[NYer]

This approach violates one of the core underpinnings of Roman Catholicism, first expounded in truly articulate form in the writings of St. Augustine, which is that the most basic explanation for why human societies rise and fall in a cyclical pattern is that human fallibility will always lead to depravity and the breaking of God's covenant.

Gotta love St. Augustine ... and his mother, St. Monica, who prayed for his conversion. Thanks for that post.

[StJacques]

"Gotta love St. Augustine ... "

I don't know if I mentioned this in an earlier post or not, but I read St. Augustine, well . . ., religiously. I have my own copy of The City of God.