_The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great_, by Ben Shapiro

Well worth the read. Shapiro makes a strong case for an important thesis: first, that Western Culture IS great (in contrast to the awful, nasty, bullying, oppressive, "unfair" culture that the Left wants us to believe that it is); and second, that the reason WHY it is so is because it was built upon the twin foundations of Faith and Reason (in contrast to the vision that the Left would have us buy, that Faith and Reason are diametrically opposed and forever mutually exclusive, so we must pick one--which leaves us fatally unbalanced--or throw them both out, which leaves us adrift in a sea of chaos).

I do wish that there were better sources for historical perspective that didn't "skew Protestant"--it's funny, because Mr. Shapiro works closely with at least two Catholics, I would think they might have provided some illumination there, but no, he still misses the fact that many of the things he decries in the gradual perversion of the "Enlightenment" are direct legacies of the Protestant rebellion. Interestingly, he misses the fact that the seeds of the collapse of the values upon which Western culture were built were planted then and there.

If each person may decide his own interpretation of scripture and pursue his own "individual relationship with God"--without any recognized authority to inform him when that relationship is in or out of reasonable bounds--then that is clearly the genesis of the entire Postmodern relativistic debacle that is reaching its absurd pinnacle now. If we all get to decide what Truth is, then we all get to decide what it is. . . which means "there is no such thing as truth."

The thing is, like all great lies, this one is based upon an important actual truth: we all DO have an individual relationship with our Creator, just as each child of a given parent has a very individual relationship with that parent. And our relationships will develop differently, and be expressed very differently, etc. But "my relationship with Truth" is not the same thing as "my Truth." And as we've seen, when a child is left to "grow wild" without appropriate parental supervision or instruction or correction. . . well, just look around.

Or read Shapiro's book. (Yes, do.) Just keep in mind that this is what always happens when children grow up without their (appropriate, loving) parental authority. As G.K. Chesterton noted, we don't need a religion to tell us when we are right; we need a religion that will tell us when we are wrong. If we buy in to the notion that we all get to decide for ourselves what "feels right," then it would take a person of heroic virtue indeed to end up anywhere but on the wrong road.