Recently a group of leftist organisations burned down two churches in Santiago, Chile, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and the parish of the Carabineros, Santiago’s police force. This is a sign of intolerance from socialist groups. They pride themselves in looking out for the poor, people in need, the workers. However, these recent events show that leftist movements are incessantly looking to destroy all Christian values. The world is facing an unprecedented moral crisis.
This bigotry and hatred towards Christianity has been evident in the past few years. The coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the problem. The OpenDemocracy website posted in March a call to abolish the family. They claim that most women are under threat of domestic abuse – mainly due to those asymmetries fostered by the so-called ‘patriarchy’- so the family as we know it should be abolished once and for all. While this is a problem that we should address, it does not warrant a call to end the nuclear family. This is a blatant attack on a fundamental institution that has sustained society for centuries.
The movement against the family is nothing new. Communist Russia approved the first abortion law in 1920, which devastated families, strained marriages and stagnated population growth in the northern hemisphere in the past few years. The sexual revolution in the ‘60s left an indelible mark on the world, and its consequences remain to this day. This shows that nowadays, society has lost its moral compass.
Pope Francis warned us of these attacks against Christian values in 2016, by saying: “Today, there is a global war out to destroy marriage, not with weapons but with ideas … we have to defend ourselves from ideological colonisation.” Ideas shape the way we think of and interact with the world. Those ideologies that hold people captive to certain ideals, can shape the future of the world. Consider the rise of Nazism, Communism, Socialism, etc. These ideologies shaped and continue to steer the course of this world. We should fight back in the realm of ideas.
The Left aims to erode the family structure, considered as an evil institution promoted by the patriarchy. They claim that it generates an asymmetrical structure – men vs women- that engenders all of today’s social evils. Consequently, they explicitly promote a war between man and woman, black and white, among others. They argue that fostering this antagonism will inevitably lead to a better society, free of any distinctions such as gender and race.
However, their ideas are misguided. Society needs the family to nurture and care for children who will later take an active role in pursuing the common good. The nuclear family is essential since it inculcates moral values crucial for developing a good citizen’s virtues.
The burning of churches from Chilean leftist groups is a manifestation of their anger towards religion. Most importantly, it shows that an attack on Christianity’s legacy leads to a rejection of all moral values, the pillars of society. This is a war against all values that built western civilisation.
Further, the Left promotes cultural hegemony on all fronts, centralised decision making through the state, and the imposition of a new “relativist moral code.” They attack people who do not side with their ideology.
The world is facing a moral crisis. The conservative movement around the world should fight to preserve the family, along with all religious values. Conservatives should fight the culture war, by showing that traditional moral values are essential for pursuing the Common Good.