In Retreat

We are in retreat. With Obama's re-election, the liberals are clearly winning the Culture War for our major institutions: government, law, media, entertainment and education. But that is alright. The war is far from over. And we know how to retreat. We love to retreat. Today's festal saint, Anthony of the desert, retreated into the Egyptian wilderness and his spiritual descendants were to create Western Culture. As Reno points out in this month's First Things: we have a place where we can retreat: our families, Church and associated institutions. We don't have to control society's institutions because we have our own. By contrast, the liberals have no such haven so they are absolutely desperate to prevail in law, politics and the broader culture; they are apoplectic about gay marriage, contraception, and "reproductive rights." By contrast, we conservatives view the state and law as subordinate, subsidiary institutions which are rooted in and contribute to the primary ones of family and Church. We can lose the battle because we know that in the long run we will win the war. We can retreat, regroup and revive ourselves in peace and hope.