Contemporary American politics is characterized by a "spiritual war" stemming from a Gnostic rebellion against the human condition, where politics has become a substitute religion promising salvation through human action, rather than acknowledging a transcendent order. This leads to the erosion of constitutional principles and the totalization of political consciousness.
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What you witness in contemporary
American politics is not merely a clash
of policies or parties, but the surface
manifestation of a profound spiritual
war that has been raging for centuries.
The degradation of political discourse,
the apocalyptic language of opposing
factions, the promise of ultimate
salvation through political action.
These are symptoms of a deeper disorder
in the human soul that I have spent
decades investigating.
The crisis gripping America today cannot
be understood through conventional
political analysis. It requires what I
call a philosophy of consciousness, an
examination of the ordering experiences
that either ground authentic political
community or drive it toward the Gnostic
delusion of creating heaven on earth
through human action alone. When
transcendent order is forgotten,
politics becomes a substitute religion,
promising to deliver what only the
divine can provide.
This spiritual war is not between left
and right, but between those who
acknowledge the transcendent dimension
of human existence and those who attempt
to close reality to transcendence. It is
between genuine participation in the
divine order and the Gnostic rebellion
that seeks to imminentize the to bring
about the end of history through
political means. America's founding
generation understood this distinction.
Today's political actors have largely
forgotten it, transforming politics into
competing forms of secular salvation
that inevitably produce violence,
resentment, and civilizational decay.
The urgency of recovering this
understanding cannot be overstated. The
spiritual disorder manifesting in
American politics signals a crisis that
extends far beyond any single election
or policy debate.
Chapter 1. the Gnostic foundation of
modern political movements.
Through my years of investigating the
rise of totalitarian movements in
Europe, I discovered that what appears
to be secular political ideology is
actually a form of nomopathology, a
spiritual disease that corrupts human
consciousness. This same pathology now
manifests across the American political
spectrum, though its symptoms are often
misidentified as mere partisanship or
ideological disagreement.
The Gnostic structure of consciousness
operates through a fundamental rebellion
against the human condition as it
actually exists. Rather than accepting
the tension between time and eternity
that defines authentic human existence,
Gnostic consciousness seeks to eliminate
this tension through political action.
The Gnostic believes that evil in the
world results not from the inherent
limitations of human nature, but from
defective social arrangements that can
be perfected through revolutionary transformation.
transformation.
Consider how contemporary American
political movements on both extremes
promise total transformation.
Progressive movements speak of
fundamental change, the creation of a
new America, and the elimination of
historical injustices through
comprehensive social engineering.
Conservative populist movements promise
to take back the country, restore a
golden age, and establish perfect
security through political victory. Both
operate under the Gnostic assumption
that human beings can achieve ultimate
fulfillment through political means.
This gnostic structure reveals itself in
the apocalyptic language pervading
American political discourse. Elections
are framed as battles between absolute
good and evil where defeat means the end
of civilization itself. Political
opponents are not merely wrong but evil
incarnate deserving destruction rather
than persuasion. This moral inflation
transforms ordinary political
disagreements into cosmic battles
requiring total commitment and unlimited means.
means.
The promise of imminent salvation
through politics attracts followers
precisely because it offers escape from
the anxiety of human existence. Rather
than accepting the permanent tension
between what is and what ought to be,
Gnostic movements promise final
resolution through the right policy, the
right leader, or the right revolutionary transformation.
transformation.
This pseudo religious character explains
the religious fervor with which
Americans now approach politics,
treating political affiliation as
ultimate identity rather than practical necessity.
necessity.
Chapter 2. The Eclipse of Constitutional
Order through Secular Salvation.
The American Constitutional Order was
designed by men who understood the
dangers of concentrating ultimate
authority in human institutions.
The separation of powers, federalism,
and the Bill of Rights all reflect an
anthropology that acknowledges human
fallibility and the need for
transcendent standards that no political
authority can claim to embody perfectly.
This constitutional wisdom is being
systematically eroded by movements that
promise political salvation.
