Wednesday 5 February 2020

Nationalism

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I should also note that neither white nationalists nor Marxists represent any kind of political danger to our post-bourgeois society. Far more powerful forces are now at work battering what remains of our Anglo-American traditions of ordered liberty. [Paul Gottfried, The Limits of Race, Unz, June 30, 2008.]
Somewhere the Jewish-American palaeo-conservative political writer Paul Gottfried, with whom I usually agree, said that while nationalists in the 1930s had represented a threat to peace in Europe they no longer do so, but want to defend Europe. Clearly this is true and
is very important.

Pope St. John Paul II had the war in Bosnia in mind when he addressed  the United Nations on 5 October 1995 and said
In this context, we need to clarify the essential difference between an unhealthy form of nationalism, which teaches contempt for other nations or cultures, and patriotism, which is a proper love of ones country. True patriotism never seeks to advance the well-being of ones own nation at the expense of others. For in the end this would harm ones own nation as well: doing wrong damages both aggressor and victim. Nationalism, particularly in its most radical forms, is thus the antithesis of true patriotism, and today we must ensure that extreme nationalism does not continue to give rise to new forms of the aberrations of totalitarianism. This is a commitment which also holds true, obviously, in cases where religion itself is made the basis of nationalism, as unfortunately happens in certain manifestations of so-called "fundamentalism".

These wise words have been quoted as a rebuke to Matteo Salvini, but unlike Razvan Karadzic and Slobodan Milošević, Matteo Salvini and Viktor Orban do not threaten anyone. Their nationalism, if this is the right word for their policies, is purely defensive.




6 comments:

  1. "That suffix, '-ism,' is never good."

    St Francis II

    https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/new-interview-pope-explains-aim-synod-warns-against-nationalism

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  2. I dislike rheumatism in particular.

    Internationalism has gone too far and has become a great threat to parliamentary government and democracy. The threat is to the very existence of nation states, which are the political masterpiece as Raymond Aron said.

    http://pvewood.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-nation-state-is-political.html

    The Pope seems much fonder of the UN than one would expect considering the UN's stance on contraception, abortion and feminism.

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  3. The angels were a subject of animated debate in 1930s Germany: paradoxical as it seems, the discussion actually has considerable political significance.

    Faced, in the early 1930s, with the numerous attempts within the German world to make that political power absolute – attempts which found assent in many sectors of both Catholic and Protestant theology – this call upon the angels of the nations suggests a reaffirmation of the limit placed on political sovereignty by the existence of a superior power. A homily given by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich, one of the greatest opponents of the contamination of Christianity by National Socialism, can be read from this perspective; it was originally given in 1924, and then published in an anthology in 1933.

    After recalling the Biblical roots of the belief in the angels of the nations, Faulhaber outlines the nature of the angels of the people: they are superhuman powers which the love of God has placed in opposition to the superhuman power of evil in order that the people may be saved. They are creatures and therefore limited, but stronger than humans: they are not omnipresent, like God, but quick as lightening in the execution of his commands; nor are they omnipotent, as he is, but stronger than any force the people might possess; they are not omniscient, like God, but they are wiser than statesman and intellectuals.

    The angels of the people have a threefold mission. That of Raphael is above all to guide the peoples: «the rightful guides of a people are not those who impose themselves upon the people, but those who are sent by God». This divine mandate is not of course expressed directly: on the concrete historical plane it is the people themselves who choose their own leaders, but upright leaders are those who account to God for their mandate. The angel of a people thus sees to it that they are guided towards truth and not lies:

    «At a time when so many hands reach out to seduce (verführen) the people, the Word consoles us: guardian angels must guide (führen) the peoples».

    In the second place, the angels share Gabriel’s mission: they must bring the good news of redemption to the people. And finally, they have Michael’s mission: Michael is not only the angel who fights evil but also the one who brings the justice of God. This is why the angels of the people «must uphold the law of God, require that men are obedient to divine command and realise God’s plan on earth, even if the road to this plan leads over the bodies of the peoples». What can the peoples learn? From the doctrine of the angels of the nations, they can learn to respect the laws of God in public life, avoiding any «idolatory of their own nationality or state»; they can learn to preserve moral values in their customs and laws and to cultivate love and the commitment to create peace on earth.

    http://theopopedia.lett.unitn.it/?encyclopedia=angels-of-the-nations#_ftnref1

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    Replies
    1. THE ANGEL OF THE NATIONS by Michele Nicoletti

      http://theopopedia.lett.unitn.it/?encyclopedia=angels-of-the-nations#_ftnref1

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  4. Very beautiful and important. The forces of evil are all around us and are embodied in psychopaths and other dangerous people.

    'Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.'

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