Civilization at Stake? 

Part 3    

   We continue with Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College ... our minor edits in the interest of clarity. 

   "In our time, the law of contradiction means that a governor could not hold that the pandemic renders church services too dangerous, and also that massive protest marches are fine. It would preclude a man from declaring himself a woman, or a woman declaring herself a man, as if gender is simply a matter of what one wills it to be. 

   "The law of contradiction also means that we can't change the past. What we can know of the truth resides in the past. The present is fleeting and confusing, and tomorrow has yet to come. Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas both said that changing the past is denied even to God. If something both happened and didn't happen, no human understanding is possible. God created us with the capacity for understanding. 

   "The art of doublethink denies and violates the law of contradiction. The state ministry in which Winston (1984) is tortured is called the Ministry of Love. There are three slogans in the Ministry of Truth: War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. The regime in 1984 exists to repeal the past. If the past can be changed, anything can be changed.    ...         To what end? 

   "'Why do you think you are being tortured?' Winston is asked. 'The Party is not trying to improve you. The Party cares nothing about you.' Winston sees that he is simply the subject of state power. Understanding has been rendered meaningless. The only competence with meaning is power." 

Tomorrow: Conclusion. The astounding thing