How Did We Get Here?

Those Who Control the Present Control the Past

Well, here is a thought. In his book 1984, written just after WW2 imagining a future dystopian society, George Orwell made a profound statement that I believe is key to understanding our present predicament that many don’t seem to comprehend. That statement was: “Those who control the present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.”1

Now, many might say, what exactly does it mean to control the past? Is this talking about some kind of time travel scenario? Or even if you could somehow control it, how would controlling the past control the future?

And some who do understand this quotation conceptually may not directly correlate it to the absolute cultural chaos and collapse of reason, morality, and law we are experiencing today in the West and around the world.

However, if this quotation truly has the gravitas that I believe it does, then what we’d have to do is analyze who exactly is predominantly in control of doling out information in society today, how exactly do they control the portrayal of the past, and how does (and will) that affect the minds of current and future generations.

More importantly to anyone reading this, how does it relate to your everyday life where the average person is just trying to raise their kids and educate them with some kind of normalcy, pay their mortgage, and put food on the table while inflation is skyrocketing?

We simultaneously watch most of our country’s leaders act foolishly and seem to hyperfocus on issues that don’t help our current social or economic situations whatsoever. Indeed, very often what they’re pushing are contributing factors to the divisiveness and monetary challenges experienced by the average citizen.

And let’s face it, with what’s been revealed in regard to the social and political agendas out there in culture—and with everything we’ve seen unfold from the incredibly aggressive progressive leftist players in society—I think we can all safely say that the changes and challenges we’re experiencing go far beyond some little blip that’s going to get a quick fix once we get some different politicians in office.

No, there has been a profound change in the core structure of Western society.

No, there has been a profound change in the core structure of Western society. A deeply rooted and foundational shift has taken place. So let’s analyze what exactly has happened.

Why Do We Need to Understand the History?

Now, just to warn you ahead of time, if you stick with me here, you are going to find that the answers to just the questions above will require a lengthy journey down a historical rabbit trail that will reveal many surprises for most of you who’ve never looked into such things before.

You may be sitting there wondering “Why should I bother?” My answer to that would be that if you don’t know the root cause of what is wrong in any given situation, you won’t know how to fix it. And you will then typically waste a lot of time and energy putting out proverbial symptomatic fires with nothing much to show for it.

And that applies not only to society and culture, but to work situations, personal relationships, and even to your own physical, mental, and spiritual challenges as well.

Again, many people feel life in the West is getting out of control. Our culture is divided, common sense has been lost, and it’s only getting worse. But they don’t understand that we didn’t just arrive here by chance—there have been some key players throughout history that have caused us to live in the world we do and that have caused it to change rapidly and drastically.

By the way, I know what many might try to interject here and try to lob against the idea that Western culture was better in the past. Legitimately, they might point to specific incidences such as racism or slavery in Britain and the US, social inequalities amongst marginalized groups here in Canada or Australia, etc.

For now, I would just point out that in almost every instance, these things were enacted in opposition to what the founding principles of Western culture were based upon, not in accordance with them, which is why they were eventually overturned. But more on that later.

What Is Culture?

Now, if we’re wondering what happened to culture and why, let’s first get an understanding of what defines a culture. To get an overarching picture, let’s look at Harvard University’s Sociologist Daniel Bell’s definition of it, as I believe it will give us a good starting point.

“Culture . . . is the effort to provide a coherent set of answers to the existential predicaments that confront all human beings.”2

Here, Bell identifies the key component in any culture. Strong cultures typically have a predominant commonality of thought among the people in them regarding life’s big questions, its challenges, and the solutions to them.

At one time, the majority of people in Western culture did answer life’s big questions (such as where everything came from, what’s the meaning of life, and what happens when we die?) in very similar ways.

Simply flashback to 100+ years ago and most people would have said God made everything; loving and serving God, our family, friends, neighbors, and country gives us meaning in life; and either heaven or hell is everyone’s ultimate destination. But not anymore.

“Common sense is only common when there is a commonality of thought between people” in a culture and society.3 But today, you could ask 10 different people in Western culture the same questions and likely get 10 different answers.

Many have no strong, absolute opinions on much of anything, even to questions regarding ethics and morality, and often profess feeling disconnected from their community, with no real sense of purpose in life whatsoever—especially younger people.

Now, if anything I’m saying here resonates with you but you’re still wondering whether you should take the time to really walk through this entire series of articles I’ll be doing, I’m just asking you to tune in to everyone’s favorite radio station—WIIFM—What’s in it For Me?

