“If We Are In Civilisational Twilight, We Must Bring The Dawn” - James Orr

The "twin unrelenting drive of individualism and secularism" has marched through our institutions.

But what has it left behind?

It turns out that freedom from all higher authority also means the loss of a higher purpose. Freedom from all human obligation also means the loss of meaningful relationship. With nothing greater to believe in, no place to belong to, and no community to walk with, our young people are facing a bleak future. It appears a civilisational twilight is on the horizon for the West.

Yet we have hidden within our inheritance the values upon which our civilisation was once built: human dignity, truth, justice, peace. In our latest ARC-Off Stage conversation, Os Guinness, James Orr, John Anderson and Dennis Prager discuss how Western Civilisation needs to revive these foundational beliefs and bring leadership to a short-termist and visionless public square.

We may have hollowed out our morality until autonomy is all that is left. But what has been deconstructed can be rebuilt.

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James Orr is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the University of Cambridge, UK Chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation, and Director of UK Programs for Trinity Forum Europe.

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'.

The Hon John Anderson AC FTSE is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from an era of uniquely successful government. John now serves in a broad variety of civic and community pursuits and hosts Australia’s pre-eminent politico-cultural video podcast.

Dennis Prager is an American talk show host and writer. He hosts The Dennis Prager Show and co-founded PragerU, a conservative nonprofit that is focused on changing minds through digital media.