My write-up of last night’s Milo event in Melbourne is tracking nicely, and has generated plenty of discussion. I made a big deal of my one bone of contention – Milo’s disavowal of ethnic nationalism, and made the case that our ethnic identity as Europeans must be one of the defining features of the West.
A number of XYZ readers quite rightly pointed out that I failed to mention our Christian heritage as one of the defining features of the West. This in turn has led to some good discussion on the nature of Christianity on the XYZ boards.
It is satisfying to see that recent articles on the nature of Christianity by Rod Lampard, Adam Piggott and Jael the wife of Heber have had a big impact on readers. Our Quote of the Day goes to Karen Dwyer, a regular reader and commentor:
“Have a look at the “Niceness vs Christianity” article here on XYZ a couple of days ago.
“Pseudo-Christianity is about “Niceness” (how one appears to other people as a “nice” person). It can include being “Super nice” and lacking wisdom or denying reality. Both the latter are specifically warned against.
“It can also include putting on a false covering of “Niceness” (being the one to always drive the kiddies to camp) to cover up abusive behaviour. That is also warned against. Niceness is pretending that everything and everyone is lovely, and if they aren’t well that’s because they didnt really meant to do it.
“Real Christianity is about Christ, not about appearances. Wisdom (not the gathering of knowledge, but the application of common sense, reason, reality, and God’s word) are important. Thus one can be compassionate without being foolish or blind, self-sacrificing with ones eyes open. Thusly, one might choose to defend oneself but not to retaliate murderously against those who hit you because they hate Christians. BUT one wouldn’t “compassionately” allow the person next to you to be hit. Nor would you pretend that the attacker had no evil intentions and invite them in to share your daughter’s bedroom. Etc etc.
“Pseudo-Christianity is weak: it does not depend on Christ. Real Christianity depends on Christ, absolutely. And cannot exist without Him.”
I think we can all agree that Christianity is a key pillar of the West, and that the nature of the Christianity we are talking about was never meant to be just nice.
It’s your XYZ.
#RetakeConstantinople
