Like so many conflicts in the modern world, the strugglenamong environmentalists is ultimately religious, not political.nThe Greens would like to see themselves as pagans, whonhave reverence for Mother Earth, but they are not. Thatnchapter of our experience was closed even before thenEmperor Julian attempted to revive Greek paganism as ansystematic alternative to Christianity. When rationalist modernnman seeks refuge in nature-worship, it is to magic andndiabolism that he inevitably returns. He will drink druggednherbal teas, gaze into crystals, and count the stars in thendesert sky looking for the number that will define theninfinite. He will take many wives, only to sacrifice thenchildren on the altars of Baal or zero population growth. Henwill reverence not the bright and beautiful creatures ofnOlympus but the goddesses of earth and night and theirnsqualid spawn of furies, harpies, and feminists. He will rejectnthe Christian calendar, but not in favor of the ancient ritualsnthat mirrored the endless tide of the seasons; no, the newncalendar will have no roots in anything resembling love ofnnation or love of god or love of man; it will be hatred that isncelebrated: hatred of Europe and America, hatred ofnChristianity and a civilization created by Christians, hatrednof all mankind, with the accent on man.nA compact sealed in hate is nothing better than anconspiracy. The older moralities of Aristode and Jesus arenrooted in love. We are just, not when we are compelled bynlaw not to do certain things to strangers, for what we do outnof fear or compulsion is not even in the moral domain. Ournjustice lies, rather, in what we do out of love for our family,nfriends, and neighbors; for the things of creation and for thenCreator himself Demonstrations against Exxon and denunciationsnof the evil “other people” serve only to poison ournhearts as we are poisoning our air and water. The ReverendnSidney Smith’s advice to himself, “Take short views, hopenfor the best, and trust in God,” can hardly be improvednupon. It is precisely the reverse of the antihuman environ-nLnNow That the Cold War Is Over — May 1990 —nMurray Rothbard on foreign policy, IX)nald Devine onnfederalism, and Allan Carlson on the family policy ofnSweden and of the U.S. Army. Plus Clyde Wilson onnthe legacy of James Madison, Paul Gottfried on thenworks of Jacob Neusner, Madison Smartt Bell’s reviewnof Chilton Williamson’s novel The Homestead, andnBrian Mitchell on the role women played in the U.S.ninvasion of Panama.nTITLEnWaiting for the EndnGovernment of tiie PeoplenThe Two CulturesnNow That the Cold War Is OvernAmerican CulturenRebirth of a NationnName.nCity _nGREAT TOPICS, GREAT ISSUESnAmerican Culture — June 1990 — Thomas Flemingnon why government subsidizes affronts to public taste,nGeorge Garrett on why art is political when the governmentnstarts giving grants, and Christopher Lasch on thennew class controversy. Plus Jeffrey Hart on PeggynNoonan, Wayne Lutton on Edward Abbey, RussellnKirk on the essays of Andrew Lytic, and Florence Kingnon Kate Millett’s Loony Bin Trip.nmentalism that speaks the language of secular trends, globalncatastrophe, and embittered atheism.nNone of us, individually, can save the world, but a greatnmany individuals banded together in a millennialist mob justnmight succeed in destroying it. Power corrupts more thanncharacter, and as the sap of human energy is sucked upnhigher and higher into the branches away from the roots, itnhas curdled and begun to cut off the circulation. What wencan do as individuals is to take back responsibility over ournown lives. If we are absolutely devoted to the cause of thenenvironment, then we should probably move into thencountry and try our hands at horse farming. If we want to benpart of a movement, then we had best join an anti-modernnreligious community: the Amish, who are thriving andngrowing, now number over 120,000 in the United States.nAre there no political options for those of us who lack thenstamina of Wendell Berry? Of course there are, but they arenthe same options open to us on every political question:nlocally, we can work to see that human-oriented environmentalnpolicies are adopted in our own towns and counties;nbeyond that, we can always support whatever initiativesnwould allow the states to take back the powers usurped bynthe central government. As for the fate of the world, the bestnyou can do is to work against any candidate or party thatnemploys the language of human rights and environmentalnglobalism.nIt would be a great mistake to invest much faith or energyninto political solutions. You will either become corrupt or,nwhat is worse, embittered. Faced with the loss of personalnautonomy and the cancerous growth of government, we arenall tempted to go into rebellion, to declare our city annuclear-free zone, to go off chasing whalers and commercialnfisherman — mistaking ordinary working men for ogres andnwindmills for angels. It is a temptation which, like thentemptation to run for Congress, ought to be resisted bynanyone who worries about the state of his soul. <§>nBACK ISSUE ORDER FORM Each issue $5.00 (postage & handling included)nDATEnFebruary 1990nMarch 1990nApril 1990nMay 1990nJune 1990nJuly 1990nAddress .nQty.nRebirth of a Nation — July 1990 — Jacob Neusner,nJohn Lukacs, Lawrence Uzzell, Daniel Stein, DonaldnDevine, and Richard Laitun on the pros and cons ofnimmigration; Katherine Dalton on British journalistsnin America, and Donald Huddle on the immigrationnstudies of Julian Simon and George Borjas. PlusnRussellKirkonRichardNixon, M.E.Bradford on LBJ,nand Kenneth McDonald on Canada’s troublesomenQuebec.nTotal Enclosed $nState. Zip .nMail with check to; Chronicles • 934 N. Main Street • Rockford, IL 61103nnnCostnAUGUST 1990/15n