Blogs For Victory

This is a quote from G. K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man – it deals with the war between the Romans and the Carthaginians. While most histories of that conflict deal with the military or political aspects, the reality is that the conflict – like all the real and vital conflicts – was based upon views of the world informed by different religious beliefs. Why did Rome beat Carthage, even though at one point Carthage had clearly beaten Rome?

Why do men entertain this queer idea that what is sordid must always overthrow what is magnanimous; that there is some dim connection between brains and brutality, or that it does not matter if a man is dull so long as he is also mean? Why do they vaguely think of all chivalry as sentiment and all sentiment as weakness? They do it because they are, like all men, primarily inspired by religion. For them, as for all men the first fact is their notion of the nature of things; their idea about what world they are living in. And it is their faith that the only ultimate thing is fear and therefore that the very heart of the world is evil. They believe that death is stronger than life, and therefore dead things must be stronger than living things; whether those dead things are gold and iron and machinery or rocks and rivers and forces of nature. It may sound fanciful to say that men we meet at tea tables or talk to at garden-parties are secretly worshippers of Baal or Moloch. But this sort of commercial mind has its own cosmic vision and it is the vision of Carthage. It has in it the brutal blunder that was the ruin of Carthage. The Punic power fell, because there is in this materialism a mad indifference to real thought. By disbelieving in the soul, it comes to disbelieving in the mind. Being too practical to be moral it denies what every practical soldier calls the morale of an army. It fancies that money will fight when men will no longer fight. So it was with the Punic merchant princes. Their religion was a religion of despair, even when their practical fortunes were hopeful. How could they understand that the Romans could hope even when their fortunes were hope less? Their religion was a religion of force and fear; how could they understand that men can still despise fear even when they submit to force? Their philosophy of the world had weariness in its very heart; above all they were weary of warfare; how should they understand those who still wage war even when they are weary of it? In a word, how should they understand the mind of Man, who had so long bowed down before mindless things, money and brute force and gods who had the hearts of beasts? They awoke suddenly to the news that the embers they had disdained too much even to tread out were again breaking everywhere into flames; that Hasdrubal was defeated that Hannibal was outnumbered, that Scipio had carried the war into Spain; that he had carried it into Africa. Before the very gates of the golden city Hannibal fought his last fight for it and lost; and Carthage fell as nothing has fallen since Satan. The name of the New City remains only as a name. There is no stone of it left upon the sand.

We are engaged in a deep and abiding struggle today. Our world is divided – our very nation is divided – between those who worship Death and those who worship Life. Our opponents probably don’t even realize it – their knowledge of history, as of all relevant facts, is scanty – but they are the modern version of the worshippers of Moloch. What matters to them is material things – to have enough for themselves; to be master of everyone else’s; to preserve and protect things even at the cost of human life…this is what our opponents are about.

While their hatred of us is palpable, the most important impression you get when you think about them is their befuddlement. They don’t really understand us, at all. Light can perceive the heart of darkness, but the darkness cannot understand the light. The most exact statement of their view was Obama’s offhand comment about his opponents being people who bitterly cling to the Bible and guns…to, that is, Truth and the means to defend it. Obama was mystified about how anyone could be like that. After all, much more important is seeing to the division of things, and ensuring things are protected from human action.

One side or the other will prevail. If they do, then only the active agency of God could save humanity. Already around the world they have had extreme triumphs…and select people are able to pile up things at an unimaginable rate, while also being given authority to divide up all things; meanwhile, their war on life – their war on humanity – proceeds apace and population commences its decline. People who are worshippers of things will have little time for the hope and effort of children. On the other hand, if we win, then we will have saved and revived our civilization. Naturally, just for a time. If today’s Molochs are beaten, we can be sure of it that another batch will arise…until the End, that is how it will be.

And I do believe we will win. You can calculate things out to a nicety, but you can’t ever work in to your equations what a determined person will do, even if the efforts appears quite hopeless. Because we live and want to live and hold life to be infinitely more valuable than lifelessness, we are able to think and dream…and act like real men and women. Death may take us, but it shall not triumph over us: Life will endure, and come in to its full inheritance at the proper time and season.