Comments for The High Priest of Civic Religions at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Sun, 19 May 2013 15:28:21 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-high-priest-of-civic-religions.html#comment-7092 Hilaire Belloc pointed out in “The French Revolution” that Rousseau wrote at a time when “when the practice of religion was at its lowest, and when the meaning, almost, of religion had left men’s minds” and he credits him with the insight that “for the State, to have unity, it must possess a religion” and for his attempt to define “that minimum or substratum of religion without which unity could not exist.” Belloc also insists that Rousseau was right to see “how impossible it is for a selection of Christian dogma to be accepted as a civic religion.” As Belloc wrote elsewhere, “Unless the morals of the Faith appear fully in the laws of that society, unless it be the established and authoritative religion of that society, the Church is ill at ease... She proposes to take in men's minds even more than the place taken by patriotism; to influence the whole of society, not a part of it, and to influence it even more thoroughly than a common language.” Rousseau realized that much. - Michael PS Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:52:55 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-high-priest-of-civic-religions.html#comment-7087 I agree with Jacob R, it is good to know! Again Mr. Marlin, another great article, and very informative. When you were describing many of Rousseau's ideas, it sounded very familiar. That's because they are, like you said, they are the roots of many of today's ideologies. It's a shame these people never live long enough to see their ideas played out. - Aeneas Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:56:06 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-high-priest-of-civic-religions.html#comment-7086 Too bad Rousseau was not around to be a beneficiary of that particularly humane French solution, "les bois de justice" - the guillotine. - Yezhov Wed, 15 Jun 2011 06:47:34 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/the-high-priest-of-civic-religions.html#comment-7085 Thank you! It's always good to know these things when a leftist wiseman tells you how history is the story of man's triumph over religion. - Jacob R Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:03:41 +0100