Supporters of the
Given this, Americans who sense that something is inherently wrong with the situation have nowhere to turn within the framework of today’s cultural and political discourse. The clash over the mosque is being fought entirely under the strictures of liberal ideology -- everything is subjected to the leveling, atomizing power of the egalitarian ideal. Despite the undeniable symbolism involved, as long as the liberal dynamic prevails, the Cordoba House affair will just be one of many distractions brought to you by Rupert Murdoch and his competitors. Here the long-employed strategy of divide-and-rule, also known as pluralism, guarantees that the managerial regime can implement its agenda with minimum fuss:
In the final analysis, the freedom granted to men and communities under the Americanist Pluralist "mystique" is merely the freedom to be materialists in a myriad of fashions. To take but one example, freedom for a Chinese must never be understood as allowing him to harmonize the American system with Confucianist principles. It does mean, however, that he can open as many restaurants as he might see fit, thereby contributing to the rich diversity of American life.
To revolt against a refined and effective system of social control like pluralism would entail a hierarchy of principles radically at odds with the values held by contemporary man. This would mean a return to traditional conceptions of authority and freedom, deriving from the Transcendent, and rejecting the materialization of life. Only at such a moment could an intellectually and spiritually prepared opposition rise against the inverted vision of society that has prevailed since the Enlightenment.
This hallucination, the product of a totalitarian dream that seeks to bend reality to its will, leads us to demoralizing sideshows like the mosque controversy near Ground Zero. Only a civilization at the height of decadence and sliding toward collapse would allow a project like Park 51. The secular societies of the West are spiritually imploding before they fall to men who retain force of will, to be applied for good or evil. Thus we witness the confused spectacle of Glenn Beck and his followers waiting for Godot on the National Mall, while the ludicrous triumphalism of the Freedom Tower gives way to the Freedom Mosque.
It is the unfortunate truth that the mosque itself is a symbol of our Postmodern Empire. The project’s representative Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf recently went on a speaking tour of the Muslim world at the expense of the U.S. State Department. Ever wonder just what “freedoms” our troops are fighting for in
None of this should generate ill will toward Muslims, who in this case are merely playing one role in a strategy of disintegration. They cannot be blamed for following the dictates of their own culture by building mosques and attempting to spread Islam. Whatever may be the ultimate intentions of Imam Abdul Rauf, his criticism of
General harmony between civilizations works best at comfortable distances, and this is especially true of Islam and the West. It would also be sheer negligence to ignore the doctrinally rooted aggression that has emanated from the
Here’s the obvious common denominator in the stories of Beslan and Ground Zero: both
Let us start with the Ossetian tribe that endured the school massacre at Beslan. Speaking an archaic Iranian tongue alongside Russian, the Ossetians refer to themselves as Iraettae, linked to the old Indo-European root ārya, ‘noble’. They are descended from the Sarmatians of late antiquity, nomadic horsemen renowned as fine heavy cavalry. Under the influence of Byzantium, most of the Alans (as they were then known) adopted Orthodoxy. The Ossetians are poor by western standards, though their republic is the most productive in
What then is the core of American identity? It is a point of hope that throughout the land there are still many Americans of strong faith and generous heart. They love their country without conditions, as they love their family. And they would see
As
