基督教决定西方历史，社会制度（中英文版）

这里还要补充说明一点的是，中国的农民起义不属于任何政治理念，也不属于任何经济利益之争，只是为了生存下去的本能反应，或者说多年来被残酷压迫的报复性反弹，长期在儒家等级制下最底层的农民，尝尽了人间所有的苦难、艰辛、屈辱，人格被长期扭曲，尊严被肆意践踏，特别是王朝的末期，王权及官僚阶层对他们极其残忍的压榨剥削，秦收天下兵器，铸十二铜人，元朝连菜刀也要管制，目的就是使他们无条件地接受任何的压榨剥削，甚至不能有一丁点的反抗，只能是被压榨得剩下皮包骨头然后等死，精英阶层此时彻底撕下儒家的伪装展示人性赤裸裸的丑陋，罪恶。因而被压榨到极限的农民阶层的反弹也极为残忍野蛮，这完全是一种报复性的反弹，将一辈子所受的屈辱、羞辱、耻辱完全地发泄出来，最明显就是张献忠的屠川，与李自成的仿朱姓者杀，中国改朝换代的大动荡、大厮杀、大撕裂以人间地狱来形容一点不为过，但确实与任何政治理念无关。

我从来不会政治正确地认为所有的宗教都平等，因为真真切切、明明白白的事实就是，有的宗教确实野蛮愚昧，而有的宗教确实文明理性，为什么要昧着自己的良心说话，为什么要颠倒黑白、混淆是非，如果因为这是政治正确，那么这种政治正确绝对是大错特错的，因为人类不可能有昧着良心、颠倒黑白、混淆是非的所谓政治正确。亨廷顿在《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》明确指出，“冷战后的欧洲以天主教国家为标准划分西欧，中欧，东欧，西欧就是传统的天主教国家，包括法国、德国、意大利、西班牙等大多数主要国家，而中欧是指曾经的天主教国家，指匈牙利、波兰、捷克、斯洛伐克四国，而东欧就是指东正教国家指罗马尼亚、保加利亚二国，欧盟明确表示除了波罗的海三国外不将其他前苏联加盟共和国接纳为成员国，而波罗的海三国是传统的天主教国家自然例外，同时推迟东正教的罗马尼亚与保加利亚加入欧盟的申请，优先考虑中欧四国的申请，欧盟将与西方文明范围相重合，正如欧洲历史上曾经发生的一幕一样，而且北约将不接纳罗马尼亚，保加利亚为成员国也是尊重俄罗斯为东正教核心国家的地位。”这里亨廷顿已经将宗教作为划分欧洲分界线的主要依据，以宗教为依据划分欧洲的政治版图。①

我们再来看看亨廷顿是如何论述西方文明的，他认为的西方文明包括这几个方面，“古希腊罗马的古典遗产、天主教和新教、欧洲语言、精神权威与世俗权威的分离、法制、社会多元化、代议机构、个人主义。” 这里天主教与新教赫然在列。②亨廷顿在谈到全世界对自由民主的接受程度时，他认为，“此外，美国、西欧主要国家和国际机构的政策和行动，也对西班牙、葡萄牙、许多拉丁美洲国家、菲律宾、南朝鲜和东欧民主制度的建立起了帮助作用。民主化在基督教和西方影响强大的国家最为成功。新的民主政权在主要信奉天主教和新教的南欧和中欧最可能保持稳定，在拉丁美洲稳定性较差。在东亚，信奉天主教和受到美国极大影响的菲律宾于80年代回到了民主国家的行列。同时，南朝鲜和台湾的基督教领袖们也在推动民主化运动的发展。正如前面已经指出的，稳定的民主制度在前苏联，波罗的海诸共和国取得了成功；在东正教诸共和国中，民主制度的稳定程度彼此有相当大的差别，并且难以预测；穆斯林国家的民主前景则很暗淡。至90年代，除了古巴，其他大多数信奉西方基督教和基督教影响强大的国家都开始了向民主制的转变，但非洲是例外。”这些观点与我几乎一致，也是本书一直强调的观点，自由平等来自于基督新教，因而与基督新教社会的契合度最高，而拉丁美洲的天主教文化与自由平等貌合神离颇为冲突，自由平等与伊斯兰社会最为冲突，而非洲的原始部落根本就不知自由平等为何物。③

