To be classical is not to be stagnant

Entrusting The Future of the West to Our Children

by Dr. Andrew Seeley

The American founders saw that the kind of limited government that they formed was likely to be strong enough to withstand most external enemies. What some of them also recognized was that the most dangerous threats to the country’s future would come from within and not without. The American system was put together to prevent despotism. Hence, all its offices were constrained. They were to be limited, checked, and balanced so that the enthusiasm which we associate with Napoleon did not arise among us. This nation, under God, was to be a country of citizens not of masses.

What we see today, I think, is the awareness that we must form a careful list of abuses, analogous to those composed by the writers of the Declaration. This time, the abuses are not against any colonial power but against our own rulers. Who would ever have imagined that freedom of religion would come to be on the government’s agenda as an item to be restricted? We see that marriage itself is no longer understood and its supposed alternatives promoted by official policy. The list is getting longer every day.

.............

Thankfully, many founders of today’s Catholic educational institutions shared Denton’s spirit:  “If the existing structures have turned against us,” they said, “we’ll start new ones.  If it’s too late for our children, it won’t be for our grandchildren.” Today we are blessed with many vibrant and faithful Catholic schools who are very much part of the Great Tradition.

They foster my conviction that we are on the brink of a great renewal in the Church, at least in our blessed land of liberty and faith.  The graduates of these schools will enter the world in a unique position.  

Readmore: www.crisismagazine.com