Observing America today, one is puzzled by the absence of spirituality. Not only Christianity but most of the world’s religions traditionally have taught that knowledge and fulfillment are achieved by denying the flesh. Pagan Rome rejected that teaching, and America has now far surpassed Ancient Rome’s paganism. But doesn’t George W. represent some esoteric flavor of spirituality? “W.”, who parades himself as a pious practitioner of the American religion, relies upon shamans preaching prosperity in orgiastic performances, tap-dancing preachers promising riches and blessings.

Reflecting upon Modernity, one is compelled to consider the centuries of European monasticism, which produced so much of Europe’s intellectual heritage. Yet one marvels today at the contempt with which contemporary American society holds the monks of centuries past. Asceticism and celibacy are ridiculed by Americans. The Jewish media speak not about the values of asceticism but about pedophilia. And so the Jews gleefully disparage Tradition, while at the same time their attorneys bankrupt and force the closure of churches.

Where are the American virtues? American Christians have no great problem with exchanging a previous wife for one younger and more attractive, all the while rejecting any obligation for reproducing and raising offspring. At a cue from the Jews, American Christians have come to believe all their heavenly rewards will be met in this life. When it comes to morality, how does America compare with traditional Muslim communities?

My feelings on “W.”’s enemies are mixed. His enemies are not necessarily my friends. Islam is a force foreign to me. In France and Germany today, Muslim immigrants are a subversive force, representing no continuity of authentic community. Islam in France and Germany is, more than anything else, an artificial reaction against Modernity, Western values, and other evils such as globalization. I find veiled females and senseless, hypocritical prohibitions against alcohol as abhorrent as Modernity, Americanism, and globalization. Confronting Whoopie Goldberg and a conservative, turbaned Afghan Muslim, it would be difficult for me to express preference for either one of those two contradictory systems of values. Yet I admit I feel some admiration for Muslim communities, unlike those in France and Germany, which work to preserve authentic traditions. In some traditional Muslim communities, we find order, stability, tradition, and values.

Watching “W.” prattle, I am reminded of Russia’s clumsy and ineffective Nicholas II, who defended autocracy up to the final months before he and his family were murdered by a gang of Bolshevik thugs. The proud British come to mind also, once so confident in their proper English values and in the power of a monarchy upon which the sun once never set. All that strength and majesty was swept away, just as surely as now we can count America’s remaining days of influence and power. Babbling incoherently about the export to Iraq of American values and about democracy, a concept the Americans are no closer to realizing than the Soviets were to achieving true communism, “W.” personifies the putrid decay of a bloated, corrupt political system. “W.” is a nimble Pinocchio, though the strings controlling all his movements are pulled by Jews and by supporters of Israel. I sense a coming catastrophe in America, and my instinct is to take myself as far away from “W.” and his minions as one might physically travel. When the flood finally hits America, it will be devastating.

Stojgniev O’Donnell

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