What Option for Christians in a Pagan America?

If paganism is not yet triumphant across these United States and the West it seems only a matter of time. What do we do then? The author offers some thoughts.

From The Imaginative Conservative

By John Horvat

In “Pagan America,” John Daniel Davidson argues that the minute the Christian order falls in America, the most barbarous acts and persecutions will occur. Then the Benedict Option will not be enough, as pagan America will never let Christians live in peace. Real Christians will have to do much more.

Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come, by John Daniel Davidson (368 pages, Regnery, 2024)

Social media is full of videos of brutal fights and the breakdown of civil order. Sometimes, it seems civilization is reduced to a thin veneer.

The only thing that appears to keep society from barbarism is what little is left of Western civilization and its customs. A thin and fragile shell is all that still protects people from the cruel horrors of paganism, and that shell is in danger of being shattered. Many people are looking for Benedict-Option refuges to hide out the storm.

This precarious situation is the subject of John Daniel Davidson’s 2024 book, Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come.

Heading Toward Paganism

The thesis of his book is fascinating. The young Catholic author says America is heading toward paganism. It will have grave consequences.

He has no illusions about what this means. Paganism is not some politically correct Hollywood depictions of primitive peoples or noble savages. It is that state of humanity where there are no restrictions and taboos. All kinds of cruelty and barbarity are allowed. It will turn citizens into slaves. It leads to rituals, persecutions, and Satanism. Indeed, it will create a Hell on earth.

The Path to Paganism

These are not idle claims. The author gives graphic pagan examples to document the threat. He looks at the atrocities of pagan peoples like the Vikings and the bloody Aztecs. He even cites the rabid radicals of the French Revolution, whose Cult of Reason and Reign of Terror are perfect examples of a modern pagan experiment.

Above all, his examples show how paganism will seek to eradicate Christianity and especially the Catholic Church. It will seek to re-impose the pagan horrors of human sacrifice, idol worship, and superstition.

“Left unchecked or unchallenged by the Christian faith,” Mr. Davidson writes, “a society can linger indefinitely in paganism, even paganism of the worst kind.”

Using Modern Means to a Pagan Future

Modern technology only makes the spread of neo-paganism worse by increasing the scale of its reach. High-tech paganism is entering the scene, especially with the introduction of AI.

Indeed, the author reports that those working on AI “openly talk of ‘building god’ or ‘creating god,’ harnessing god-like powers to transcend the limits of mere humanity.”

Modern methods also assist in crushing resistance to the coming neo-paganism. The author claims that the new post-Christian neopagan ethos “will usher in state-sponsored religious persecution on a scale not seen since the Diocletianic Persecution of the early fourth century.”

The Road to Paganism

Thus, Mr. Davidson analyzes one by one all the influences that are pushing America toward paganism—abortion, euthanasia, transgenderism, Satanism, AI, and the pagan state.

The author goes into great detail (at times, a bit too much), showing the development of each influence and its pagan parallel. He sees abortion and euthanasia as manifestations of human sacrifice. Postmodern witchcraft and Satanism are the equivalent of pagan religious cults. He even documents cases of the appearance of demon-like spirits in today’s nascent AI.

It is a compelling book that shows where the nation is heading.

What to Expect from the Neo-Barbarians

The author is brave. He does not mince words or try to sugarcoat the coming neo-paganism. He has no illusions about what will happen when the shell of the moral teaching of the Catholic Church and what remains of Western Christian civilization fall. It will bring about the destruction of the West, persecution of Christians, and even martyrdom.

Indeed, people fool themselves if they think that, after Christianity is extinguished, they will live in a constitutional order where everyone will respect their rights and freedoms. The minute Christian order falls, the most barbarous acts and persecutions will be made possible.

The author also has the honesty to say that there can be no Benedict Option under such circumstances. Pagan America will never let Christians live in peace. Protecting oneself against the culture, as the Benedict Option proposes, is a bare minimum. Limiting one reaction to only defense is neither “Benedictine” nor “optional.” Real Christians must do much more.

 A Boniface Option

Indeed, Mr. Davidson takes an admirable proactive stand. The future lies with a “loud and unflinching minority, boldly proclaiming their faith in public.”

He clearly chooses not a Benedict but a Boniface option. Real Christians should imitate Saint Boniface and cut down pagan sacred oak trees.

However, here is the one major problem with the book.

This appeal to action limits itself to natural and local political solutions that Mr. Davidson believes will take generations to implement. Unfortunately, the author excludes the very fulminating action of Grace and Divine assistance that backed up and allowed Saint Boniface to bring about instant conversions and change. Christians must storm heaven for solutions that come soon as part of effective activism.

Except for this omission, Mr. Davidson’s program for America is otherwise excellent. It consists of taking action “to drive the neopagans out, chop down their sacred trees, and in the name of Saint Boniface, use the wood to build a new church.”

Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come is a refreshing book with the right kind of attitude so often missing from those who seek to merely survive.

The hour is late. It’s time to sharpen the axes.