Politico recently put out a hit piece on “Christian nationalism”. Although modern liberals are opposed to what is essentially nationalism, it isn't the nation in “Christian nationalism” they fear. They fear Jesus Christ. Even with all their secular postering and Pride, deep in their subconscious they understand that only God can separate them from all that is True, Good, and Beautiful:
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body…1
This recognition is the beginning of wisdom2, but it is probably more likely that the myopic vision of the modern liberal is only concerned about any restriction on hedonistic pleasure. The authors make this clear when they equate the natural law as an instrument “to oppose abortion, LGBTQ+ rights and contraception”. The wrongness of those behaviors are deduced from the natural law, but it is not the essence of the natural law. In fact, the authors have zero understanding of what the natural law is, seemingly confusing it with the divine law. The authors incorrectly define the natural law as “the belief that there are universal rules derived from God that can’t be superseded by government or judges” while correctly identifying it as “a core pillar of Catholicism”. In one sense it is true that the natural law is derived from God, but in this context we are talking about the eternal law. God is the primary cause of all things, and thus all of creation derives from Him. Creatures in the natural world act as secondary causes and it is from these secondary causes and our understanding of the essence or nature of particular creatures that human reason understands the natural law. While the fullest embodiment of the natural law is found within the Catholic Church, the natural law was discovered and systematically defined by Aristotle who received no special divine revelation (i.e. divine law) and was unaware of the God of Israel or the Hebrew Bible.
The first precept of the natural law is to “do good and avoid evil”. This is something even the secular liberal implicitly understands for every action he consents to is aimed at some good. We have a natural inclination to procreate (the good of sex) to self-preservation (the good of life), to knowledge and so on. This is related to the essential nature of government which is to resolve controvertible issues according to some conception of the good. In other words our basic inclination to act or to pass law is to achieve some desired good. This is fundamental to our nature as rational and social beings despite the postering and denial of the liberal elite. This denial turns liberals sociopathic. It also radically distorts liberals understanding of these goods. For example, they have taken the instrumental good of sexual pleasure directed towards the essential good of procreation and turned it into a consequence free idol.
This liberal misconception is based on a false anthropology and a false metaphysics. In order to understand what is objectively good for human beings we must understand the nature or essence of what it is to be human. Human beings are a hylomorphic union of body and soul or more generally a composite of matter and substantial form. An object’s form constitutes the nature or essence of what that object is. Every substance is directed towards its own fulfillment or end. In other words, every substance seeks to fully actualize its own potentialities. For example, built into the nature of every caterpillar is the potential to become a butterfly. What is good for the caterpillar is anything that helps it actualize this potential (i.e. become a butterfly) and what is bad for a caterpillar is anything that frustrates this natural end (e.g. being eaten by a predator).
The natural law and the principle of causality are based on Aristotle's description of four natural “causes”. The four “causes” are material, efficient, formal, and final. The material cause is the matter in which an object is made of (e.g. wood, metal, plastic). The efficient cause is the source of an objects change (e.g. fire causing ice to melt). The formal cause is the essence of the object (e.g. plastic in the spherical shape of a ball). The final cause is the end or telos of an object (e.g. the telos of a caterpillar is to mature into a butterfly). Each cause is fundamentally related to the other and when taken together offer a complete understanding of nature.
Many people understand the common sense reasoning of these four causes, but the modernist elite believe it is the thinking of the ignorant rube. The liberal elite do not simply disagree with Christian nationalists on the question of God, but also on metaphysics, ontology, and causation. In the realm of science, moderns have reduced nature to the mathematical models that describe observed patterns in the physical world. This is perfectly valid as a method of science. In fact the success of modern science is because of its extremely narrow focus point. The problem is when secular liberals unknowingly assume metaphysical conclusions from science while simultaneously denying metaphysics. Again, this simply makes the secular liberal sociopathic. For example, modern science presupposes the existence and functioning of natural substances. The reason mathematical models accurately describe the physical world is because physical objects operate according to their substantial forms.
The secular liberal, either implicitly or explicitly, rejects the principle of causality, teleology, essences, purpose, and assumes brute facts, nominalism, scientism, and individual autonomous will as the arbiter of all meaning. This partly explains why liberals have this weird gnostic dualism. In one realm, all that exists is matter, and in the other realm all that exist is will. Science is thus reduced to the technology of satisfying each individuals desires and preferences. Politico's disagreement with “Christian nationalism” is far deeper than politics. It is a disagreement about the fundamental nature of reality.
Mathew 10:28
Proverbs 9:10