![\"Steuben](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/e\/e7\/Steuben_-_Bataille_de_Poitiers.png\/800px-Steuben_-_Bataille_de_Poitiers.png\")
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If Jesus had been conservative we might all be Muslim<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>(i.e. and e.g.<\/a>, “<\/strong>no\u00a0Battle of Poitiers<\/a>“)…<\/em><\/p>\n What with the\u00a0Coronavirus pandemic<\/a>\u00a0and the demands of working three days a week, it’s been tough to do posts on a consistent, timely basis. (See\u00a0How Often Should You Blog in 2020<\/a>?)<\/em>\u00a0But not for lack of topics or ideas. It’s because I blog mainly to learn, and<\/em><\/strong> for my own satisfaction. That means I “take enough time to do the job right,” not be consistent.<\/p>\n Or a post on possible answers for really<\/em> <\/strong>stupid Facebook posts. (Like my earlier\u00a0Fighting right-wing distortions on Facebook<\/a>.)<\/em> So for this quick-response post I’ll go back to some thoughts I revisited five months ago, that have been percolating a good long while.<\/p>\n The topic is a favorite theme of mine – or Meme<\/a>\u00a0– that goes, “If so-and-so had been conservative, we’d all be ____!” And by the way, I take issue with today’s conservatives only<\/em> <\/strong>because a reporter’s job – and by extension a blogger’s – is “challenge the prevailing quacks.”<\/p>\n And today’s conservatives are definitely the “prevailing quacks.”<\/p>\n For one example, “If the Founding Fathers had been conservative, we’d all be singing ‘God save the Queen’ at the start of our baseball games.” (If we weren’t playing cricket instead.) <\/em>The idea – and the irony if not the incongruity – is that today’s conservatives act like they’re the only real Americans. The problem is that our forefathers came to this country mostly to get the hell away<\/em> <\/strong>from conservatives – the ones who tended to stay<\/em> <\/strong>back home.<\/p>\n In plain words, those old-time conservatives didn’t have the guts to put up with the challenges of creating a New World.\u00a0It was the Independents and Dreamers who did all that.<\/p>\n Then there’s this, “If Jesus had been conservative, we’d all be talking Yiddish.” (“Oy vey,” to which might be added the Seinfeld meme, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”)<\/em><\/p>\n Or in the case of this post’s headline – “Thank God Jesus<\/em> <\/strong>wasn\u2019t a conservative” – the Punch line<\/a>\u00a0thereof would be:\u00a0 “Otherwise we Americans might\u00a0all\u00a0<\/span>be\u00a0Muslim<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Which again means that if Jesus had been conservative – as many ostensible Christians claim today – there would have been no viable force to stop the\u00a0“Islamic advance into Western Europe<\/a>.”<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n There’s a bit of background in the notes about how I happened on to Clark’s observation…<\/p>\n But<\/em><\/strong> – to cut to the chase<\/a>\u00a0– here’s the connection between\u00a0Charles Martel<\/a>\u00a0and Jesus not<\/em> <\/strong>being conservative. The idea is that if Jesus had<\/em> <\/strong>been conservative, He wouldn’t have started the New Religion – the “New Testament” – that eventually bore His name. And Judaism would likely have stayed a relatively small religious movement. (Without the proselytizing that is such a trademark of Christianity, it would have been confined to the fringes of the eastern Mediterranean.)<\/em><\/p>\n In plain words, there would be nothing to stop Islam from taking over Western Europe.<\/p>\n At page 17 in his first chapter, “The Skin of Our Teeth,” Clark noted how close\u00a0Western civilization<\/a>\u00a0came to be snuffed out. That is, with Fall of the Roman Empire<\/a>, life in what we call the Middle (or “Dark<\/a>“)<\/em> Ages was generally\u00a0nasty, brutish and short<\/a>.<\/p>\n For one example, during those 500 years or so it was rare person indeed who could read or write. (“[P]ractically no lay person, from kings and emperors downwards, could read or write.”)<\/em> And as Clark noted, it was only in the Church that reading and writing were preserved. “We survived because … for centuries practically all men of intellect joined the Church.” And it was Church scribes who preserved not only reading and writing, but also the classics of antiquity. “In so far as we are heirs of Greece and Rome, we got through by the skin of our teeth<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Which is one reason to thank God that Jesus wasn’t conservative.