亨廷顿认为对美国这个西方文明的最大承载者的主要威胁，是国内的多元主义文化，由于大量的移民坚持自己的信仰造成的多元文化，削弱了基督教的影响，这将使美国衰弱甚至崩溃分裂成多个国家，这是《文明冲突》一书最精彩的部分，这也是目前美国陷入政治困境的主要原因，但是很少有人认识到这一点，很少有人理解亨廷顿的睿智。亨廷顿在书中还一直强调文明的冲突，西方文明与伊斯兰世界的冲突，西方文明与亚洲新兴经济力量的冲突等。我这里大量篇幅引用亨廷顿《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》一书的内容，主要想指出的是，亨廷顿在《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》中的许多预见如今已经成为事实，证明他是一位伟大的，极有远见的思想家、政治家。从我们引用的内容可以看出亨廷顿认为宗教对文明有着至关重要的影响，而且也很明显地表明了西方文明就是基督教文明，但是亨廷顿从来不明确表示文明冲突就是宗教冲突，不敢说西方文明就是基督教文明，为什么？因为政治正确。

可为了政治正确连事实都不能说的社会还是真正的社会吗？一个事实都不敢承认的学者还称得上学者吗？虽然我对亨廷顿极为敬佩，但是对他不敢阐述一个明显的事实深为遗憾。如果问我什么决定西方历史的进程？我会毫不犹豫的回答，宗教、宗教的冲突，如果问我何种宗教最接近文明、理性，我同样可以毫不犹豫地回答，基督教、基督新教。这些没必要遮遮掩掩、羞羞答答，事实就是事实，为什么不能承认。其实我也不是基督徒，只是这些年在探索西方文明的历程中才逐渐了解基督教，并且随着研究的深入，一步步被吸引并相信它的教义，但是由于心中还有许多中国人传统的佛踪道影，所以从不敢自称为基督徒，但是我可以明确地肯定，基督教二千多年来执掌着西方的文明之光，并且二千多年来一直引领人类前行，带领人类从野蛮愚昧走向文明理性，没有基督教如今的人类还处于怎样的世界？非洲的原始部落？南美洲的丛林帝国？还是沉迷于三寸金莲，三妻四妾的中国士大夫？

注：

①引用自《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》新华出版社出版，塞缪尔·亨廷顿著，周琪、刘绯、张立平、王圆 译。49页

②引用自《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》新华出版社出版，塞缪尔·亨

廷顿著，周琪、刘绯、张立平、王圆 译。49页

③引用自《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》新华出版社出版，塞缪尔·亨

廷顿著，周琪、刘绯、张立平、王圆 译。170页-171页

Some people may immediately question if the British Revolution, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Latin American War of National Independence did not fight for political ideas? In fact, this question is the main content of this book. The English and American revolutions were beyond political ideas, mainly for faith, for the freedom and equality implied in faith. The English Revolution originated from the War of Bishops. The cause was that Charles I forcibly promoted the bishopric in Scotland,  which aroused the discontent of the Scottish who believed in Presbyterianism and broke out into a war of resistance called the Battle of the Bishops. Next, Charles I wanted to promote Arminianism and episcopacy in England, which roused the English Puritans’ resentment and eventually erupted into civil war. Finally, at the revolution’s lowest and most critical moment, it was the model army led by Cromwell, mainly composed of Puritans. They sacrificed their lives fighting for the religion of freedom, equality, and the glory of God. In the end, they turned the tide of the war, sent Charles I to the guillotine, and used the Bible as a model to carry out a series of practices of republican politics. During the American Revolution, most colonies again gave way to seeking reconciliation with their home country and hoped to maintain the most primitive relations reflecting colonies and suzerain with Britain.

On the one hand, the stupidity and stubbornness of the then British King George III wanted to conquer the colonies completely. Therefore, he was unwilling to make any concessions. On the other hand, because of the religious beliefs of the Puritans in the four New England states who pursued freedom and equality, they did not compromise. They spontaneously used the sound of gunfire to push the revolutionary process again and again. The revolutionary process, which finally led to American independence, will be elaborated on in detail in the rest of this book. The inhumane massacres of the French Revolution were similar to the peasant revolts in China. It is a kind of vindictive catharsis, and it is difficult to connect them to political philosophy. After independence, the temporary situation of the Latin American nations made it hard to believe those leaders had any political philosophy. They exploit those more for their own material interests, personal glory, and power. It is already another topic and will not be discussed here.

