Posted by
Mike on Saturday, June 28, 2008 1:19:56 PM
Neo-Conservatism has been likened to the Jacobinism which touched off the French Revolution. True conservatism grew out of the revulsion of the civilized world, particularly in Ireland and Great Britain, to the excesses of Jacobins and their reign of terror in France. Neo-conservatives like to use words which disguise their Marxist precursors, claiming to be the upholders of righteousness and against terrorists when in fact their very foundation was terrorism in the modern sense of the word. They are exceptionalists, particularists, and elitists who have basically a materialist worldview which to them justifies anything including pre-emptive war to advance their own agenda of world capitalism.
Jonah Goldberg rose through the ranks of
National Review the primary periodical devoted to the conservative movement founded by the arch-conservative Bill Buckley, and like Buckley a graduate of Yale University. Although Buckley was himself Catholic, he was often at odds with Church teaching on such issues as birth control and solidarity with those who are less fortunate. But as a conservative he shared the general dislike for liberalism and communism arising from the ashes of the Paris uprising.
Pat Buchanan grew up with strong Catholic Christian family values and a solid Jesuit education at Georgetown University. His weltanshauung grows out of the two thousand year old tradition since Christ lived on earth. Christianity took root in the remnants of the Roman Empire and is the basis for whatever unity still exists in the West.
While I am not one to take sides in other peoples' disagreements, I believe that the proof of the pudding is a question of the truth of Christ's life and message. If He was an offbeat Jewish rabbi Who was executed by the sadistic Roman overlords, then there is nothing to stop naked force from determining what society holds to be right, as in the case of the Jacobin rule. This seems to be the ideal of Goldberg and the neo-conservatives.
On the other hand, if Christ did in fact rise bodily from the dead by His own power, as His apostles believed and taught, then we aught to
put great weight on the social gospel taught by the living Church which
He founded and whose leaders He appointed, and their successors in the
world today. Only fools would be so arrogant as to disregard the
pope's skepticism regarding the tenets of capitalism, and the Church's
perennial outspokenness against war in general and pre-emptive war in particular.
Looking at the world in this light, Buchanan is not being inconsistent in his support for the West's defense of Croatia, for example, which was the eastern border of Charlemagne's realm and therefore practically essential to keeping the Christian Church alive in the Western world. What could be more vital and important than that? As far as throwing smaller nations to the wolves, Buchanan is in fact cautioning prudence in not allowing the West to go down precipitously in flames over quarrels which have absolutely no value looking at the big picture. If the Christian ideal is true, Buchanan will be proven right.