Recently, writers Francesca Block and Suzy Weiss co-authored an article in The Free Press describing the phenomenon of (largely progressive) Western women converting to Islam.
The same day, Teri Christoph posted an article on RedState in which she noted how many recent displays of anti-Semitism (tearing down posters of kidnapped children; calling for the elimination of Jews at protests; denying accounts of horrific abuse (sexual) torture and death inflicted on Israeli women and girls during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7) were carried out by women.
To add salt to a wound that has never fully healed, social media exploded last week with TikTok videos made by young people expressing support for Osama bin Laden, the Saudi terrorist responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks that killed thousands of people in New Zealand. York City, Washington, DC and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Hundreds of TikTokers forwarded links to a letter bin Laden wrote in 2002 justifying mass murder, along with comments such as: “Wow, Osama bin Laden was right” “This will blow your mind” And “I see everything differently now.”
What all these stories and others have in common is a population searching for meaning in lives that have become completely devoid of it.
We are witnessing the consequences of the West’s self-immolation: the dumbing down of American education and the resulting ignorance; the demonization of prominent historical figures, the destruction of statues and the renaming of buildings and monuments; the absurd and excessive simplification of history “oppressors” And ” the oppressed “ and the equally ahistorical beliefs that human beings whose lineage traces back to Europe bear disproportionate responsibility for slavery and other human ills throughout history.
What the so-called anti-racist harassers are really attacking is Western civilization itself.
A perfect example is the exhibit that the National Museum of African American History and Culture installed in 2020 (only to remove it after a storm of controversy).
Although no civilization is perfect (and it is not the standard against which any can be measured), the West was founded on some of the greatest principles identified or revealed in the history of human civilization : the Greek and Roman definitions of good citizenship and ordered liberty. , British notions of individual rights, justice and due process dating back to Magna Carta and, above all, Judeo-Christianity, which emphasizes natural law, the inherent dignity of the individual, personal responsibility and public charity.
When we remove the principles that form the foundation of America, other, more pernicious notions will take their place.
As we see in the turmoil around us, people need meaning and transcendent truths in their lives. Without direction, they are adrift. In a culture that continually preaches self-indulgence, some will fall into destructive behaviors like drug and alcohol abuse or a life of meaningless sexual encounters, with all the chaos and heartache these choices bring. . The damage this has already done to our country is immeasurable.
Because we have abandoned our identity. We are losing our young people – and more. Americans have spent decades apologizing for our culture, thinking it made us more “enlightened,” only to see younger generations flock to policies and philosophies that are more violent, more oppressive, and more likely to promote human suffering.
There have always been and always will be those for whom the Western/American way of life has little appeal. They should be free to seek meaning and purpose in other traditions (provided these do not result in self-destruction or destruction of the lives or property of others). But their choices must be based on truth and not propaganda.
We should not give the next generation a reason to abandon their own heritage by allowing it to be continually maligned and distorted, and thus disavowing it ourselves.
