We have lost our culture to the Cultural Marxists and, increasingly, our liberty to the Rogue Ruling Class™. It is easy to despair. But, in the late 1970s, it was also hard to believe we could defeat Soviet Communism. Then three courageous people—Pope John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher, and Ronald Reagan—changed the world.
Reflecting on that, Robert Reilly describes what we must do today to win our war:
Language, then, and the restoration of its relationship with reality were critical to the Communist collapse. This was no small feat since, for many in the West, words had lost their meaning. A recovery of meaning was essential before a real challenge could be presented to the East . . . You cannot use “evil” as an adjective until you know it as a noun . . .
Communism was a form of absolutism fighting a form of relativism. As such, Communism had the clear advantage . . .
Reagan was the first political leader to use the moral vocabulary of “evil” to describe the Soviet empire in the recent era . . . the president calmly responded that he wanted them, the Soviets, to know that he knew . . . Once the proper vocabulary was employed, it was over . . . Truth—the splendor of truth—turned out to be the most effective weapon in the Cold War . . .
The word “evil” was the correct diagnosis, but what was the prescription? . . . The prescription for evil was God . . .
Before people demand democracy and social rights, they have to gain faith in their own human dignity. That was the prerequisite for liberation: You must know you should be free before you can be free . . .
You need not be afraid because of the truth. Know that truth, and it will set you free. One needs not only physical courage to be free but, above all, courage of the mind in identifying and speaking the truth . . .
If truth is impossible, so are the “self-evident truths” upon which free government depends . . .
To recapture our culture, let’s proclaim four core principles and reclaim the meaning of words:
- Speak the truth, rejecting political correctness, relativism, and the resulting reduction of political differences into power struggles.
- Promote the dignity of each person, enabling us to be a free, sovereign people and not subjects.
- Invest in individual character formation, driving changes in our culture and eventually our politics.
- Insist on the rule of law and equal justice under the law for all.
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