It should be added here that China’s peasant uprising did not belong to any political concept or conflict over economic interests. It was only instinctive to survive or a revengeful rebound for years of brutal oppression. The peasants long bottomed in the Confucian hierarchy and had tasted all the sufferings, misery, and humiliations of the world. Their personality had been distorted to warp, and dignity had been trampled on wantonly for a lifetime. Especially at the end of the dynasty, the royalty and bureaucrats brutally squeezed and exploited them. The Qin Dynasty collected the society’s weapons and cast twelve bronze men; the Yuan Dynasty even controlled the kitchen knife to squeeze and exploit them unconditionally. They could not even have a little resistance, only be squashed to only skin and bones and wait for death. At this time, the elite completely tore off the disguise of Confucianism to show the naked ugliness and evil of human nature. Thus, the rebound of the peasant class, which was extorted to the limit, was also extremely brutal and barbaric. It was a completely vindictive rebound that completely vented the humiliation, shame, and disgrace they had suffered all their lives. The most obvious were Zhang Xianzhong’s slaughter of Sichuan and Li Zicheng’s killing of those surnamed Zhu. It’s not an exaggeration to describe tumultuous upheaval, bloody killing, and brutal tearing of China’s dynasty change as hell on earth. Therefore, it really had nothing to do with any political philosophy.

I am never politically correct to think that all religions are equal because the actual and plain fact is that some religions are indeed barbaric and foolish, while others are indeed civilized and rational, so why should I speak against my conscience? Why should I reverse black and white and confuse right and wrong? If it is because of politically correct, then such political correctness is absolutely false. Humans can’t have so-called political correctness that we must speak against our conscience, reverse black and white, and confuse right and wrong. Huntington clearly pointed out in “The Clash of Civilizations and the Reconstruction of World Order” that “post-Cold War Europe is divided into Western Europe, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe by the criterion of Catholic countries, and Western Europe is the traditional Catholic countries, including most major countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, while Central Europe refers to the former Catholic countries, meaning Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia Eastern Europe is the Orthodox countries, including Romania and Bulgaria, the European Union has made it clear that in addition to the Baltic States, no other former Soviet republics will be admitted as member states, with the exception of the Baltic States, which are traditionally Catholic countries, while postponing the application of Orthodox Romania and Bulgaria to join the EU, giving priority to the application of the four Central European countries, the EU will be compatible with the scope of Western civilization. overlap, as has happened in a scene in European history, and NATO will not admit Romania, and Bulgaria as a member is also respecting Russia’s status as a core Orthodox country.” Here Huntington had already used religion as the main basis for dividing the political map of Europe.①

Further, Let’s take a look at how Huntington discusses Western civilization. He believes that Western civilization includes these aspects: “the classical heritage of ancient Greco-Roman, Catholicism and Protestantism, European languages, the separation of spiritual and secular authority, legal system, social pluralism, representative institutions, and individualism.” Catholicism and Protestantism stand out here.②.When talking about the world’s acceptance of freedom and democracy, Huntington believed that “in addition, the policies and actions of the United States, major Western European countries and international institutions have also helped to establish democratic systems in Spain, Portugal, many Latin American countries, the Philippines, South Korea, and Eastern Europe, Where Christian and Western influence is strong. The new democratic regimes are most likely to remain stable in southern and central Europe, which mainly believe in Catholic and Protestantism, and less stable in Latin America. In East Asia, the Philippines, which believes in Catholicism and is greatly influenced by the United States, returned to democracy in the 1980s. At the same time, Christian leaders in South Korea and Taiwan are also promoting the development of democratization. As already pointed out, stable democracy has succeeded in the former Soviet Union and the Baltic republics; In the Eastern Orthodox republics, the stability of democratic systems is quite different from each other and difficult to predict; The prospects for democracy in Muslim countries are bleak. By the 1990s, except in Cuba, most other countries that believed in Western Christianity and Christianity had a strong influence there and began to change to democracy, except in Africa. “These views are almost consistent with mine, which has been emphasized in this book. Freedom and equality come from Christian Protestantism, so they have the highest degree of conformity with Christian Protestant society. Catholic culture of Latin America seems in conflict with freedom and equality, and freedom and equality conflict with Islamic Society. The primitive tribes in Africa have no idea at all what freedom and equality are.③

