V. S. Naipaul, R.I.P.

This morning I read that the novelist and Nobel laureate, V. S. Naipaul, died yesterday at his London home. His death occurred just a few days before his 86th birthday. Although a native of Trinidad, Naipaul was of Indian descent, hence his full name: Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul. To his few close friends and acquaintances he was simply "Vidia," a blessing to those with Western tongues. Awarded a government scholarship in 1950, he left Trinidad to study at Oxford and thus began the career of this exceptional man of letters.

V. S. Naipaul

I first read Naipaul in 1979 when I picked up a copy of his newly published novel, A Bend in the River. I had heard of him, but had never read his work, just a few reviews. But the opinions of the critics were so varied and confusing I decided to sample his work and find out for myself. As I read the opening words of the novel -- "The world is what it is; men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it." -- I was hooked. Those words, although politically incorrect to many, for me had the ring of worldly truth. Yes, indeed, despite our personal hopes and dreams, "the world is what it is," and Naipaul spent his literary life describing his take on that reality to his readers. 

Although I'm not a Naipaul fanatic, I 've probably read a dozen or more of his books, and enjoyed every one of them. But Naipaul was more than a novelist, and wrote a number of fascinating books describing the places, people, and cultures he encountered during his extensive travels. His observations, opinions, and conclusions often surprise, and sometimes irritate, but always force me to examine my own attitudes and judgments.  Some critics, of course, objected to his cultural characterizations and plastered him with negative labels, apparently hoping that some might stick. He's been called a racist, a misogynist, an Islamophobe, a Hindu nationalist, and more...I've always thought of him as a man who told the truth as he saw it. Can we ask anything more of a writer than this?

If you haven't read Naipaul, by all means do so. I especially enjoyed his semi-biographical novel, The Enigma of Arrival, as well as his much earlier work, A House for Mr. Biswas. Among his non-fiction works, I suppose my favorites include Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey; The Middle Passage; and A Turn in the South.

My bookshelves house 10 volumes of Naipaul's works and, coincidentally, they reside on the same small shelf with about a dozen of Evelyn Waugh's books. Despite their widely varied backgrounds, the two men had much in common. Each could be included among the best writers of his time. Each wrote wonderful novels, often based on his own life experiences. And each wrote exceptional works of non-fiction describing his travels in culturally distant lands. 

Interestingly, both Waugh and Naipaul have also been described as personally irascible, as curmudgeons with few close friends. I can't and won't judge another based on his personality, assuming that what we see of another is rarely an accurate reflection of his true self. Anyway, I would much rather have a handful of close friends who accept me for who I am, than be surrounded by a flock of chirping, faithless acquaintances who come and go with the seasons. 

Religiously the two men were far apart. Although Naipaul often criticized the religious values held by many today, particularly among those who practice Islam, I don't know if he were a man of faith. One can certainly be personally unpleasant and still be an active believer. After all we are all sinners. Evelyn Waugh, of course, was a convert to Catholicism. Once, when asked how he could justify his nasty disposition with his Catholic faith, Waugh replied, "You have no idea how much nastier I would be if I were not a Catholic. Without supernatural aid I would hardly be a human being." Waugh, too, was a man who spoke the truth as he saw it. 

Rest in peace, Vidia, and thank you for your work that caused so many to reexamine the world in which we live. May God shine His face upon you...

Decadence and Decline

The American people have spoken and, as my late brother once cynically remarked, "You'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American voter." It would seem his cynicism has been borne out by yesterday's election.

As you have probably guessed, I am not happy with the results. My displeasure, however, has less to do with who won or lost in particular elections than the direction these results are taking our society and the unexpected speed of that movement.

To be blunt, I honestly believe Western civilization is nearing its total collapse. It's been coming for some time but I never expected to be alive when it finally happened. Europe, of course, has led the way and only the morally blind cannot see the depth of its decline. I am aware, too, that our nation must eventually go the way of every other nation. Original sin pretty much guarantees that. But I had optimistically held out the hope that the United States of America would last longer than most, that it would rediscover its uniqueness, that its people would somehow reclaim its birthright, that we would defy history and the forces of evil and bring about a rebirth of freedom. Alas, this is not to be. We have, I believe, passed a societal point of no return.

