After reading our daily article by Fr. Neuhaus—a particularly pointed call to Christians “never [to] surrender to the cultural captivity that is the delusion of ‘Christ without culture’”—you might look at George Weigel’s reflection on ” The Two Americas ,” posted today at EPPC:
By the dawn’s early light on Nov. 5, two distinct Americas hove into view. The two Americas are not defined by conventional economic, ethnic or religious categories; it’s not rich America vs. poor America, black America vs. white America, or Catholic America vs. Protestant America.No, what this year’s election cycle clarified decisively is that the great public fissure in these United States is between the culture of life and the culture of death.
In 1995, when Pope John Paul II introduced the phrase “culture of death” in the encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”), more than a few commentators coughed politely and tried to suggest, if gently, that this terminology was a bit over-the-top—too dramatic, too confrontational, incapable of being heard by those it was intended to persuade.
Thirteen years later, it is obvious that the critics were wrong and John Paul the Great was right.
“What is to be done?” Weigel asks, and goes on to sketch the key ways that we can and must stem the tide of the culture of death through legislation and education. This is a task which affects and calls each American, for on its base level the culture of life is not Christian per se, but human: It is a culture in which man recognizes and is accorded his essential rights and responsibilities.
Yet the challenge, as Fr. Neuhaus reminds, is one that has particular bearing on the Christian, who may be called to sacrifice for his faith much that he holds dear—even to the point of life itself. How Christians might share the Cross in the time ahead remains to be seen, but this is sure: Nothing will be won without the power of the Cross, and nothing will be lost with it. As Weigel concludes, “And we need prayer—lots of it. Some demons require special powers to exorcize. As of Nov. 5, it is clear that certain of them have taken up residence in the United States of America.”
Over-the-top, too dramatic? I pray we won’t need to answer.
