Crusaders once again
Here is a wonderful essay by James Pinkerton on an idea that has largely passed from history, but which may yet be revived by this current, second historical wave of Islamic imperialism: Christendom.
Contrary to Terry Jones and PBS, the Crusades were largely defensive wars fought by Christian Europe in opposition to an aggressively imperialistic Islam. Back then, those threatened decided to defend themselves just as aggressively. Leftist historians tend to portray Islam as the ultimate victor in that struggle, because the Crusades failed to permanently take the Holy Land away from the followers of Muhammed. They are wrong. The true victory was the very fact that Europe abides, unconquered by the Crescent.
True, the Cross as a religious symbol no longer meaningfully represents the West in general, or Europe in particular. The West is secular, and stands, as a whole, for very little other than commercialism,personal convenience, and a remarkable (and unprecedented) lack of committment to anything larger than the Self. Modernism and Post-Modernism suck the very meaning from life in the West, and it's an open question whether most who live in Europe or in North America can really identify very much that unites the West as a society. That's especially true when the question is put as to what the West, as an entity, stands for in a way that defines it.
Ironically, the re-emergence of militant, imperialistic Islam forces the West do define itself. Ultimately, that unity must be sought in its historic roots: the values of individual dignity and equality and worth which spring uniquely from the Christian tradition, whether its contemporary critics see fit to concede the point or not. When al Quaeda trainees shoot targets meant to represent Western troops (or more often, hostages), the symbol painted on the front of them is not a dollar sign or a euro sign or any national flag or corporate emblem. It is the Cross. Their favorite collective term of derision for us is not "materialists" or "the Great Satan" or even "the Infidels." Collectively, we in the West are known as "the Crusaders."
Yes, the word has its origin in Round One of the global war now in its second phase. But a "crusader" even then was, by definition, one who bore the Cross. Granted, it was not the cross traced upon one's brow at Baptism to which the word referred, but the cross worn into battle. But that cross finally summarizes Western civilization and its traditions as nothing else can, and probably ever will.
The battle is not simply between Islam and the West. It's a battle between Islam and a West in the process of being forced to seek definition in its own history and values and traditions. Perhaps that doesn't mean a Third Great Awakening in America's religious life, or even a widespread re-christianization of Europe.But it certainly means that the renewed conflict between civilizations will force the West back upon its own history and values and identity. And that cannot help but have implications for the spiritual life of the West, as well.
Will we decide to defend The Shire, to use Pinkerton's analogy, against the threat of Sauron? If so, no matter how materialistic and agnostic we may think ourselves, we as Western culture will, like the Crusaders of old, march into battle under the sign of the Cross. Victory, if it comes, will come from a West compelled to follow the advice that came to Constantine in his vision: "In hoc signo vinces-" "By this Sign shall you conquer."
Or perhaps, to amend the slogan to better fit the current emergency, "By this sign shall you survive."
Contrary to Terry Jones and PBS, the Crusades were largely defensive wars fought by Christian Europe in opposition to an aggressively imperialistic Islam. Back then, those threatened decided to defend themselves just as aggressively. Leftist historians tend to portray Islam as the ultimate victor in that struggle, because the Crusades failed to permanently take the Holy Land away from the followers of Muhammed. They are wrong. The true victory was the very fact that Europe abides, unconquered by the Crescent.
True, the Cross as a religious symbol no longer meaningfully represents the West in general, or Europe in particular. The West is secular, and stands, as a whole, for very little other than commercialism,personal convenience, and a remarkable (and unprecedented) lack of committment to anything larger than the Self. Modernism and Post-Modernism suck the very meaning from life in the West, and it's an open question whether most who live in Europe or in North America can really identify very much that unites the West as a society. That's especially true when the question is put as to what the West, as an entity, stands for in a way that defines it.
Ironically, the re-emergence of militant, imperialistic Islam forces the West do define itself. Ultimately, that unity must be sought in its historic roots: the values of individual dignity and equality and worth which spring uniquely from the Christian tradition, whether its contemporary critics see fit to concede the point or not. When al Quaeda trainees shoot targets meant to represent Western troops (or more often, hostages), the symbol painted on the front of them is not a dollar sign or a euro sign or any national flag or corporate emblem. It is the Cross. Their favorite collective term of derision for us is not "materialists" or "the Great Satan" or even "the Infidels." Collectively, we in the West are known as "the Crusaders."
Yes, the word has its origin in Round One of the global war now in its second phase. But a "crusader" even then was, by definition, one who bore the Cross. Granted, it was not the cross traced upon one's brow at Baptism to which the word referred, but the cross worn into battle. But that cross finally summarizes Western civilization and its traditions as nothing else can, and probably ever will.
The battle is not simply between Islam and the West. It's a battle between Islam and a West in the process of being forced to seek definition in its own history and values and traditions. Perhaps that doesn't mean a Third Great Awakening in America's religious life, or even a widespread re-christianization of Europe.But it certainly means that the renewed conflict between civilizations will force the West back upon its own history and values and identity. And that cannot help but have implications for the spiritual life of the West, as well.
Will we decide to defend The Shire, to use Pinkerton's analogy, against the threat of Sauron? If so, no matter how materialistic and agnostic we may think ourselves, we as Western culture will, like the Crusaders of old, march into battle under the sign of the Cross. Victory, if it comes, will come from a West compelled to follow the advice that came to Constantine in his vision: "In hoc signo vinces-" "By this Sign shall you conquer."
Or perhaps, to amend the slogan to better fit the current emergency, "By this sign shall you survive."
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