Reason rather than sentiment is the distinguishing mark separating man from beast. Naturally reason, wrongly employed, perverted and under the yoke of emotions, is worse than mere sentimentalism-and this, precisely, was the “rationalism” of the Enlightenment. God created man, after all, in such a way that his head is above his heart.
–Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn, Leftism

Politics have long ago ceased to be about reasonably serving the Common Good, and if anything the general trend of politics these days only proves this. Not only has the rejection of reason influenced the political sphere, but every other important aspect of life as well. Reality is constantly being denied and in its place our “feelings” are enthroned, when we know that this is clearly wrong. Yet how can we know what is Right when it certainly seems that these mass movements of emotional politics are our last hope?

The danger is at first subtle. After all, what could be more important for the people of these dark times than “the preservation of cultural heritage and identity?” And isn’t our emotional reaction justified? But there is something more important than preservation of culture, and the name of it is Civilization, the moral framework which binds persons together for the Greatest Good. And this is how Civilization dies, in the howls of the mobs blinded by emotion, lashing out against anything and everything demanding something from them. Fallen nature reverts to the basic instincts of fear and hatred, attacking anything “unlike” itself, anything it senses as a threat to its own comfort, and becomes potter’s clay in the hands of those willing to feed the fires of anarchy whose only purpose is their own benefit.

Such men easily mislead the masses, but is there one of them who really leads his people by Right Reason? Political concepts, even ordinary words have lost their very meanings to twisted definitions, undermining the arguments of those who argue against them, under the influence of these “leaders”. It’s understandable that such errors should exist amidst the Left, but even those relatively “Right” (the Catholic Political Tradition is “the Right”) are misled and fall into the snares of arguing while using these emotional and ideologically twisted definitions.

This is not to say that emotions do not have their proper place, but at most they can only make the problem obvious, and never provide the solution. Rather, the solution most be found with God-given right Reason (informed but not distorted by the emotions), the foundation of Authority, Liberty, Justice, and Mercy. If we reject right reason, the very reality of man’s nature, if we join the Modern Identitarians and are mastered by our emotions, how are we different from the Leftists, from the Muslims who believe only in the will of Allah, and deny both Reason and Freedom? Should we be surprised that when we have instituted Nationalistic Anarchy, we will find ourselves under the yoke of an Internationalist tyranny? There is no evil so evil as the counterfeit of Good, which ensnares so many good people.

It seems hopeless then, to hope in this Age of the Politics of Emotion which can only end in fear and hate that Civilization will survive at all. It seems hopeless but it isn’t. It isn’t so long as even only a small number of us hold fast to the truth, so long as we are lights which the darkness can not conquer, reasoning, believing, and hoping no matter how long the night, living truly noble lives, radiating goodness, never hating even our enemies but always willing to defend that which we love, seeking always the Good of others over our own, if even a few of us did this we would be ever-worthy Defenders of Civilization. It may very well be that the Nationalistic anarchy runs rampant across the world until crushed by the iron hand of International Tyranny, but neither Anarchy nor Tyranny will ever completely destroy Christendom, if its defenders stand firm in their conviction to its ideal of unity, supported by all the hosts of Heaven, and spread the Truth how ever far they are able, in the hope of the Emperor-King’s eventual return.