I've heard it said that there are two world-views resulting from the Enlightenment upon which social systems and governance have been established. One is the Anglo-American model. We had a war, however bloody. The other is the Franco-Prussian model, from which we have the French Revolution, Marxism, fascism. Freedom and liberty versus violence and totalitarianism. Voila la difference.
Whaddayathink?
You couldn't drew a more stark contrast between our revolution and the French one.
This is from another thread on the French Revolution that got pulled (I suspect for being a duplicate). But I found it to be a good post so I saved it to post here.
I watched "The French Revolution" Monday night on the History Channel and found myself somewhat disturbed by what went on. I didn't notice anything terribly inaccurate with the presentation (only that the minor detail of the French army's refusal to crack down on the revolutionaries in 1789 was glossed over), but I couldn't help but notice how starkly different the American and French revolutions were. Both dealt with the same inherint problem: a corrupt and arrogant aristocratic government oppressing the common people.
Both Began in similar fashion: we responded to the Stamp Acts with the Continental Congress; they resonded to the eviction from the Estates-General with the National Assembly. We prevented the Redcoats from seizing our military stores (and ability to defend ourselves) at Lexington and Concord; they stormed the Bastille to get the gun powder needed to defend Paris against royal troops. We passed the Declaration of Independance; they passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The printing press was key to our cause; it was key to theirs as well. By 1792 however, something had gone horribly wrong. Whereas we peacefully set up a government and forged a nation, they sank into the Reign of Terror. Why?
The answer, it seems to me, is Christianity. The leaders of the American Revolution were either devoted Christians themselves are had deep respect for the tenets of the Faith. The French revolutionaries associated Christianity with the aristocracy and tried to purge the all things even remotely tied to the Faith from France. The damage is still seen today. Isn't interesting how quickly Robespierre, Marat and the mob descended to a Reign of Terror worthy of Caligula or Nero once they had rejected the Lord?
Any other thoughts....?
An 'IF' scenario: Let's say Kerry was elected. His policies would have severely weakened the United State's political and (conventional) military power to drastic levels. Why? Because Kerry would have thought treaties printed on paper (worth more than the actual words printed on them) would suffice in ensuring America's place in the world. The problem is many nations, including a couple that have worldwide ambitions, do not give a whit about papers and signatories. Now, the fat would be in the fire (since something always crops up every four years, and sooner or later Kerry would face some bad mumbo-jumbo) and Kerry would have to act. But with what? Our conventional military would have been a faint fascimile of what it currently is, and our political clout would be a mere echo of what it was. So what would he do? He'd remember that we have some Boomers (SLBM submarines) prowling the oceans, and he would be forced to opt for a nuclear response . And you'd see all the liberals who were saying Bush was heavy handed in Iraq suddenly start giving all sorts of 'reasons' why it was alright to use nukes in a situation that would only have required a couple of carrier groups offshore!
Anyways, liberals are inherently deadly precisely because they are cowards. There is nothing as lethal as a coward because once they decide to act they always go too far (eg the nerd who gets a mac-10 and goes on a shooting rampage at his highschool, or the postal worker who never once raised his voice until the day he decides to take a 12-gauge to work).
The program is actually quite well done.
The decription of the "de-christianization" of France, removing the names of all saints from Streets and towns, the changing of the calendar to a 10 day week to eliminate Sundayt, the renaming of the months..... fascinating that this happened in 1792.
The American Revolution was mainly a Conservative Revolution. We have always been, from the Declaration of Independence onward, a Nation under God with rights derived from the Creator, not from man.
Every event in the 200 years following the French Revolution, from the Russian Revolution, Communism, Nazism and both world wars stem from that event.
Liberty,Equality,Fraternity , a sick blood soaked joke on the French and the entire world.
This was my all-time favorite class in College. "French Revolution and Napoleon." I had a terrific history professor. I think it should be a required course. I have the program on DVR will probably watch it tonight.
It was a pretty good show, I thought. It certainly made plain the differences between ours and theirs. We were fighting to be free, they were simply free to be fighting.
"Now, for two hours, it won't kill you to love the French."
"Now, for two hours, it won't kill you to love the French."
Ping
Weren't they, though? I was shocked....I either didn't pay much attention in history class while in school, or I never learned about this gore....absolutely disgusting.