<\/p>\n Another reason is that if Jesus had been conservative – and Judaism stayed a small religion without Christian proselytizing – there would be no\u00a0Charles Martel<\/a>, the French warrior-king (and “Hammer<\/a>“)<\/em> who\u00a0saved Christian Europe<\/a>. As historian\u00a0Edward Gibbon<\/a>\u00a0noted:<\/p>\n [H]ad Charles fallen, the [Muslim armies] would have easily conquered a divided Europe… [T]he Arabian fleet might have sailed without a naval combat into the mouth of the Thames<\/a>. Perhaps the interpretation of the Koran would now be taught in the schools of Oxford, and her pulpits might demonstrate to a circumcised people the sanctity and truth of the revelation of Mahomet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See\u00a0Battle of Tours – Wikipedia<\/a>. But that didn’t happen. Instead – and again cut to the chase<\/a>\u00a0– after many long centuries of struggle, mayhem and death, we now have a clearly-defined\u00a0separation of church and state<\/a>. Which started (arguably)<\/em> with Charles Martel, an effective combination of ardent Christian, powerful military leader, and Independent.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Although Charles Martel ( d. 741)\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>is one of the most noted heroes in Christianity when studying one of the many violent encounters between Christian and Muslim forces, Charles \u201cThe Hammer\u201d Martel was no marionette of the Church<\/strong>. He was quite an independent and practical thinker as a military leader and as a politician.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n To which we could add, “Martel was an Independent, just like Moses and Jesus!” (And like me, for that matter. See\u00a0A reminder: \u201cI\u2019m an INDEPENDENT (Voter<\/a>).”)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Which is another way of saying that after Martel’s victory at the\u00a0Battle of Tours<\/a>\u00a0(or\u00a0Poitiers<\/a>) neither the Church nor the governments of Europe gained complete<\/em> <\/strong>control. The result was a “dynamic tension” between the two forces, which turned out to be a blessing.<\/p>\n That is,\u00a0Charles Martel<\/a>\u00a0“begat”\u00a0Charlemagne<\/a>\u00a0– actually his grandson – who has been called “the father of Europe.”\u00a0(He “united parts of Europe that had never been under Frankish or Roman rule.”)<\/em> Which again wouldn’t have happened without Martel’s victory at Tours.<\/p>\n The point is that in the fullness of time,\u00a0Charlemagne<\/a>\u00a0traveled to Rome, where the Pope crowned him “emperor.” (At a Mass on Christmas Day, 800, “when Charlemagne knelt at the altar to pray, the Pope\u00a0crowned<\/a>\u00a0him\u00a0Imperator Romanorum\u00a0(‘Emperor of the Romans’) in\u00a0Saint Peter’s Basilica<\/a>.”)\u00a0<\/em>Charlemagne later thought that episode was a mistake, in that it gave the pope a pretext of “supremacy” over him. (And future secular rulers.)<\/em>\u00a0Which led Clark to note:<\/p>\n But historical judgments are very tricky.\u00a0 Maybe the tension<\/strong> between the spiritual and worldly powers throughout the Middle Ages was precisely what kept European civilisation alive. If either had achieved absolute power, society might have grown as static as the civilisations of Egypt and Byzantium.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n (Clark, 20) <\/em>And that – clearly – would have been the situation if Jesus had been either conservative or liberal. Instead, He and God seem to have worked together to maintain the Dynamic Tension<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>that exists “even to this day,” between spiritual and worldly powers here in America. And why Jesus and God made sure that the foundations of American democracy included Freedom or religion and the separation of powers.<\/p>\n The result is that – whatever you might say about American democracy today – it is definitely not<\/em> <\/strong>“static.”\u00a0In short, if Jesus had been conservative, we here in America might have to see all our women togged out in those silly\u00a0burqas<\/a>, or otherwise covering themselves up…<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n Re: The “foul-up” resulting in this old (April 2020) post being made so prominent right now. Maybe it’s a sign from God<\/strong>? See for example\u00a0Sign From God Meme\u00a0– Image Results<\/a>, including the one featuring various church billboards, including the one billboard saying, “Well, you did<\/strong> ask for a sign.”<\/em><\/p>\n Also on the not-up-to-date main page: Here\u2019s the original note, when the\u00a0April | 2020 | The Georgia Wasp<\/a>\u00a0started coming up as the main page. Here\u2019s the note I wrote for that\u00a0SNAFU<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n I have no idea why this old post \u2013 from April 2020 \u2013 comes up as the main page when you\u00a0Google<\/a>\u00a0\u201cgeorgiawasp.\u201d Something happened on the evening of April 3, 2021, and I\u2019m not sure what. I was writing up the new post,\u00a0Revisiting March 2020<\/a>, that I finally published on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021. For another more-recent post,\u00a0click on\u00a0An Updated \u2018Geezer Guide to Supplements<\/a>\u2026\u2019 Meanwhile, I\u2019ll work on fixing the problem.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n The upper image is courtesy of\u00a0Umayyad invasion of Gaul – Wikipedia<\/a>, rephrased in the main text as\u00a0\u201cIslamic advance into Western Europe<\/a>.