Are Right-Wingers Nicer People

Athens and the Balrog of Statism

Every so often a debate flares up over whether the Left or the Right are “nicer people.” It is usually a fatuous exercise, dominated by half truths and superficialities.

Recently, an article in the Daily Mail claimed that there was now a weighty body of academic research to indicate that “Right-wingers are happier, more generous to charities, less likely to commit suicide—and even hug their children more than those on the Left.” So provoked was the Daily Mail that it ran a competition amongst its readers to see who could offer the most convincing proof that Left-wingers are really more lovable.

Such debates are trite and superficial. They are intra-family debates. Athens, the City of Unbelief, has both a Right wing and a Left wing. Both alike are humanists and agree on the most fundamental premise of all Unbelief—that is, that Man is the ultimate determiner of life, meaning, and existence. The debate within Athens over Left versus Right is a debate about how Man ultimately functions best: as an individual or as a collective. The Right argues for the individual; the Left for the collective. However, the two views are mere flip sides of the same coin.

It turns out, however, that in Athens the Left always wins out over time. Unbelief is irresistibly pulled towards collectivism. The collective is more important than the individual. The State is more important than its citizens. The Right in Athens always moves over to the Left within a few generations. Athens is fundamentally and inescapably statist.

Why is this the case? Because of Unbelief's deepest philosophical and religious commitment is to the ultimacy of Man. The State has to assume a higher place over the individual within the City of Unbelief in time, because the State represents collective Man—which has to be more fundamental and important than a single individual in isolation—just as one hundred dollars carries more weight than one.

Moreover, because the State is intrinsically sanctioned by force, it is the most powerful representation, and therefore the highest manifestation, of Man. Within Athens the State inevitably becomes the most important, the most revered, the most regarded entity—which resides at the heart of Leftist ideology.

Secondly, it is inescapable that Athens has to operate within a world that is fallen. Sins, failing, crimes, natural disasters, and human caused disasters abound on every hand. These problems are so big, and at times so vast, that the only way the City of Unbelief can think to begin to address the problems is through collective action. Athens cannot bring itself to live with, or co-exist with, the problems. The confrontation with such problems represents an implicit attack on its most fundamental religious doctrine: the ultimacy of Man. If Man is ultimate, then Man has a duty to do something about these problems.

So, Man must eliminate injustice, poverty, disease, crime, ignorance, malnutrition, war. Within Athens it is tantamount to blasphemy to suggest that these things are to be co-existed with as part of a fallen existence. No, Man must declare war upon poverty, disease, etc. And war means collective effort. The religion of Unbelief draws Athens ineluctably to statism. Individual rights must be relinquished for the greater collective good.

Thirdly, because the State represents compulsory collectivism—ultimately sanctioned by punishment—it implicitly hollows out all competing voluntary corporates or collectives—such as the family, the church, the school, the business corporation. The bigger and more intractable the problem, the greater the claims of the State and the broader the assertions of its power. Unbelieving individuals, for their part, agreeing that something must be done, inevitably favour political leaders who promise to “do something”.

Finally, we cannot overlook the reality that the Unbelief of Athens is itself a falsehood. It is a lie. The more Athens turns to collectivist solutions and actions, the more it ends up creating bigger and bigger problems. You cannot set out to “run” the world contrary to the Laws of its Creator and hope to succeed. You may wish to defy gravity, but as you leap off the building in assertion of your rights, gravity will have its way. Deny God, and He will break you. Athenian statism, its idolatrous worship of the State and its power, ends up creating and causing horrendous additional unintended evils as a divine punishment for its idolatry and arrogant hubris. The end result—even more State intrusions, demands, controls, taxation, and domination. The circle is vicious.

The course of increasing collectivism can be seen in the West, ever since the Enlightenment. Deliberately turning its back on Jerusalem, the West has pursued its humanist madness for nearly three hundred years. It commenced this post-Christian journey, particularly in the UK and the nascent United States, drawing upon the reservoirs of centuries of Christian tradition. Consequently, at least initially, the manifestation of Athenian Unbelief in those nations was Right Wing—that is, those countries sought to restrict the authority of the State and uphold the rights and freedoms of the individual.

However, the meaning and content of human rights has now been completely stood on its head, so that appeals to human rights are made to justify ever increasing state authority over individual, families, schools, churches, corporations—over all of society. At the beginning of the modern post-Christian era, declarations of human rights were made to restrict the power of the State over the community and the individual. Now, as Athens has become more and more true to itself, declarations of human rights are made to justify the remorseless extension of State power. Homosexual rights, feminist rights, poor rights, child rights, free speech rights, criminal rights, employment rights—rights ad nauseum—have all been appealed to as a reason to extend the power and authority of the State over the community and the individual.

But, if Truth will out in God's world, so will errors, lies, and idolatries. Over a mere ten or so generations the entire Athenian west has been transformed from being made up of relatively free societies into Left Wing societies, where the State is all competent, all powerful, and increasingly intrusive. Athenian Unbelief ends up in Left Wing statism. It cannot help itself. Its lies and idolatries concerning the ultimacy of Man will be lived out.

So, the debate within Athens as to whether Left Wingers or Right Wingers are nicer people is fatuous, to say the least. Within Athens, today's Right Wingers will be tomorrow's Left Wingers. Since Athenian Right Wingers fervently believe in the ultimacy of Man, their will end up bowing to Collective Man, to the State.

Within Jerusalem, the matter operates, as one would expect, in an entirely different paradigm. It turns out the City of Belief is neither Left Wing nor Right Wing. Indeed, those terms have no meaning or reference points in Jerusalem. Within Jerusalem, man is not ultimate. God alone is ultimate, and His glory He will not share with another. Therefore, individual man and collective man not only have their legitimate place, but their roles, powers, responsibilities, and limitations are prescribed and proscribed by the Lord Almighty.

In Jerusalem, individual man and collective man are equally ultimate. One is not more important than the other. Both alike are equally under the domain and rule of the Lord; each has its legitimate spheres of authority, competence and operation. Within those spheres, each is entitled and empowered by the Lord Himself to say to the other—you shall not pass!

So, Athens has given us the Balrog of statism; it is the demon of the deep which the City of Unbelief will always mine until it is released unto Athens own declension and destruction.

Jerusalem, the City of Belief, gives us the community of faith where rights and freedoms are carefully proscribed and balanced by the Lord Himself. Within that City are freedoms, rights, responsibilities, duties, power, and peace. It will go from strength to strength, even as Athens is destroyed by its own Balrog, and a generation arises which declares that it will never again walk in the folly of Unbelief.