Wars and Rumors of Wars

Lest we lie at our ease, it is imperative to remember that René Girard has posited that terrorism has now reached a pandemic, global scale. A "rivalry" so vast, that the United States has become a model in the "model/rival" scenario of mimetic theory and is, thus, simultaneously admired and loathed by those who seek to destroy the nation.

Case in point: a prophecy more than a blueprint is now published for taking down America.

What is imperative in such tumultuous times is to avoid at all costs falling into a true "crisis of the doubles," as Girard has coined the phrase. This is what occurs when the model -- in this case, the United States -- begins to mimic the ways and wiles of its rival; namely, those who are amazingly fascinated positively and negatively with the USA at one and the same time.

This may prove extremely difficult to do, for although our land is still "Christ haunted," it has been a long, long time since we took seriously such things as the Ten Commandments, the prophetic writings, and the Sermon on the Mount. The nullity of our values is a vacuum aching to be filled. A rival with such strong ties to the "primitive sacred" is tailor-made for us to fall into a true doubling rivalry.

My brother in Christ, Aramis, has been chiding Porthos and me to read Banished From Eden – Original Sin and Evolutionary Theory in the Drama of Salvation for some time. From what I've read, it should be required reading by those planning "Homeland Security" all the way down to concerned parents and educators.

If violence accounts partly for the rapid growth of the brain size of homo sapiens, we must begin to come to grips with the entrenched nature of violence in the human race. Only then do we have a prayer of recognizing the Way, the Truth, and the Life out of such violence: his name? Jesus Christ. His means? The Catholic Church, Sacred Scripture, Tradition, the Magisterium, and the grace of the Sacraments.

Only humble acceptance of such saving grace through faith can prepare the remnants of western civilization for the days ahead.