We are Living Through a Liminal Crisis
The word "liminal" came to me recently, and I decided to research it on Wikipedia. What I found seems to accurately describe the state of contemporary Western Civilization:
I wish the Church were able to provide a counter narrative and healthier worldview, but we are not. The Church is collapsing. In my personal life, I am continually shocked by the level of immorality I discover among fellow believers. Millennial Christians have overwhelmingly abandoned any loyalty to traditional orthodox ethics.
I hope Christians can use this time of destruction to do something creative theologically, ecumenically, or personally. I feel the collapse of the Western Church is here, and our best hope now is the kind of slow arduous revival that post-Soviet Russia is experiencing. It will take generations to rebuild the Church.
We are in a liminal time of transition, and, according to Karl Jaspers, that means our current actions are of "extreme importance" because they will shape our civilization's new structure. Will there be any Christians left standing to contribute to a future rebuilding project? Or will Christians just latch on to one of the emerging fake "ceremony masters" who want to channel our energy towards their own ends?
Now is the time for Christian heroes to arise. We need to be "men among the ruins" of civilization fighting for a stronger Church to emerge from this spiritual carnage.
"The concept of a liminal situation can also be applied to entire societies that are going through a crisis or a 'collapse of order.' Philosopher Karl Jaspers made a significant contribution to this idea through his concept of the 'axial age,' which was 'an in-between period between two structured worldviews and between two rounds of empire building; it was an age of creativity where 'man asked radical questions,' and where the 'unquestioned grasp on life is loosened.'" It was essentially a time of uncertainty which, most importantly, involved entire civilizations. Seeing as liminal periods are both destructive and constructive, the ideas and practices that emerge from these liminal historical periods are of extreme importance, as they will 'tend to take on the quality of structure.’ Events such as political or social revolutions (along with other periods of crisis) can thus be considered liminal, as they result in the complete collapse of order and can lead to significant social change."America is in crisis. I do not see how our present cultural revolution ends unless the "white man" gives North America back to the Amerindians. White Christians have been demonized and our history is being erased. This crisis is accelerating in intensity. We will become South Africa unless we find a way to overthrow the neo-Marxist anti-Western anti-Christian ideology that has conquered our society and most of our youth.
"Liminality in large-scale societies differs significantly from liminality found in ritual passages in small scale societies. One primary characteristic of liminality... is that there is a way in as well as a way out. In ritual passages, 'members of the society are themselves aware of the liminal state: they know that they will leave it sooner or later and have 'ceremony masters' to guide them through the rituals.' However, in those liminal periods that affect society as a whole, the future... is completely unknown, and there is no 'ceremony master' who has gone through the process before and that can lead people out of it. In such cases, liminal situations can become dangerous. They allow for the emergence of 'self-proclaimed ceremony masters,' that assume leadership positions and attempt to '[perpetuate] liminality and by emptying the liminal moment of real creativity, [turn] it into a scene of mimetic rivalry.'"
I wish the Church were able to provide a counter narrative and healthier worldview, but we are not. The Church is collapsing. In my personal life, I am continually shocked by the level of immorality I discover among fellow believers. Millennial Christians have overwhelmingly abandoned any loyalty to traditional orthodox ethics.
I hope Christians can use this time of destruction to do something creative theologically, ecumenically, or personally. I feel the collapse of the Western Church is here, and our best hope now is the kind of slow arduous revival that post-Soviet Russia is experiencing. It will take generations to rebuild the Church.
We are in a liminal time of transition, and, according to Karl Jaspers, that means our current actions are of "extreme importance" because they will shape our civilization's new structure. Will there be any Christians left standing to contribute to a future rebuilding project? Or will Christians just latch on to one of the emerging fake "ceremony masters" who want to channel our energy towards their own ends?
Now is the time for Christian heroes to arise. We need to be "men among the ruins" of civilization fighting for a stronger Church to emerge from this spiritual carnage.