Historical social change vs. the decline of civilizations. Part 2

We have finished our previous blog commentary with an inquiry into the potential ways of dealing with unpleasant historical events, phenomena, or even an entire epoch from the standpoint of a particular civilization. And we have arrived at this specific dilemma via a discussion of the constant irrational mistake that many members from different generations tend to make. Namely, to treat the inevitable historical social changes as symptoms or as causes of a supposedly upcoming civilizational collapse. To pick up from where we have left, let us return to the already introduced academic work entitled “The Wisdom of Our Ancestors: Conservative Humanism and the Western Tradition”.

There is a paradox here. On the one hand, this book has been described as offering “a cri de coeur for the renewal of Western civilization”. But on the other hand, both the Western as well as all other civilizations have always been renewing themselves. Whether it is the shift from paganism to monotheistic religions, or the abolition of feudal privileges - social norms and beliefs have been constantly evolving alongside the material progress of humanity. The problem is that the authors of “The Wisdom of Our Ancestors” represent a classical conservative position. In simple words, they are against the social changes that are taking place precisely during their lifetimes. They would subscribe to essentially everything that has progressively evolved throughout the history of humanity until their era. But since they represent this particular historical moment, it has become their benchmark for the judgement of social issues. Little surprise, then, that “as they conceive it, conservative humanism is not only a political middle but also an ‘ontological middle.’ What that ultimately means is that conservative humanism is a ‘defense of rational order.’”

Every generation before us would have claimed to represent the supposed “rationality”. One could even argue that it is a natural trait to make everything about oneself. Up to a certain historical stage of our scientific knowledge - let’s not forget - humans would place their planet at the center of the world. In any case, while McAleer and Rosenthal-Pubul claim to be aiming for the renewal of the Western civilization, they are, as a matter of fact, rather trying to stall its historical development. They are advocating for a “refresh” button so that all social progress that has gone beyond what they define as “rational” would be undone and lost. They want to return back to a historical moment that would correspond to their conception of “rationality”. Hence, according to them, “the decline or renewal of the West depends on whether a politics of conservative humanism is able to reclaim the wisdom of our ancestors and rejuvenate the religious, familial, and educational-intellectual traditions of our civilization.” As a response, here we shall inquire whether our ancestors were truly that wise and whether it makes much sense to listen to their wisdom.

Let’s start with a quote by Ronald Reagan:

“I have always believed that America is strongest and freest and happiest when it is truest to the wisdom of its founders.“

And also:

“I think American conservatives are uniquely equipped to present to the world this vision of the future - a vision worthy of the American past. I've always had a great affection for the words of John Winthrop, delivered to a small band of Pilgrims on the tiny ship Arabella off the coast of Massachusetts in 1630 [...]“

If by the founders Reagan meant the Founding Fathers of the USA, then according to this particular ancestral wisdom, slavery is quite an acceptable social phenomenon. And his beloved John Winthrop, likewise, was no stranger to the practice of slavery. Would the conservatives of our times argue to bring back this outdated institution of human subjugation? Of course not. And Reagan himself had condemned it explicitly. Their difficulty is that they need to invoke the past in order to justify their unwillingness to go forward. They want to immobilize their particular historical moment. And their circumstances force them to ignore that part of the wisdom of their ancestors which, for instance, had denied women the right to vote, or which had denied them equal property rights to those of their husbands. In our case, on the contrary, we have the liberty to critically evaluate the social consciousness of our previous generations. And to ask the following hypothetical question: why should people in the 21st century listen to the wisdom of, say, the Romans? What can a civilization that believed in the ritual sacrifice of animals offer to a generation that has relegated all gods to the realm of fiction? Ridicule of their social norms appears to be the most appropriate reaction from our historical standpoint.

But let’s leave the Romans in peace. After all, paganism dominated Roman religious life for much of their history. Christianity only managed to get hold of their society towards the later part of their civilization. However, what appears evident is that the further away we travel backwards in time from our own modern era, the more preposterous the wisdom of our ancestors appears. And indeed, it must never be forgotten that Christianity was at a particular moment in history a progressive ideology. Unfortunately for its contemporary defenders, it has not been such for quite a while now. And in order to portray it as such, the Church is equally forced to leave out its not so encouraging historical moments. Below is an attempt by the pope Benedict XVI to remind the Europeans of their Christian heritage:

“You have just described, Mr Ambassador, the reality of the European Union as ‘a zone of peace and stability that gathers 27 States with the same fundamental values’. This is a felicitous presentation. However, it is right to point out that the European Union did not endow itself with these values; rather, these shared values brought it into being and have been, as it were, the force of gravity that has attracted to the nucleus of the founding countries the various nations that have successively joined it with the passage of time. These values are the fruit of a long and tortuous history in which, as no one will deny, Christianity has played a leading role. The equal dignity of all human beings, the freedom of the act of faith as the root of all the other civil freedoms, peace as a decisive element of the common good, human, intellectual, social and economic development as a divine vocation (cf. Caritas in Veritate, nn. 16-19) and the sense of history that derives from it are as many central elements of the Christian Revelation that continue to model the European civilization.”

