[Pearls Episode 146: Answering atheism Tuesday.]
As we complete our reflection on Christ the King, we note that as our secular society denies His kingship, it finds itself in a curiously schizophrenic predicament. On one secular hand it is careening toward communism, but the other hand clutches the self-focus of postmodernism. The two can’t coexist (a favorite word of the secularist religion, by the way…).
Fulton Sheen would often point out there was no tolerance of the individual in communism. Here’s a particularly colorful quote of his, “to the Soviets, a person is very much like a grape who continues to exist only on condition that his individual, personal value is squeezed out of him so that he exists only in the wine of the state.”
And at the same time, the culture has embraced the hyper self-focus that traces back to Descartes’ infamous, “I think therefore I am” – which is to say, “there is nothing greater than my individual consciousness.”
And so secular culture is trying to create some sort of nutty selfy-communism (perhaps it could be branded, iCommunism), where there is some all-powerful beneficent government that also let’s everyone “follow their bliss.” This has created several notable failures:
- Panera bread experimented with a “pay whatever you want model.” Guess how long that lasted?
- The collapse of “intersectionality” – which is a fancy term for identity politics and the competition to see who can claim to be the most oppressed. Exhibit A – the cultural border war between feminists and trans activists over women’s sports.
- And then there’s the societal waste land of San Francisco.
This is why Pope Pius XI proclaimed the Solemnity of Christ the King, because Christ must be King of both our individual lives and society as a whole for there to be wide-spread peace and prosperity. Two excerpts spell it out:
“With God and Jesus Christ excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation.”
“When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony too, will result; for with the spread and the universal extent of the kingdom of Christ men will become more and more conscious of the link that binds them together, and thus many conflicts will be either prevented entirely or at least their bitterness will be diminished.”
As we come upon the penitential season of Lent (more on that in our next Pearls episode) the restoration of Christ to his rightful place as King (“In God We Trust”) is a worthy intention.
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life
Postscript: Christ the King (Luke 23:35-43)
The rulers sneered at Jesus and said, “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” Even the soldiers jeered at him. As they approached to offer him wine they called out, “If you are King of the Jews, save yourself.” Above him there was an inscription that read, “This is the King of the Jews.”
Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us.” The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”