“Truth is unchanging. The principles of morality are unchanging. The human essence is unchanging. Therefore there is no hope of a New Man, Heaven on Earth, Babel Rebuilt, a Brave New World, or Superman.” ― Peter Kreeft

I was in Brighton for the weekend. It was one last fling before a “one-month” lockdown that will undoubtedly be extended in perpetuity until we are brought to heel by our betters. I can’t type “these are strange times” with a straight face because the lines between fantasy and reality are so blurry. We’re in the stuff of every dystopian novel ever written and you can pick the form of your destructor (i.e. Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury, or Zamyatin). The bulwarks have been corrupted (the barbarians are at the gate) BUT masks have been dropped which reduces the fog of war.

I’ve written about Thomas Merton before and in Seven Storey Mountain he writes about the national mood in 1939 on the eve of WWII. It was our sins, he writes, that created the conditions for the calamities and cruelties that were about to unfold. There is a similar feeling today as I pass churches in France / UK without congregations. Many of these buildings have been turned into community centers or just abandoned all together. The “enlightened” ones say something beautiful will rise from the ashes but I’m not so sure. I think the hubris is too great; the rot too deep.

The enemy has also grown bold and the terrorist attacks in France (burning and desecrating churches and targeting priests and parishioners) are going to explode over the next couple of months. We are no longer on the precipice (the dye has been cast) but sliding down that slippery slope that was supposedly just a figment of our imaginations.

Related
Letter #32, Friday, October 30, 2020