Anyone familiar with history and willing to discuss it honestly will find it shocking to claim that “Christianity has played a leading role” in shaping the values of “equal dignity of all human beings” and “the freedom of the act of faith as the root of all the other civil freedoms”. Surely Christianity had assured equal dignity for all by sanctioning the feudal social hierarchy with all the privileges for the nobility. And surely the freedom of faith had been safeguarded by the inquisition trials as well as by the armies of crusaders sent to slay the “heretics”. And despite all this, McAleer and Rosenthal-Pubul still manage to “see traditional religion as necessary for a sure moral order. As they see it, ‘no secular ideology has yet proved equal to the task of constraining the wayward impulses of human nature’.” Simply incredible. Apparently, burning people alive for raising questions over the religious hierarchy or over the corruption within its institutions corresponds to “constraining the wayward impulses of human nature”. Indeed, one must be completely ideologically blinded to promote the wisdom of our ancestors with a straight face.

As far as the historical timeline of humanity’s social progress is concerned, it is totally acceptable to treat the monotheistic religions as a superior stage to the various preceding forms of paganism. What is not so acceptable, however, is to appropriate this historically valid hierarchy for a personal quest to halt the course of history beyond one’s personal social beliefs. And yet, here is how JD Vance, the current vice president of the USA, has attempted to construct his opposition to abortions:

“I read an article some time ago. It was about classic archeology of all things. And one particular piece of information has haunted me, that one of the telltale signs of an ancient brothel in the pagan world was that you'd always find a large number of baby skeletons nearby. A lot of baby skeletons, and those bones predominantly belong to boys. Because unlike little girls, those boys would be of no use to the future adults who were running those brothels. Now, this is shocking to us because we grew up in a Christian culture and we're formed by religious values. Even those of us who aren't particularly faithful, it's a shocking thing to hear. But we have to remember that in the ancient pagan world, discarding children was routine. From the skeletons and brothels to the child sacrifice of the Mayans, the mark of barbarism is that we treat babies like inconveniences to be discarded rather than the blessings to cherish that they are. But the inheritance of our civilization is something else. The fact that, as scripture tells us, each life is fearfully and wonderfully made by our creator.”

It is completely irrelevant here whether these observations regarding the Mayans are historically correct or not. More importantly, we should ask whether the Christian culture itself has not got any skeletons in its own closet. How does the history of Canada’s Indian Residential School system square with JD Vance’s insistence on the love for children that Christianity supposedly embodies? And the recent “Tuam babies” scandal in Ireland appears to demonstrate that “discarding children was routine” not only for the pagans (given that Vance’s claim is correct), but to our Christian fellows as well. Moreover, how would JD Vance respond to this Irish case which also reminds us that Christian societies could equally treat unmarried mothers “like inconveniences to be discarded”? But grappling with real life facts is off the table when one has an ideological mission, as do the conservative individuals.

To conclude this part, we can return to “The Wisdom of Our Ancestors: Conservative Humanism and the Western Tradition”. There the authors “decry that universities today generally promote a ‘culture of repudiation’ regarding the West’s traditional texts, heroes, and symbols.” But is it the fault of the universities if they represent the emerging social consciousness? As we have seen above, there is more than enough reason for our contemporary generations to be disgusted by the actions of our ancestors. And we are still supposed to follow their wisdom? Perhaps, instead of striving for the “renewal of Western civilization,” it would be more worthwhile to ensure that future generations would not be disgusted by us.

Sources:
1. https://fedsoc.org/fedsoc-review/the-wisdom-of-our-ancestors
2. https://kirkcenter.org/reviews/conservative-humanism-for-a-postmodern-age/?utm_source
3. https://www.reaganfoundation.org/ronald-reagan/quotes/i-have-always-believed-that-america-is-strongest-and?utm_source
4. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-dinner-marking-10th-anniversary-heritage-foundation?utm_source
5. https://legacyofslaveryreport.harvard.edu/report/slavery-in-new-england-and-at-harvard#indigenous-slavery-and-african-slavery
6. https://www.ncsl.org/resources/map-monday-married-women-granted-right-to-control-their-property
7. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-studies/article/legal-exemption-for-the-temple-cults-of-rome-and-alexandria-in-the-fourth-century/8FCF6B2789837BED8D95874E77605DC5
8. https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2009/october/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20091019_ambassador-ue.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com
9. https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-jd-vance-national-march-for-life-rally-january-23-2026/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
10. https://www.oic-ci.gc.ca/en/proactive-disclosure/disclosure-briefing-materials/standing-senate-committee-indigenous-peoples-february-27-2024/backgrounder-produced-following-initial-invitation-discuss-records-not
11. https://www.rte.ie/news/2026/1002/1593784-tuam/

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