Prime Minister Meloni’s speech reminds me of this scene from The Agony and the Ecstasy:
Cardinal: But, may I suggest,
in the manner of the Greeks.
Michelangelo: No, in my own manner!
Cardinal: True, no modern artist can
hope to equal the Greeks!
Michelangelo: Why not? Why shouldn’t we equal
them? Surpass them, if we can.
Cardinal: Really, Master Buonarroti,
I had heard you lacked modesty…
but do you claim to be
greater then the Greeks?
Michelangelo: – I claim to be different.
Cardinal: – For the sake of difference?
Michelangelo: Because I am different.
I’m a Florentine and a Christian…
painting in this century. They were
Greeks and pagans living in theirs.
Cardinal: Pagans? Christians? An artist
should be above such distinction.
Michelangelo: And a cardinal, especially one who
pretends to understand art…
should be above such foolishness.
I’ll tell you what stands
between us and the Greeks.
Two thousand years of human
suffering stands between us!
Christ on His Cross
stands between us.
Screenplay, The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Jews and the Greeks brought a constellation of ideas into being that were amplified by the Romans, producing unique cultures in Western Europe that gave birth to a civilization known as the West, a daring, ever questing civilization that is perpetually seeking to surpass itself, and which has proven simultaneously attractive and repellent to the other civilizations that inhabit the globe. Compared to the West, most other civilizations are static and seek only to replicate themselves across time and space. The West is different, and everyone knows it, whether they love it or hate it.
And a cardinal, especially one who
pretends to understand art…
should be above such foolishness.
Reminds me of a lot of the clerics in Rome right now.
“The West is different, and everyone knows it, whether they love it or hate it.”
And I love it! Like Glenn Loury, I can say “Tolstoy is mine. Shakespeare is mine.”
What most people really mean when they say “White Supremacy” today is “Western Civilization”.
Not to be overlooked is Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. His portrayal is one I think most reflects his actual character. Let us hope the Almighty cut His Holiness some slack upon his death in recognition of allowing the artist to create this magnificent work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKFOwE1k-84
Well technically speaking, Christianity did not spring out of the West. The Holy Land is in the East. Christ was born into an Eastern Jewish civilisation and not a Roman one.
The West during the Roman Empire was persecuting Christians. An agreement in 313 AD by Constantine and Licinius to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire finally united the West and Christianity.
Yes – Western Civilisation has been the sum of achievements and developments which have sprung out of the West. However, Western Civilisation has adopted aspects of the East – alphabet, numbers, technology, food, art, architecture etc…Tolstoy was Russian and from the East. Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, all of the European Explorers adopted advancements and achievements out of the East and brought them to the West.
Further, the West today is the product of the rising and falling of Western achievement. Take away the rose coloured glasses and hindsight, and Western Civilisation has not been consistent and entirely positive. For example, the West has had its struggles with Christianity, notably the British monarch’s persections of Catholics. Besides the Orthodox Church, the schisms in the Church which exist today occurred predominantly in the West which has resulted in a multitude of sects being born out of Christs intended Christianity – Protestant, Baptist, Evangelical.
If you look at the growth of Catholicism today and its adherence to scripture, it is the East which is staying faithful. The Eastern Catholic Churches in the Middle East, the African Church, the Asian Church have more fidelity to Christ teaching today than the Vatican and the Bishops who preside in the West.
I think where we long for western civilisation which nations should envy, is the political systems. This is the only aspect of Western civilisation that is working today better than in the East. Most other positive aspects of Western Civilisation have been discarded. The fact is that the West no longer knows what its identity is and is still trying to identify itself by the ideals of the past. They don’t exist anymore except in the political systems.
It is important to note that the only threat to Christianity on a mass scale, is Islam. Both in the East and the West. Islam can single handedly destroy Western Civilisation through natural attrition. God willing He won’t allow that. But things are not looking good for us. Pray and resist at the expense of being labelled politically incorrect.