Architects of the Culture of Death

So glad I read this book! I’m not a great philosophical thinker, and you don’t need to be either to enjoy this book. Even if you are, you might still enjoy reading it. I’ve heard the philosophical arguments presented in this book and even read and studied some of them, like Ayn Rand and Nietzsche. Never liked either but always had trouble knowing where to start when it came to explaining why I disagreed. This book breaks such arguments down easily and says what I wish I had the intellect to put into words.

This should be required reading for every High School student before they strike out on their own...whether college or job. A fascinating and mind-boggling in-depth look at how manipulated our social and cultural thinking can be. Buying into the "progressive", "modern" concepts espoused by many powerful personalities has lead to a devastatingly negative effect on our society. This is a tremendous thought-provoking book. Every parent should read it, and whether the parent or child is in agreement with the author or even with each other, the ensuing discussions should be rousing. Each section of the book focuses on a different aspect of society and gives the background/history of 3 or 4 prominent figures and their philosophies that shaped today's present thinking and acceptance on the subject.

Eric Voegelin, in his book, "Science, Politics & Gnosticism," describes the gnostic philosopher as one who is "dissatisfied with his situation," and sees the world as a "defective and unjust...prison from which he wants to escape." In his attempt to escape, he tries to "seize control of being" by "the murder of God" so he can facilitate "the destruction of the old world and passage to the new" by the "construction of a formula for self and world salvation" to "replace [the old world] with a perfect and just order." He will then "come forward as a prophet who will proclaim his knowledge about the salvation of mankind." But, in his desire to have dominion over being, he "arbitrarily omits" or "suppresses an essential element of reality in order to... create the fantasy of a new world." This, invariably, leads to societal calamity.Voegelin's analysis perfectly describes most of the eighteen people featured in "Architects of the Culture of Death," by Donald DeMarco and Benjamin Wiker. Many of the individuals contained in the book are familiar names such as Nietzsche, Darwin and Marx, while others are more obscure, such as Francis Galton, Judy Jarvis Thomson and Clarence Gamble. For each entry, the authors give a brief biographical sketch of the individual and why they are members of the Culture of Death.Significantly, sixteen of the eighteen people featured are atheists (omitting an essential element of reality) while the remaining two, Margaret Mead and Clarence Gamble, could best be described as "functional atheists" (they claimed a religious faith, but acted contrary to its teachings.) Another common factor was that most came from a broken or dysfunctional home - many having no relationship or an adversarial relationship with their fathers. This is a common pathology among atheists and appears to be a huge catalyst in propelling them into the Culture of Death. Many of the entrants had disagreeable personalities themselves.This book is written by Catholics for Catholics, so the non-Catholic reader may be surprised by the number of references to Pope John Paul II, other Catholic philosophers and writers, as well as the authors' tendency to place contraception on the same sinful level as abortion. It also leads to an instance of irony that I feel was probably lost on the authors. In the entry on Auguste Comte, DeMarco describes how the philosopher elevates Madame Clotilde de Vaux to an object of worship and adoration after her death from consumption. He transformed the chair that she would sit in during her Wednesday visits into an altar, kneeling before its flower-strewn seat three times a day reciting verses and praying in her honor. DeMarco characterizes Comte's behavior as blatant idolatry, yet to the protestant reader, this sounds exactly what Catholics do with the Virgin Mary, whom Protestants believe was merely a human being like any other (although used greatly by God) with an intrinsic sin nature.This book is an important read for anyone who wants to understand where the Culture of Death originated and upon what ideas it's based upon today. It clearly demonstrates that the quickest way to gain membership into this club is to "murder God," and "create the fantasy of a new world" without Him. Far too many still choose this foolish course today.

Absolutely outstanding and valuable book. This is an eye-opening survey of most of the minds that influenced the development of Western Culture. The book is organized chronologically and some of the philosophers/writers included are surprising at first. However, once you begin putting the pieces together you see how insidious many of these philosophies have been in producing what we now live in: the Culture of Death.

Great book I agree with, but as someone without a liberal arts education in the classics and philosophy, it was a difficult read.

This book has been eye opening. The common thread that weaves through the book is the danger of arrogance and that ideas have consequences. It is a book for our times. If you want to read a book that gives the origin of some of the life-taking attitudes and practices of today, read this book. Scary but powerful. The book arrived on time and in acceptable condition.

It is truly sad how dumb downed our society has become. This book is worth every word to read. It illustrates the core beliefs that underpin the rotting of our culture.

This is a must read if you want to have good talking points when talking about the culture of death. I learned much from this book.

Received on time, wrapped beautifully and now looking forward to reading it. Was recommended to me as one of top 5 pro-life books!

Benjamin Wiker é fabuloso. Todo seu trabalho merece ser lido. Esse livro explica o tempo atual que vivemos - toda essa cultura - ou destruição dela - vem de longa data. Não por acaso, sempre exposta por "pensadores" - ou, como eles gostam de ser chamados, de "intelectuais" (!!) de esquerda. Além deste livro, recomendo "10 livros que Estragaram o Mundo", do mesmo autor. Para quem quer entender a falácia destes intelectuais, sugiro a leitura do fenomenal "Os Intelectuais", de Paul Jonhson. Esquerdista/socialistas/marxistas, não raro, querem mudar o mundo - dos outros. Para isso, não dão a mínima se têm que matar dez, cem, mil, um milhão ou cem milhões, como é o saldo segundo os autores do também fabuloso "O Livro Negro do Comunismo". O fato de serem ateus é um plus para esse raciocínio de morte. Afinal, o homem, perdendo sua gênese divina, sem o balizamento da moral, origina um cenário onde tudo é possível - como, aliás, aconteceu durante todo o século XX. Em "Architects of The Culture of Death" há um excelente estudo da contribuição de Darwin e de seu primo, Francis Dalton, donde veio o termo "eugenismo" - e todo o mal advindo disso. O livro é uma luz sobre essa obscuridade, que poucas vezes é trazida à baila. Em tempos em que há diversas tentativas de alterar a história, autores como Benjamin Wiker, Paul Jonhson, W.Cleon Skousen, Dinesh d 'Souza e David Horowtiz, entre outros, são preciosos e essenciais para desvelar a verdade histórica.

Dieses Buch bietet eine Auseinandersetzung mit Menschen, deren Gedanken (falls man sie so nennen kann) für die Gräuel einer Kultur des Todes maßgeblich geworden sind und man erfährt, wie gewissenlos sie vorgingen und vorgehen, um diese Gräuel zu etablieren.

O livro mostra o quanto os largos túneis do egocentrismo, do materialismo e do existencialismo podem só desembocar em desastres pessoais.