When I examine the transformation of
American institutions over the past
century, I observe the progressive
eclipse of constitutional restraints by
administrative power justified through
appeals to efficiency, expertise, and
urgent necessity. The expansion of
executive authority, the growth of
regulatory agencies operating with quasi
legislative and quasi judicial powers,
and the weakening of congressional
oversight all reflect the Gnostic
impulse to concentrate power in
enlightened administrators who claim
superior knowledge about how society
should be ordered.
This administrative state operates on
principles fundamentally opposed to
constitutional government. Rather than
acknowledging the limits of human
knowledge and the need for checks and
balances, it assumes that properly
trained experts can determine the common
good through scientific analysis and
implement it through rational
administration. This isnosticism in
bureaucratic form, the belief that human
beings can transcend their limitations
through superior knowledge and technique.
technique.
The judicial branch has similarly been
transformed from an institution that
applies law to one that creates policy
based on evolving social consciousness.
When courts discover new rights in
constitutional texts that previous
generations somehow missed, or when they
redefine fundamental institutions like
marriage based on contemporary
sensibilities, they operate as gnostic
prophets revealing previously hidden
truths about human nature and social organization.
organization.
Even more troubling is how both
progressive and conservative movements
now view constitutional restraints as
obstacles to be overcome rather than
permanent features of legitimate
government. Progressives speak of the
Constitution as an outdated document
written by slaveholders, while some
conservatives advocate for
constitutional conventions that would
fundamentally alter our system of
government. Both approaches reflect
impatience with the messiness and
limitations inherent in constitutional
government, preferring the clean
efficiency promised by movements that
claim direct access to the people's will.
will.
This eclipse of constitutional order
creates the conditions for what I call
the metastatic faith, the transfer of
ultimate loyalty from God to political
movements that promise to solve the
fundamental problems of human existence
through properly organized social action.
action.
Chapter 3. The transformation of
political leadership into secular prophecy.
prophecy.
Observe how American political
leadership has been transformed from
public service into a form of secular
prophecy. Contemporary political figures
do not merely propose policies. They
promise transformation, healing, and
salvation. They claim not just
administrative competence, but special
insight into the meaning of history and
America's destiny. This represents a
fundamental corruption of political
authority that my investigations into
20th century totalitarianism taught me
to recognize.
Have you noticed how political
candidates now present themselves as
possessing almost mystical understanding
of American identity and purpose? They
speak of fundamental transformation, of
making America great again, of healing
the soul of the nation. Such language
transcends the proper bounds of
political authority, appropriating
religious and metaphysical categories
that no human institution can
legitimately claim.
This prophetic inflation of political
leadership creates what I call
existential representation. Leaders who
claim to embody the true spirit of the
people rather than simply administering
their government. When political figures
position themselves as vessels of
historical destiny or instruments of
divine will, they encourage followers to
invest them with ultimate authority that
belongs only to God. The result is
political idolatry disguised as
patriotic devotion.
The rise of personality cults around
political figures reflects this same
gnostic corruption. Followers do not
simply support particular policies. They
invest their ultimate identity and
meaning in political leaders who promise
to deliver them from the anxiety and
uncertainty of human existence.
Political rallies take on the character
of religious revivals complete with
testimonies of transformation and
promises of salvation through collective
political action.
This pseudo religious character of
contemporary political leadership
explains the otherwise inexplicable
loyalty that persists despite obvious
moral and intellectual failures. When
political figures are invested with
prophetic authority, their personal
failings become irrelevant to their
essential function as instruments of
historical destiny. Criticism of such
leaders is experienced not as legitimate
political opposition but as blasphemy
against sacred purposes.
The media participates in this
corruption by treating political events
as moments of revelation rather than
ordinary governance. Elections become
cosmic battles between light and
darkness. Policy debates become
theological disputes about the nature of
justice and political figures are
evaluated not by their competence but by
their fidelity to reveal truth about
America's destiny.