I can guarantee you that understanding who and what has been shaping our beliefs about the past will unlock your understanding of what is happening today and help you truly comprehend what the future holds both personally and culturally. Should we continue our current social and spiritual trajectory in the West?

What Defined Western Culture?

We must understand that Western civilization was once quite distinct and very different from what we see today.

Again, we must understand that Western civilization was once quite distinct and very different from what we see today. To help make my point, let’s do a quick Google search of “Western culture.” We quickly see a Wikipedia article with the same name that contains this key nugget within the first paragraph.

The core of Western civilization, broadly defined, is formed by the combined foundations of Greco-Roman civilization and Christianity.4

Now I know, it’s Wikipedia, the “editable to anyone” online source. I just wanted to use it to point out that the link between Christianity and Western culture is commonly known and well-established by historians.

However, just to reinforce this from a much more academic source, let’s turn to the work of Jackson J. Spielvogel, the associate professor emeritus of history at the Ivy League Pennsylvania State University. Professor Spielvogel has won five major university-wide teaching awards, is the author of the book Western Civilization, and helped inaugurate the course on Western Civilization at UPenn.

In his major work on the subject, Spielvogel makes it clear how foundational Christianity, based on the teaching of both the Old and New Testament, was intrinsically linked to the shaping of Western culture’s entire worldview—including its moral and ethical standards and its God-given rights and lawful protections for its citizens.

For all the many criticisms (some very legitimate and some not) it may have received, he emphasizes just how astonishingly unique Western society is.

With the rise of Christianity during the Late Roman Empire, however, peoples in Europe began to identify themselves as part of a civilization different from others . . . leading to a concept of a Western civilization different from other civilizations.5

Now, some might naively think that biblical ideas being woven into Western culture was brought about by some trivial idealism based on the teachings of a rabbi named Jesus who said and did nice things a couple thousand years ago being adopted by a group of influential folks who then passed it on to others.

However, such a superficial view of the Bible’s influence on the very fabric of the Western world is easily debunked with just a moderate examination of the facts. It was not simply some interesting legal passages, feel-good teachings, or inspiring proverbs that just happened to be in the Bible that led to the formation of Western culture. Rather, it was the entire historical metanarrative contained in the Bible that was embedded within it.

The Bible’s True History Is Linked to Western Culture

The recognition of the one true God creating a very good world, which was marred by sin when our first parents disobeyed God’s law; the need for forgiveness of sins (which we’ve all partaken in and are guilty of); the acknowledgment that Jesus Christ has paid the penalty for sin (for those who put their faith and trust in him as Messiah); and the blessed hope of an eventual fully restored new heavens and new earth—all these are indelibly linked to Western law, art, literature, politics, and ethics based on teachings such as the golden rule, etc.

The historical Genesis creation account provided the seedbed for all Christian doctrines, including marriage being between one man and one woman (and their corresponding gender identity, of course) just as God had created the first couple.

It describes the sanctity and special status of human life above the animals, illustrated by Adam (the first man) being given the task of naming the animals. He also did not find a suitable partner from among the animals before Eve was created from his side.

The need for adherence to God’s law, the corresponding penalty for failing to do so, and even our societal structure for work (such as six days of labor with a day of rest for everyone on day seven) was based on the way God had created the world.

The whole concept of man being a moral agent who was responsible both to God and his fellow man while living in a sin-cursed world was integrated into the best social constructs that former cultures such as the Greeks and Romans had been able to accomplish, which resulted in what we call Western culture.

Indeed, Catholic historian Harold J. Berman, writing in his book Religious Foundations of Western Law, said the following about how the Bible and church in general shaped the entire direction of the law in the West.

The Church had long taught that there is a natural law and a moral law by which all human law was to be tested and judged; but the university jurists added the concept of an ideal human law, the Roman law of Justinian’s books, which—together with the Bible, the writings of the Church fathers, the decrees of Church councils and popes, the writings of Aristotle, and other sacred texts—provided basic legal principles and standards for criticizing and evaluating legal rules and institutions. These inspired writings of the past, and not what any lawgiver might say or do, provided the ultimate criteria of legality.6

Now, I could go on and cite source after source reinforcing the truth of the Bible’s teachings and its narratives being embedded in Western culture, easily demonstrated for example in our two major holidays (or holy days) Christmas and Easter (which, of course, celebrate the birth, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ), ad nauseam.

However, I’m not going to bother as that work has already been done and the point conceded by scholar after scholar, even some of the most hostile toward the Christian faith—so that’s really not my point.

My point is that the very foundation has now been almost completely overturned; but how? That is the question we’ll continue to explore in Part 2.