Huntington believes that domestic multiculturalism is the main threat to the United States, the largest carrier of Western civilization. The multiculturalism caused by many immigrants adhering to their beliefs weakens the influence of Christianity and might even collapse the United States into multiple countries. This is the most wonderful part of the Book “Conflict of civilizations”. This is also the main reason why the United States is falling into political trouble today. But few people realize this and understand Huntington’s wisdom. In his book, Huntington has always emphasized the conflict of civilizations, the clash between Western civilization and the Islamic world, the clash between Western civilization and emerging economic forces in Asia, etc. I quote extensively from Huntington’s book “The Clash of Civilizations and the Reconstruction of World Order” to point out that much of Huntington’s foresight in the book has now come true. It proves that he is a great and far-sighted thinker and politician. From what we quoted, we can see that Huntington believes that religion has a crucial influence on civilization and clearly shows that Western civilization is a Christian civilization. However, Huntington never explicitly states that the conflict of civilization equates to religious conflict. He dare not say that Western civilization is Christian civilization. Why? Because of political correctness.

The newly elected president of the United States, Trump, is the most politically incorrect politician in the United States. He set up a national prayer day for Americans, expressing his desire to defend American religious freedom and counter any attacks on the faith. In fact, from the disputes caused by his ban on entry visas from Islamic countries, it can be seen that the religious freedom he defended is the freedom of Christianity, and he will fight back against any attack on Christianity. However, he never dared to say that the United States was founded as a Christian nation and that America is a Christian country. All these stem from political correctness also. The apparent facts can not say, dare not say; this is political correctness’s incredible magic. What is political correctness? I will detail it in the following chapters and only briefly introduce it here. Political correctness comes from the most pristine and pure ideals of humans.

Under the greed and degeneration of human nature, humans remain the best memories of paradise, the most beautiful phantom of the Garden of Eden, and some ideas no one dares to refute, such as equality of all people. Even if it is obvious that people are unequal in reality, we dare not refuse it at will. We plainly feel that the idea of inequality between people is very awkward, but I don’t know what’s wrong. However, the inequality between people is a fact; where is it wrong? Why is it awkward? Because it touches the best ideal of humans, the best ideal from the depths of the soul and the universe. Why is political correctness sometimes incorrect? Because unconditional political correctness can only make people forget the nature of humans, a nature that is also equal to all, all people have a nature of greed and degeneration. It is the reason why humans leave the beautiful paradise and Eden, bid farewell to the beautiful ideal, and come to the earth. Therefore, political correctness is a complex concept involving the complex relationship between past and present, heaven and earth? In today’s American Society, you can scold whites but can not chide blacks. A chiding of blacks is racial discrimination. In fact, blacks are the same as whites; their human nature is also greedy and degenerate; unconditional political correctness can only encourage greed and degeneration of the human nature of blacks, which is not necessarily a good thing for blacks. Since the Martin Luther King Jr and Equality Act, How much has blacks’ status changed in American Society? Not only didn’t the status change significantly, but it also exacerbated the conflicts between races. These will be explained in detail in the following chapters. I only introduce them here.

But for the sake of political correctness, is a society that can’t even tell the truth still a real society? Can a scholar who daren’t admit a fact be a scholar? Although I greatly admire Huntington, I deeply regret that he dared not to state an obvious fact. If you ask me what determines the course of Western history? I will not hesitate to answer the conflict between religions. If you ask me which religion is closest to civilization and rationality, I will also answer Christianity and Protestantism without a second thought. There is no need to speak in the circle or be Shilly-shally. The fact is the fact. So why can’t we admit it? In fact, I am not a Christian. It is only in the process of exploring Western civilization that I gradually understand Christianity.

With the deepening of research, I am attracted step by step and believe in its teachings. However, I never dare to call myself a Christian because there are many Chinese traditional Buddhist hints and Tao clues in my heart. However, I can ensure that Christianity has been in charge of the light of Western civilization for more than 2000 years and has been leading humans forward for more than 2000 years, guiding humans from barbarism and ignorance to civilization, and rationality. So what kind of world is it if there is no Christianity?Primitive tribes in Africa?The jungle empire of South America?Or Chinese scholar-bureaucrats who indulge in three-inch Golden Lotus and had three wives and four concubines?

Note:

①   Samuel Huntington “The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order”, Xinhua Publishing House, trans Zhou Qi, Liu Fei, Zhang Liping and Wang Yuan.P 49

②   Samuel Huntington “The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order”, Xinhua Publishing House, trans Zhou Qi, Liu Fei, Zhang Liping and Wang Yuan.P 49

③   Samuel Huntington “The clash of civilizations and the remaking of world order”, Xinhua Publishing House, trans Zhou Qi, Liu Fei, Zhang Liping and Wang Yuan.P 170 – 171