,
Momma must stay at home. When Summer issues his stern command, Then we will swelter in hot weather. When one grandson arrives, He must walk the boundaries Of the property of the camp, Greeting the young trees And mourning the ones that have fallen. When feet approach the pond, Then a fishing pole will be in the hand. When the call to bless the food and family comes, Then the time for talk will cease. When the ladies turn a camera toward you, You had better stand and smile. When little Lennon stands before you with her bike, Then someone will push her round, Whether Daddy Kyle or Granny Sug or young Cousin Cooper. When our patriarch Raiford decreed Long ago the gathering of the Walton kin to meet Once a year, then most joyfully We obey, in flood or frost or scorching heat. |
AuthorWalt Garlington is a chemical engineer turned writer (and, when able, a planter). He makes his home in Louisiana and is editor of the 'Confiteri: A Southern Perspective' web site. Archives
February 2024
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