This prophetic inflation of politics
creates impossible expectations that no
human institution can fulfill, leading
inevitably to disillusionment, rage, and
the search for scapegoats to blame for
the failure of political salvation to materialize.
materialize.
Chapter 4. The destruction of civil
society through political totalization.
One of the most destructive consequences
of America's spiritual war is the
progressive politicization of every
aspect of human existence. When politics
becomes a substitute religion, it cannot
tolerate competing sources of meaning
and authority. The Gnostic consciousness
demands total commitment, transforming
every human relationship and institution
into an instrument of political struggle.
struggle.
Witness how family relationships,
friendships, religious communities,
educational institutions, and even
recreational activities have become
battlegrounds in America's culture war.
This represents what I call the
totalization of political consciousness,
the expansion of political categories to
encompass the entirety of human
experience. When everything becomes
political, nothing remains properly human.
human.
The family which should serve as the
foundation of social order through its
participation in the natural and divine
orders becomes a site of political indoctrination.
indoctrination.
Parents are encouraged to view their
children as either allies or obstacles
in political struggle. Children are
taught to evaluate their parents
worthiness based on political orthodoxy
rather than natural bonds of love and
respect. Marriage itself becomes a
political statement rather than a sacred
participation in the creative order.
Educational institutions which should
transmit the wisdom of past generations
while fostering intellectual inquiry
become factories for producing political
activists. Rather than learning to think
clearly about permanent human problems,
students are taught to identify
themselves as members of oppressed or
oppressor groups engaged in cosmic
struggle. The university once devoted to
contemplative pursuit of truth becomes
an instrument for manufacturing
revolutionary consciousness.
Religious communities face pressure to
subordinate their transcendent loyalties
to political imperatives. Churches are
evaluated not by their fidelity to
reveal truth but by their utility in
advancing political agendas. When
religious leaders speak primarily about
political issues rather than eternal
questions, they transform sacred
institutions into mere appendages of
secular movements.
Even friendship, which Aristotle
recognized as one of the highest forms
of human relationship, becomes
impossible when political identity
supersedes personal virtue and
affection. Americans increasingly report
losing friendships over political
disagreements, indicating how thoroughly
political categories have corrupted
natural human bonds.
This totalization creates what I observe
as islands of disorder, institutions
that should provide refuge from
political struggle, but instead become
additional theaters of conflict. When no
aspect of life remains immune from
political contamination, human beings
lose access to the contemplative
experiences necessary for psychological
and spiritual health.
The result is a society of alienated
individuals who know themselves
primarily through political categories
rather than participation in natural and
transcendent orders that provide genuine
meaning and stability.
Chapter 5. the recovery of transcendent
order through personal resistance.
Despite the apparent triumph of gnostic
consciousness in American political
life, the possibility of recovery
remains because the fundamental
structure of human existence cannot be
permanently destroyed. Human beings are
constituted by their openness to
transcendent reality and this openness
reasserts itself even under conditions
of severe spiritual disorder. The
question is whether individuals will
recognize and respond to these moments
of recovery.
Have you experienced moments when the
frantic urgency of political struggle
suddenly appears hollow and
insignificant compared to the enduring
realities of love, beauty, truth, and
divine presence. These experiences of
transcendence provide the foundation for
what I call existential resistance to
the disorder of modernity. They remind
us that human fulfillment comes not
through political victory but through
participation in the eternal order that
grounds all authentic community.
Personal resistance begins with the
recognition that no political movement,
however noble its stated aims, can
provide ultimate meaning or salvation.
This requires what I call pneumatic
differentiation. The ability to
distinguish between temporal and eternal
dimensions of existence without
collapsing one into the other. Political
action remains necessary and important,
but it cannot become a substitute for
the primary relationship with divine
reality that constitutes authentic human existence.
existence.
The practice of contemplation provides
the most effective form of resistance to
political totalization.
When individuals regularly engage in
prayer, meditation, philosophical
reflection, or aesthetic contemplation,
they maintain contact with sources of
meaning that transcend political
categories. These experiences of
transcendence serve as existential
anchors that prevent complete absorption
into gnostic movements.
