The Source of Greatest Evil?

What is the source of the greatest evils in our world? According to Adam Smith (1723–1790) Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part 1, Section III, Chapter III: “This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect persons of poor and mean condition, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinction of ranks and the order of society, is, at the same time, the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments.”

Rousseau on Christian Military

Book IV, Chapter 8, “Christian troops, we are told are excellent. I deny this. Is someone going to show me some? For my part, I do not know of any Christian troops. Someone will mention the crusades. without disputing the valor of the crusaders, I will point out that quite far from being Christians, they were soldiers of the priest; they were citizens of the church; they were fighting for its spiritual country which the church, God knows how, had made temporal. Properly understood, this is a throwback to paganism. Since the Gospel does not establish a national religion, no holy war is possible among Christians.” Jean Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract, or Principles of Political Right, Book 4, Chp 8, reprinted from The Basic Political Writings, translated by Donald A. Cress (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1987).

It is my opinion that Rousseau is right in one sense that armies can only fight for earthly kingdoms and therefore no army can be considered Christian for they inevitably fight for earthly domain whether geographical or ideological. On the other hand, Rousseau takes a dangerous turn to articulate the difference between God's kingdom and earthly kingdoms as a dichotomy between spiritual and earthly territory. The Divine kingdom of God is celestial in terms of its principles, methods, and loci of authority. It would be a terrible mistake, however, to exclude this kingdom from earthly affairs, geography, or administration. In short, the kingdom of God is heavenly due to its methods and principles, not in its ontological manifestation (i.e. its presence on this earth).

On the danger of Christian Nationalism

The following is a quotation from a prominent 20th century politician: “The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press—in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years.” To find out who said this, read the first comment.