\u201d The main point: “The\u00a0Umayyad invasion of Gaul\u00a0occurred in two phases in 720 and 732. Although the Muslim\u00a0Umayyads<\/a>\u00a0secured control of\u00a0Septimania<\/a>, their incursions beyond this into the\u00a0Loire<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Rh\u00f4ne<\/a>\u00a0valleys failed. By 759 they had lost Septimania to the Christian\u00a0Franks<\/a>.”\u00a0<\/em>The caption for the painting: “The\u00a0Battle of Tours<\/a>”\u00a0– also called the Battle of Poitiers – “in 732, depicts a triumphant\u00a0Charles Martel<\/a>\u00a0(mounted) facing\u00a0Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi<\/a>\u00a0(right) at the Battle of Tours. Painting (1837) by\u00a0Charles de Steuben<\/a>.” See also the link\u00a0Reconquista<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a0Reconquista<\/i><\/i>\u00a0(Portuguese<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Spanish<\/a>\u00a0for “reconquest”) was the period in the history of the\u00a0Iberian Peninsula<\/a>\u00a0of about 780 years between the\u00a0Umayyad conquest of Hispania<\/a>\u00a0in 711 and the\u00a0fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada<\/a>\u00a0to the expanding\u00a0Christian kingdoms<\/a>\u00a0in 1492.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The photo to the left of the paragraph beginning “But don\u2019t take my word for it” is courtesy of\u00a0Kenneth Clark Civilisation\u00a0<\/b>– Image Results<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>The quotations from\u00a0Clark<\/a>\u00a0are from the\u00a0hardcover book version<\/a>\u00a0of his\u00a0Civilisation (TV series)<\/a>, pages 18 and 20. And f<\/em>or an interesting sidelight on “Sir” Clark, see\u00a0A new\u00a0book\u00a0reveals\u00a0Kenneth Clark\u00a0was also a bed-hopping, wife-stealing rogue<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Though ostensibly a happily married man with a dutiful and caring wife … he couldn\u2019t keep his manicured hands or his swooning heart away from other women. He was a serial adulterer, a constant seeker of affairs, even [the] wives of his close friends.\u00a0This upright pillar of the Establishment was … as one of his detractors put it most succinctly, \u2018a frightful s**t\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As to “Christian civilization,” see\u00a0How Sir\u00a0Kenneth Clark Defended Christian Civilization on\u00a0PBS<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n And here’s some background on how I happened on Clark’s observations.\u00a0I used to exercise seven hours a week. Over two of those hours included stair-stepping.\u00a0(With a 28-pound weight vest and ten pounds of ankle weights.)\u00a0And those two or more hours of stair-stepping were\u00a0exceedingly<\/strong>\u00a0boring. So to pass the time \u2013 and aside from listening to music on my iPod Shuffle \u2013 I watch VHS tapes, hooked up to a flat-screen TV. And m<\/em>y VHS collection includes a\u00a0Box Set<\/a>\u00a0of Clark\u2019s\u00a0Civilisation\u00a0(TV\u00a0series)<\/a>.<\/em>\u00a0And some time ago \u2013 while stair-stepping an hour or so \u2013 I heard again Clark\u2019s saying that\u00a0Charles Martel<\/a>\u00a0saved\u00a0western\u00a0Christian<\/strong>\u00a0civilization<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0(It was like a \u201csign from God\u2026\u201d) A side-note: I now exercise some eight hours a week, but have cut down on the “weighted” stair-stepping.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n For more on the topic of Jesus-as-not-conservative, see\u00a0The Story of the Law:\u00a0Rene\u00a0A.\u00a0Wormser<\/a>,\u00a01962 paperback edition,\u00a0 by\u00a0* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/h1>\n
I have no idea why this \u201cMarch 2021\u201d post comes up as the main page for this blog when you\u00a0Google<\/a>\u00a0\u201cgeorgiawasp.\u201d The notes give a fuller story, but there\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0newer posts. (The latest,\u00a0A reminder: Great politicians STILL sell hope<\/a>, at right.) Meanwhile,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0 working on the problem\u2026<\/h5>\n
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And I last posted here back on April 17, almost two weeks ago. So on this last day of April, 2020, I’m juggling four or five possible blog posts. Like “Memories of Lori,” based on listening today to\u00a0 the\u00a0Urban Cowboy<\/a>\u00a0soundtrack. (A movie that I saw back in 1980 with a lovely young copy editor at the St. Pete Times.)<\/em><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/51G3e26cOnL._SX359_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg\")
But don’t take my word for it.\u00a0Kenneth Clark<\/a>\u00a0said that in his 1969 book\u00a0Civilisation<\/a>: “Without\u00a0Charles Martel<\/a>‘s\u00a0victory over the Moors at\u00a0Poitiers<\/a>\u00a0in 732, western civilization<\/a>\u00a0might never have existed…<\/em><\/strong>”\u00a0 And by western civilization he meant\u00a0western Christian<\/em> <\/strong>civilization<\/a>.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/151\/750x445\/1254044.jpg\")
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