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Entry: Second Spring Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/second_spring#21507 Post contents: @John Zmirak: Carol Zaleski is certainly correct, as far as she goes. But surely we need to understand that the history of Christian Europe means understanding that it was Christianizing the culture and society and polity that made such a major difference in the case of the conversions of so many. Beginning with the Emperor Constantine (and moving forward), it was the fact that princes declared themselves Catholic/Christian and declared their states to be so, that assisted mightily in creating environments where the act of conversion became easier and, on a very practical level, attractive. Of course, that may sound a bit callous to say, but Our Lord works in mysterious ways...and a society with a Christian prince at its head makes the practical considerations of Christianization, at least theoretically, easier. Obviously, the act of conversion itself involves Divine Grace. And, it goes without saying that the so-called "Dark Ages" and Medieval Period also boasted of great Christian saints and political, artistic and cultural leaders. I believe such potential leaders exist today, but our social and political situations are quite different than those of the early Middle Ages or of the Counter Reformation. Rather than the frenzied embrace of post-Conciliar "aggiornamento" and egalitarianism in our paganized world, we should be about a crusade to re-christianize the world, with the full and traditional and triumphal teachings of Our Lord and His Church in our arsenal. Christians ARE different, and ARE a 'sign of contradiction' to this world. "Dialogue" with error, minimizing differences or pretending they don't exist, acceptance of ancient heresies because the "world" seems to like them...all these are non-starters and lead to disaster. Sent at: 2008 09 06