The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483 – 1520 AD)
Lately, there has been a lot of yelling and marching in the streets about the evils of Western Civilization, how it has run its course, is worn out, and should be put down and replaced with something more “just” or “equitable.”
The irony of these protests is that one of the hallmarks of Western Civilization is a tolerance for, and even the encouragement of, ongoing political and social criticism. That there are May Day marchers and “No Kings” protestors in our streets shouting that Western Civilization is kaput, and who (this is the important part) suffer no consequence to life, limb, and property from any state authority, is a celebration of the vibrancy of Western Culture.
Western Civilization is not dead (yet), but an understanding of what Western Civilization is and why it is worth championing is in trouble.
Despite Western Civilization’s religious roots, we, the current caretakers of this system, should not assume some divine presence will always guide us to a place of safety. Those who view our country’s history through a Judeo-Christian lens should keep in mind that history is replete with examples of nations that, despite God’s many blessings, acted in such capricious and heedless ways that the Lord seemed to have finally had enough and hit the reset button.
Although Western Civilization is not dead, it is not well. It is, to be blunt, infected by packs of nasty, bawling, whining, cancel-culture brats who seem to be everywhere underfoot. The essence of their protests, distilled from many mantras, goes something like: “Western Civilization is rotten to the core, burn it all down!”
More than just being annoyed by Antifa and other such destructive groups, we should be aware that people can dismiss, criticize, and pummel their culture into a state of dysfunction and eventually collapse. It has happened before. If we, those living in the Western and Westernized world, were to allow that to happen, it would be a very bad thing.
So, how do we respond?
Since we are having difficulties talking with one another (oh, but there is plenty of talking at each other), a good place to start might be with ourselves. What do we know about the pros and cons of our Western Civilization? Are there more pros than cons? Let me suggest to you that there are many, many more things right about Western Civilization than things wrong.
I want to discuss what is right with Western Civilization, because I am convinced that it is far greater, more significant, than the things that are wrong with it.
To do this, it is important to point out that, by way of our culture’s alleged “wrongness”, no culture is free from problems, contradictions, and even gaping blind spots. It is a culture’s ability to see these defects and adjust that is its strength, the means by which it stays viable.
Our ability to adjust and change how our culture works begins with an understanding of what culture is and is not.
Simply put, culture is a set of behaviors turned into habits that allow people to adapt to the conditions under which they live. Culture is a tool, not a museum piece, a dish of food, or a particular costume. Those things are artifacts, physical things made by a person using a particular set of belief tools, that is, habits, acquired as coping mechanisms for a particular set of circumstances. Artifacts are important, but there is presently much confusion about the distinction between a culture and its artifacts, as demonstrated by the charge of “cultural appropriation” for wearing certain clothing or cooking certain foods.
As tools, all cultures must serve, at a minimum, the survival needs of the people who develop them, because if they don’t, both the culture and its people perish. And not all cultures, like tools, are equally suited for the optimal function of a people. By way of behavioral tools that could help the people of the world navigate the time and place that they live in, Western or Westernized behavioral tools are better than most.
Why? There are several reasons, but let me touch on just a few:
Western Civilization is curious and adaptive. Westerners are intensely curious about the world they live in. There is not a region on the planet where a Westerner has not put a foot down.
Far from just setting out as conquerors, Westerners have shown great empathy for others and have compiled a greater, more extensive catalog of other cultures and their customs than any culture that has ever existed. As a demonstration of their cultural curiosity and adaptability, Westerners, especially English-speaking Westerners, are constantly absorbing foreign words and even whole phrases. People who are culturally curious and adaptive make for better neighbors and do better, on the whole, than those who are close-minded and rigid.
Western Civilization is theologically grounded in a Judeo-Christian worldview, and as such, values the individual for his or her own sake, and not for some external stamp of approval offered by the tribe or State. Everything from the global abolition of slavery (a Western undertaking and, for the most part, an achievement) to universal suffrage and democratic participation all flow from a Western, theological world view that esteems the individual.
And concerning theology and political ideology, Western Civilization has, relative to other major cultures of the world, pursued a separation of church and state that affords the individual the freedom to believe whatever she wants theologically, and still participate in the body politic of the society. Since we are naturally theological beings, this separation is vital to the health of the individual and society as a whole.
From its theological roots, Western Civilization has cultivated an obsession with storytelling and the written word. Western Civilization has, for many millennia, placed a high value on literacy as the gateway to knowing God, which in turn has given rise to most of the arts and sciences. Since Westerners have assumed that God is loving and created the world and all things for the good, the Western, theological worldview was the starting point for all the sciences, which, coupled with Western curiosity, unleashed an obsessive drive to figure out how things work, both physically and metaphysically. This drive has resulted in an unbelievable alleviation of human suffering on a global scale.
Western Civilization allows, and even encourages, self-criticism and reevaluation, always assuming that who we are now is not yet the best that we could be. In fact, unlike most (all?) global peoples, Westerners have cultivated whole traditions such as theater and political humor that are specifically designed to allow their citizens a “safe space” to let off steam while they argue and reexamine how they might better live out their values and, in doing so, better their lives.
And we could go on. But a sonnet-like recitation of “Oh Western Civilization, how do we love thee, let us count the ways,” is not the point here. Rather, we should frequently remind each other that we have, here and now, one of the most successful, adaptive, prosperous, and generous cultures the world has ever known. Though it is not perfect, keeping Western Civilization alive and thriving is worth the fight.