Os Guinness explains the deconstruction of the West
“The West today is in a moment of civilisational crisis. It lacks the inspiration, the dynamism that made it the civilisation it has been.”
In the second of our ARC vision series, author and social critic Os Guinness observes that every great civilisation has a dynamism and a source of inspiration. But that there comes a point where a civilisation loses touch with what made it great. At that moment, there are three broad options: you renew the inspiration, you replace the inspiration, or you decline.
From the Parthenon in Athens to the Colosseum in Rome, you see that great civilisations have seen decline.
We are at a watershed moment like this in the West. We have rejected the faith story and ideological foundations which provided for dynamism and inspiration. The attempt to replace it with Enlightenment secularism and reason has proven inadequate. And today we watch as critical theorists unpick the institutions that bind us together.
Can we return to confidence in our identities and renew a belief in human dignity, truth, conscience, and freedom? Os argues we can relay the roots of our civilisation.
We hope you enjoy this fascinating ARC vision film from Os Guinness, who masterfully exposes the heart of the challenge we face.
Read more about Os Guinness’s ideas in his research papers:
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Os Guinness is an author and social critic. He holds a DPhil from Oxford University, has been a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and was the lead drafter of 'The Global Charter of Freedom of Conscience and Religion'.
