To: "Percy-L: Literary and Philosophical Discussion" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [percy-l] Re War and Peace
Date: Sat, 1 Mar 2008 15:42:24 +0100
Continuing the dialogue with Michael Larson:
I wrote:
>> > However it's astonishing that -- apart from the Balkans -- Europe, the battleground of so many wars, many of which had a religious
component, hasn't been a place of war for 63 years. This surely is in part thanks to the efforts made here to gradually create a European Union. It is far from perfect, but we are not killing each other. (As an
American living in Europe, I am one of the immediate beneficiaries.)"
Michael replied:
>> I am truly glad that you're not killing each other, but is a secular Europe united allegedly by pluralism more palatable than the one that
was united by Christendom? And are there not worse things even than war--such as, for instance, a pallid and faithless peace? Percy often said as much, I think.
While I wouldn't agree that Europe is quite as secular as we are widely
regarded as being, personally I prefer to live in the Europe that exist, albeit to a sad extent post-Christian but where we are not wading in blood, than a Europe that is once again a religious battlefield.
I have often wondered why religious life in Europe has weakened so much. There are many factors, but wars between Protestants and Catholics are probably not an insignificant one. What often seems like ancient history from the vantage point of the US doesn't seem nearly that
long ago to a great many Europeans, many of whom would revise a familiar biblical text to make it read: "See how they kill one another."
We have had both Reformation and Counter-Reformation, with many
deaths and martyrdoms on both sides, but to what extent there were
followers of Christ in Europe in the post-reformation centuries is less obvious.
friendly greetings!
Jim Forest
-- Jim & Nancy Forest Kanisstraat 5 1811 GJ Alkmaar The Netherlands
* * * Nancy and I have been keeping a journal that follows our recent kidney transplant. A blog has been set up for this purpose -- A Tale of Two Kidneys. See: http://ataleof2kidneys.blogspot.com/
* * *
[percy-l] Re War and Peace,
Jim Forest, 03/01/2008