Why does a civilization, providing peace, stability, prosperity and unimagined freedom to its inhabitants turn to self-hatred? Why do those who richly enjoy the fruits of the West, also agree to abhor it?Dass gives a rather complex answer to the question but his answer is summarized in this paragraph:
To understand this destructive habit of mind, we must first turn to the nineteenth century, when Christianity was finally and fully replaced by collectivism. People were no longer defined by God but by society; that is, individual identity was said to be achieved only through social interaction. Without society, there was no humanity.
So, why does the West hate itself? Because anything that hinders or denies human reason and the human will must be destroyed. The biggest hindrance is the West’s past, its root: Christianity. Western self-abhorrence is hatred of what stands in the way of a “better” future.Doubtless he's on to something and you can read the rest of his analysis at the link.
As Dass suggests the West is experiencing an age of self-loathing as a consequence of the secular revolt against Christianity and all that that entails.
He doesn't say it this way, exactly, but when Christianity is rejected, so, too, is any ground for moral judgment, meaning, justice and truth. The rejection of Christianity in favor of a secular materialism leads to a worldview that embraces ethical, metaphysical and epistemological nihilism.
People may not live as utter nihilists, but nihilism is perforce consequent upon their assumption that there's no objective truth, nor meaning, nor right nor wrong.
The modern Westerner claims to be liberated from the shackles of a dead faith to live his/her own life, to create his/her own values, morality and meaning. Their truth is their own, and no one has the right to tell them that they're wrong.
Christianity, however, does precisely this. Christianity claims that there are indeed objective and eternal truths about the world, about human nature, about morality. This claim stands as an indictment against modern amoralism and subjectivism and breeds a profound resentment and hostility in the hearts of contemporary men and women who have embraced secular materialism.
Rather than acquiesce to the Christian view of things, the response of many is to lash out against it, to strive to tear it all down and with it all that has been built upon it, which means most of Western civilization.
This, I suggest, is one reason why so many Westerners are eager to commit cultural suicide by opening their borders to millions of immigrants who despise the West and its values. By flooding Europe and North America with people antipathetic to its cultural heritage that heritage will ultimately be watered down to where it eventually flickers out of existence.
As far as many of those who have nothing but contempt for Western culture and the faith that created it, that day can't come soon enough.
