Posted on 05/13/2005 10:40:44 PM PDT by goldstategop
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Just look at Sweden to see where this is going. Not pretty.
Well that was some light reading. Nothing more than a few paragraphs of vague generalizations.
"Addressing the concerns of these mothers, a friend of mine, Rebecca Hagelin, wrote a book called It speaks specifically of a culture "gone mad" . . ."
What's the name of the book?
PONG
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I think people have been convinced moral decline has been destroying the nation since 1776.
I don't think so . . . "speaks" isn't capitalized here, and "It" appears to begin the next sentence but could also begin the name of a book. Odd.
Yes, at least in a historical context, and at least on a somewhat-temporary basis. See Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, the Roman emperor who actually managed to stave off the inevitable collapse and begin to reverse it between 284 and 304. He made some mistakes, but he bought the Roman Empire almost two centuries.
Agreed. Good artilce.
"article"
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Whether the Byzantine Empire was really the continuance of the original empire or if it was really just a successor state is something we can debate some other time. However, Diocletian bought the entire Empire about two centuries that it probably wouldn't have had. It gave the Eastern Empire enough time to consolidate and stabilize.
Some historians think that the entire Empire would have collapsed by 300 if he hadn't done what he did - having read some of the accounts of the era, I think they're absolutely right.
That would be certainly be true of the Western half of the Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire fared even better and held on until 1452, when the Mohammedan Turks, with the assistance of Italian artillery designers, finally breeched the walls of Constantinople that had stood for 1000 years. (Built by Theodosius II).
Diocletian set up the tetrarchy of course. He also carried out one of the last - and most brutal - persecutions of Christians in the Empire. His fellow tetrarch Constantine ended up issuing the edict recognizing Christianity as a legal religion later on.
Like I said, the guy did make some mistakes - a couple of whoppers, too. On the other hand, it's very hard to argue with his results as a whole.
The shallowest of shallow thinkers have no clue what is being created out there. I pity the upcoming generation and what they are sowing for themselves. It will become self evident in due time.
I think that's a pretty good analysis as well. The setup of the tetrarchy really bought time for the Eastern half to stabilize. They also didn't have the degree of barbarian invasion that the west had to deal with, which might have been a factor as well. By Justinian's time, a good section of the west had even been reclaimed. The West was abandoned with the advance of the Muslims in the mid-600s, though.
ping to self for later pingout.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
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