Intellectual resistance requires the
cultivation of what I call knowetic
insight. Direct apprehension of truth
that cannot be manipulated by
ideological construction. This involves
serious engagement with the great works
of philosophy, literature, and theology
that preserve authentic human
experiences across historical periods.
When Americans read Plato, Augustine,
Aquinas, Shakespeare or Dastoyfki with
genuine openness, they encounter modes
of consciousness that reveal the poverty
of contemporary political discourse.
The recovery of genuine community
provides another form of resistance to
political totalization.
When individuals form relationships
based on shared pursuit of truth, beauty
or goodness rather than political
affiliation, they create what I call
islands of order within the broader
cultural disorder. These communities may
be families devoted to transcendent
values, religious congregations focused
on eternal rather than temporal
concerns, or intellectual circles
committed to honest inquiry rather than
ideological conformity.
Perhaps most importantly, resistance
requires the courage to remain open to
experiences of transcendence even when
such openness appears naive or
irrelevant to contemporary political
struggle. The person who maintains faith
in divine providence, hope and ultimate
justice and love for truth itself
provides a living witness to the
bankruptcy of political salvation.
Chapter 6. the classical sources of
American constitutional wisdom.
The spiritual crisis manifesting in
American politics reflects a broader
amnesia regarding the philosophical and
theological sources that originally
grounded American constitutional order.
The founding generation drew upon
classical and Christian wisdom
traditions that provided substantive
content for concepts like natural law,
human dignity, and limited government.
Recovery of these sources offers the
possibility of institutional and
cultural renewal.
When I examine the writings of figures
like Madison, Hamilton, and Jefferson, I
discover minds formed by serious
engagement with classical political
philosophy, Christian theology, and
modern natural law theory. They
understood that legitimate government
must acknowledge transcendent standards
of justice that no human authority can
create or destroy. The Declaration of
Independence explicitly grounds human
rights in divine creation rather than
social construction. While the
Constitution establishes institutional
mechanisms designed to prevent the
concentration of ultimate authority in
any human institution.
This classical foundation assumed what I
call participatory consciousness.
Awareness that human beings participate
in a cosmic order that they do not
create but can either respect or violate
through their choices. Natural law
theory provided the intellectual
framework for understanding this
participation. While Christian theology
offered the experiential foundation
through its emphasis on divine
transcendence and human dependence.
The decline of classical education has
severed most Americans from direct
contact with these sources. Contemporary
political discourse operates with
impoverished anthropological assumptions
derived from modern ideologies rather
than sustained reflection on human
nature and destiny. When Americans speak
of rights, they typically mean
subjective preferences rather than
objective participation in transcendent
order. When they speak of democracy,
they mean popular will rather than
ordered liberty under divine law.
Recovery requires what I call anemnetic
restoration. The conscious recollection
of forgotten experiences that once
grounded authentic political order. This
involves serious engagement with texts
like Aristotle's politics, Cicero's
laws, Augustine City of God, and
Aquinus's political writings. These
works preserve insights into the
relationship between individual virtue
and social order that remain permanently
relevant to political life.
The natural law tradition offers
particularly valuable resources for
contemporary Americans because it
provides rational grounds for
transcendent standards of justice
without requiring specific religious
commitments. When individuals understand
that human reason can apprehend
objective moral truths through
reflection on human nature and its
requirements, they gain intellectual
tools for resisting both relativistic
subjectivism and ideological dogmatism.
Classical political philosophy also
provides models of statesmanship that
transcend contemporary categories of
left and right. Figures like Pericles,
Cicero, and the American founders
understood political leadership as a
form of practical wisdom devoted to the
common good rather than partisan
advantage or personal arrandisment.
Chapter 7. The possibility of spiritual
and political renewal.
The crisis of American politics, severe
as it appears, does not represent the
final triumph of gnostic consciousness
over transcendent order. Throughout
history, periods of spiritual disorder
have been followed by recovery when
individuals and communities rediscover
their proper relationship to divine
reality. The question is not whether
such recovery is possible, but whether
contemporary Americans possess the
intellectual honesty and spiritual
courage necessary to undertake it.