As a nation we seem to have fallen prey to democracy's fatal weakness: the awareness by the majority that they can bleed the minority with impunity. Once politicians grasp this, they use their considerable powers, especially the power of taxation, to aid their friends and harm their foes. Our founding fathers hoped to prevent this by means of a Constitution that would protect the rights of all, include checks and balances, and guarantee separation of powers. What they didn't foresee was: (1) a judiciary that would, in effect, rewrite the Constitution, adapting it to the prevailing zeitgeist; (2) an executive that would increasingly usurp the powers of the legislature; and (3) a weakened legislature that would allow this to happen. When the collapse will occur, I cannot predict, but it will occur, and soon enough.

This modern Western civilization of ours came to be through Christianity, but once its religious foundation crumbles it will cease to exist as a civilization. No civilization can survive when the core values that gave it purpose have disappeared. And Western man cannot survive in the shell of a civilization deprived of these values, its Christian underpinnings. These values are rapidly disappearing in the face of internal decay and corruption. Civilization grows closer to barbarism as it drifts father away from Christianity. Evidence of this can be seen in Western Europe where Christianity is now the faith of only a small minority and consequently is discounted as irrelevant by the politically powerful. These same worldly forces are not content to ignore the remnants of our civilization but have turned on Christianity and its values in an inexplicable suicidal attack. We are now witnessing much the same here in our own country. And, believe me, the signs cannot be dismissed.

Only the most brutal society will slaughter its children by the millions simply because they are inconvenient.

Only the most self-centered society will neither honor its elderly nor aid its infirm, preferring instead to find ways to eliminate them through "managed health care".

Only the most decadent society will equate sodomy with marriage.

Only the most corrupt society will pile up astronomical amounts of debt onto future generations merely to satisfy its own immediate wants.

Only the most faithless society will allow its government to undermine our nation's most cherished freedom, the people's free exercise of their religious beliefs.

The citizens of our nation have reelected a man who sees no evil in either abortion or infanticide, no problem with the continuing destruction of our free-market economy, and no contradiction in same-sex marriage. He bows to those who despise us and shows disdain for our allies. He is a man of his time, a man of our times, a man so certain he is right that he will never admit to being wrong. And he is, once again, our president.

Who's to blame for all this? We all are, along with those who came before us. Too often we stood by silently and watched as our citizenry slid into the decadence that surrounds us. Although I dislike doing so, I assign much of the blame to our American Catholic bishops whose reaction to all this was too little, too late. For years they said little and did less when Catholic politicians screamed their rejection of Church teaching from their bully pulpits in Congress and governors' mansions. Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Andrew Cuomo,  John Kerry, Chris Dodd, Martin O'Malley...these and too many other Catholic politicians have set an example that millions of uncatechized Catholics have followed. If it's okay for them, it must be okay for me. As one educated layman said to me a few years ago, "My pastor told me it would be sinful to vote against a candidate just because he's pro-choice or favors gay marriage." Comments like that make one wonder about the involvement of that pastor's bishop.

But perhaps this will wake up our bishops, our clergy, and our laity, and turn them into a holy remnant seeking God's will in their lives. Maybe it's exactly what we need. As my pastor said this morning, "It seems we all have a lot of work to do." He's right. The world is littered with so much dirt and squalor and hatred. Millions devote their lives only to the aimless and irresponsible pursuit of pleasure. These are the obvious symptoms of internal decay and corruption, and God will probably allow a purging. As Evelyn Waugh once wrote [Vile Bodies, 1930], there is "a radical instability in our whole world-order, and soon we shall be walking into the jaws of destruction." But we must always remember: even if our entire civilization crumbles around us, the Church will remain.This was promised us.

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St. Edmund Campion

Today is the feast day of St. Edmund Campion, Jesuit priest and English martyr. He was a remarkable man, a man of extreme courage who was ultimately cruelly tortured and executed for his Catholic faith in Elizabethan England. You can read a brief overview of his life here, but to really get to know him I suggest you find a copy of Evelyn Waugh's wonderful biography, Edmund Campion, first published in 1946. I had to search in many used book stores to find my copy, but fortunately the book has been reprinted and is once again available new. Click here.