In the weeks since Charlie Kirk’s death, many have been appalled at the treatment his life received at the hands of public figures and private individuals – many of whom are the teachers, doctors, and other average people who populate our lives. How can such people, we wonder, treat an apparently innocent man in such a callous, hate-filled way, even if they did disagree with him?

The surface answer to that question is that we no longer have a common culture. And we no longer have a common culture because we have forsaken God.

“The core of common culture is religion,” philosopher Roger Scruton writes in his book, “An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Modern Culture.”

“It goes without saying that a common culture binds a society together,” he went on to say. “But it does so in a special way. The unity of a great society can be achieved by terror, by confronting people with a common danger or an ‘enemy within’ – by variously playing with the threat of death, in the manner of modern dictators.”

Such was the tactic used by the powers-that-be during Covid. In the early weeks of the lockdowns, people were unified, terrified by the idea of this mysterious disease that was permeating the world, ready to do whatever was asked of them – even to the point of shutting down society – in order to combat the great enemy. But such a fearful approach to unification was short-lived. In the end, this initially unifying enemy divided us more than ever.

Instead of unifying society through a common danger, Scruton believes a better approach is to pursue a common culture. “A common culture is an altogether more peaceful method, which unites the present members by dedicating them to the past and future of the community.” Scruton writes.

How do we do this? Caring for the elements of our past and future – namely, the dead and the unborn – are a good place to start, Scruton explains.

“[B]y respecting the dead and their wishes we keep intact the accumulated resources of society,” Scruton writes.

When a school or foundation is dedicated to the dead, then knowledge and property are rescued from current emergencies, and laid by for future generations. The concept of sacrilege [the idea that it’s wrong to violate or misuse that which is sacred] is therefore a safeguarding and conserving force. Without it all resources are open to pillage….

His description is apt for our time. The vitriolic response to Kirk’s death shows that we no longer have any idea of how to appropriately treat the dead, agree with them or not. But we didn’t need Kirk’s death to show us this element in our culture. Consider the rampage against historical statues which took place several years back, or the witch hunt to expunge any aspect of our nation’s history no longer deemed politically correct. Such moves indicated that we no longer had respect for those who had gone before – neither their knowledge nor their physical contributions which smoothed the way for us, their descendants.

When we take this sacrilegious approach to those who have gone before us, we squander our social capital, Scruton writes. In other words, we escalate the tension and vitriol that divides so many of us today.

But it doesn’t stop there. “From the sacrilegious treatment of the dead all other impieties stem,” Scruton writes, “and in impious times (such as ours) the disrespect towards ancestors becomes a recurring motif of public life.”

Thus it seems we come full circle. Religion creates a common culture. Common culture binds society together by showing respect for the dead and the unborn. Those who fail to do this squander their social capital, causing other impieties which cause a society to crumble into disarray and disrespect. And thus we come back to a desperate need to right those impieties through religion once again.

Why is it, as Scruton says, that religion is at the core of a stable society?

The answer to that question, I believe, is that religion – particularly Christianity – is what puts us in right relationship with God. And when we’re in right relationship with God, everything else falls into place, namely, our relationships with family, work, community, and government.

Since Kirk’s death, many have spoken about his relationship with Jesus Christ and his desire to follow Him, causing many others to seek to realign their lives with God and His Word as well. Time will tell if those individuals sincerely mean it and stick with their commitments, but if they do, then we could be on our way to restoring a common culture that respects the past and seeks the best for the future.

—

The republication of this article is made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal.

Image Credit: Pexels