Samuel Huntington, a distinguished Harvard political scientist, predicted in his paper The Clash of Civilizations? published in the Journal of Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993, that there would be a future clash between worldviews of three major traditional civilizations - the Western world, the Islamic world, and the Confucian East. The dominating source of conflict would be cultural.

With the end of the Cold War, international politics moves out of its Western phase, and its centerpiece becomes the interaction between the West and non-Western civilizations and among non-Western civilizations. In the politics of civilizations, the peoples and governments of non-Western civilizations no longer remain the objects of history as targets of Western colonialism but join the West as movers and shapers of history.

This view has been contested with that of another, namely that the real clash is actually happening already within our civilization - intramural rather than extramural - between the adherents of the Judeo-Christian tradition and the advocates of diversified secular outlooks or worldviews.

Authors such as James Davison Hunter, Thomas Sowell, Robert P. George and James Kurth have been busy pointing out that the battle is now happening, an internal cultural conflict of significant measure and involving issues largely of morality.
Professor Hunter, a sociologist, believes that relativism — the idea that all faiths or belief systems are equally true, or have equal footing with each other — is currently battling fundamentalism for the minds of people all over the world.
Robert P. George, Princeton Professor of Jurisprudence, sets out in his book The Clash of Orthodoxies to argue that “Judaeo-Christian moral teaching can be shown to be rationally superior to orthodox secular moral beliefs.”
James Kurth, Professor of Political Science at Swarthmore College, in “The Real Clash of Civilization” (Washington Times, 4 October 1994), argues that the clash is between two currently co-existing Western worldviews, that of Judeo-Christianity and that of postmodernism and multiculturalism.

I recently came across another adherent of this view, a well read and learned poster to the Anglican Mainstream forum, who had this to say concerning what is happening within Christendom in general and Anglicanism in particular.

I believe that the long-term threat lies not with Islam but with a pseudo-Christian counterfeit, which would have the capacity to deceive the elect if that were possible, (Matthew 24:24). Islam with its denial of Christ’s Sonship does not fall into that category. To me, it’s [Archbishop of Canterbury] Rowan Williams rather than Bin Laden who represents the wave of the future. That’s one reason why I’ve gone for him the way I have.

What militant forms of Islam will do is create the insecurity that will frighten people into the New World Order and into the false form of Christianity representing it. Militant Islam will also provide opportunities for Church leaders like Rowan Williams to pursue their interfaith, one-world agenda. Undeniably, Satan is being very cunning; by focussing attention on militant Islam he’s diverted Christians from the area where the real threat lies that is within the Church. We must remember that the devil can use both a blinkered conservatism and an inclusive liberalism to accomplish his purposes.

As evidence for this point just consider this forum? How many people would follow the teachings of Islam the answer is nil - but how many would be inclined to follow the lead of the present Archbishop particularly in times of great insecurity - the answer quite a lot.

I believe that both points of view happen to be true.

Liberal theologians have been busy at work for some time now, stripping the supernatural from Christianity and re-writing the faith. New writings, ever since Bishop John Robinson’s book “Honest to God” (1963), have removed the supernatural where it proved too much of an obstacle for the belief of rational humans of this postmodern age. The church is becoming increasingly Inclusive, seen as a good thing by many as it is said that God is Love and wouldn’t want anyone to be excluded. While that is true in one sense, it completely misses the point in another, and conveniently ignores that God is also holy and righteous and has set absolute moral standards based upon His character. Christianity is also being hijacked by New Agism, a syncretism of philosophies that include those from the east - just as Huntington predicted. The Church of England itself is poised to split asunder, liberals on one side and orthodox conservatives on the other, regarding issues of women’s ordination and that also of practising homosexuals. The secular worldviews of naturalism, postmodernism and multiculturalism are attacking and devouring our Judeo-Christian cultural heritage from within, substituting absolutism with moral relativism, situational ethics and pragmatism, and a utopianism which is based on the ill-fated and flawed notion that human nature is essentially good. Anyone who sticks their neck out and declares Biblical values is regarded as an intolerant judgemental rightwing religious bigot, the new definition of a Christian. The clash within our culture is occurring between classic Christian theism and postmodern naturalism.

But what about the other clashes predicted by Huntington?

I have already mentioned his concern of that with the Confucian east which I see invading in the form of the syncretic spirituality of New Agism and Universalism. Orthodox Christianity is currently under seige from this blend of east-west philosophies that have engulfed elements of Christianity and woven them into a heresy that mimics and proclaims itself to be the more enlightened evolution of Truth. It comes as a wolf in sheep’s clothing to steal from the Shepherd’s flock.

And the clash with Islam… we are already seeing this happen as well. For much more reading on this topic, my dedicated page listed on the left-hand side bar will provide a feast of authoritative literature, news and commentary. The invasion of Islam is encouraged and facilitated by the demise of Christianity in this new era. Moral relativism and multiculturalism allows it to co-exist without objection. Indeed, this postmodern worldview acts as a pre-requisite to co-existence, and so we are bound to continue courting this pervading malignancy. Islam is regarded as a neighbour and one which we are required to befriend. It finds little resistance but is welcomed with open arms by those who are already blinded to the Truth.

I fear that James Huntington will be proven right in the end.