Genuine renewal cannot be achieved
through political means alone because
the crisis originates in disordered
consciousness rather than defective institutions.
institutions.
Political reform becomes meaningful only
when grounded in prior spiritual and
intellectual recovery. This requires
what I call metaninoia, a fundamental
transformation of consciousness that
reorients human existence toward
transcendent reality rather than
imminent substitutes.
The process of renewal begins with
individuals who recognize the bankruptcy
of political salvation and commit
themselves to the disciplined pursuit of
truth through contemplation, study, and
prayer. These individuals become what I
call existential representatives of
authentic order within a disordered
society. Their commitment to
transcendent values provides a living
witness to the possibility of human
existence grounded in something more
substantial than political ideology.
Educational institutions capable of
transmitting classical wisdom play a
crucial role in this renewal. When
schools and universities recover their
proper function as communities devoted
to the pursuit of truth rather than
political indoctrination, they provide
the intellectual formation necessary for
citizens capable of self-government
under divine law. This requires courage
from educators willing to resist the
totalitarian impulses of contemporary
academic culture.
Religious communities that maintain
fidelity to transcendent revelation
rather than subordinating themselves to
political movements offer another source
of renewal. When churches, synagogues,
and other religious institutions focus
on eternal questions rather than
temporal political concerns, they
provide the spiritual formation
necessary for citizens who understand
the proper limits of political authority.
authority.
The renewal of family life represents
perhaps the most fundamental requirement
for broader cultural recovery. When
families transmit genuine wisdom
traditions rather than political
ideologies, when they cultivate virtue
rather than mere success, and when they
ground their relationships in
transcendent love rather than
utilitarian calculation, they provide
the foundation for all other forms of
authentic community.
Political renewal becomes possible when
sufficient numbers of citizens possess
the spiritual and intellectual formation
necessary to distinguish between
legitimate government and gnostic
movements promising salvation through
political means. Such citizens can
support necessary reforms while
maintaining proper perspective on the
limits of political action.
The ultimate ground for hope lies in the
indestructible character of human
openness to transcendent reality. No
matter how severe the spiritual
disorder, human beings cannot
permanently close themselves to
experiences of divine presence, truth,
beauty, and goodness that constitute
their essential nature. Conclusion:
Conclusion:
The hidden spiritual war behind American
politics will be resolved not through
electoral victories or policy reforms,
but through the recovery of authentic
human consciousness oriented toward
transcendent reality. The Gnostic
rebellion against the human condition
inevitably fails because it attempts to
deny the fundamental structure of human
existence as participation in divine order.
order.
Your role in this recovery does not
require heroic political action or
revolutionary transformation of society.
It requires the much more demanding task
of ordering your own soul through
disciplined openness to truth, beauty,
and goodness in their transcendent
dimensions. When you commit yourself to
contemplative practices, serious
intellectual inquiry, and genuine
relationships grounded in virtue rather
than utility, you contribute to the
renewal of authentic order within the
broader cultural disorder.
The classical and Christian wisdom
traditions that once grounded American
constitutional order remain available to
those willing to undertake the
intellectual and spiritual discipline
necessary to appropriate them. These
traditions offer not escapist nostalgia
but living resources for understanding
and responding to the permanent problems
of human existence that manifest
themselves in every historical period.
The spiritual war raging in American
politics represents a crisis that
extends far beyond any particular nation
or historical moment. It concerns the
fundamental question of whether human
beings will acknowledge their dependence
upon transcendent reality or attempt to
create meaning and order through their
own efforts alone. The stakes could not
be higher, but neither could the
resources available for those committed
to authentic recovery.
The truth about human order cannot be
permanently destroyed, only temporarily
obscured. Your task is to live
consciously in the tension between
temporal disorder and eternal order.
Maintaining hope grounded not in
political possibilities but in the
inexhaustible reality of divine presence
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