TedLipien.com

The clash of civilizations theory pinning the East against the West or Islam against Christianity does not account for the emergence of Pope John Paul II as a major critic of Western liberalism and Western secular societies. This theory also cannot explain the growing influence of the evangelical Right in the United States with its strong criticism of certain aspects of the liberal Western culture and admiration for John Paul II. Evangelical Christians, however, have drastically different poisitions than John Paul II on a number of social, economic, and foreign policy questions. John Paul II was a strong supporter of government social programs and immigrant rights. He was also a strong opponent of the death penalty and U.S. military interventions.

For John Paul II, the clash of civilization was over the issue of war, abortion, euthanasia and contraception. It was a clash not between the West and the rest of the world -- although he saw it as such to a large degree -- but between the "culture of life" and the "culture of death." Still in the eyes of John Paul II, liberal America and Western Europe were clearly on the wrong side of this struggle. Few Americans know that John Paul II once described America as "a continent marked by competition and aggressiveness, unbridled consumerism and corruption.” | Send Comment