Why Has the West Been So Successful?|5 Minute Video

The Western world has produced a few of the most flourishing and most free civilizations in the world. What makes the West extraordinary? Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire and author of “The Right Side of History,” explains that the twin pillars of discovery and factor– originating from ancient Jerusalem and Athens– form the bedrock for Western civilization’s extraordinary success.
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Script:

Western civilization. It’s been around for a while, but unexpectedly everybody is talking about it. Some are anxious to save it; others more than happy to see it go.

What exactly is Western civilization?

Is it the terrific cathedrals of Europe or the Nazi concentration camps? Is it the freedoms secured in the United States Constitution or chattel slavery? Life-saving medicines or toxin gas?

The left likes to concentrate on the bad– genocide, slavery, environmental destruction. Those have been present in every civilization from time immemorial.

The positives are unique to the West– religious tolerance, abolition of slavery, universal human rights, the development of the clinical technique: these are achievements of a scope and scale that just the West can declare.

These aren’t the only achievements that make the West unique and uniquely successful. As Western thought progressed, it protected the rights of females and minorities, lifted billions of people out of poverty, and developed the majority of the modern world.

Development hasn’t been a straight line, obviously. The arc of history is clear. The obvious proof is that the world is extremely Western. And, with few exceptions, those parts of the world that aren’t desire be.

Why? Why has Western civilization been so effective?

There are numerous factors, but the very best location to start is with the mentors and approaches that emerged from two ancient cities: Jerusalem and Athens.

Jerusalem represents spiritual revelation as manifested in the Judeo-Christian custom: the beliefs that an excellent God developed a purchased universe and that this God demands moral behavior from His paramount development, guy.

The other city, Athens, represents reason and reasoning as expressed by the fantastic Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle and numerous others.

These two ways of thinking– revelation and reason– reside in continuous tension.

Judeo-Christian religion presumes that there are particular essential realities bied far to us by a transcendent being. We didn’t invent these truths; we received them from God. The rules He sets for us are essential for building a working, moral civilization and for leading a delighted life.

Greek thinking posits that we just understand truth by what we observe, test, and step. It is not faith, but reality, that drives our understanding and exploration of the universe.

Western civilization, and just Western civilization, has actually discovered a method to balance both faith and human reason.

Here’s how the balance works.

The Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that God developed a bought universe, which we have a commitment to attempt to make the world much better. This provides us purpose and recommends that history moves forward. Many pagan religions taught the reverse: that the universe is illogical and random, which history is cyclical. History simply constantly repeats itself– in which case, why trouble to innovate or create anything brand-new?

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source

The Western world has actually produced some of the most flourishing and most free civilizations on earth. Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire and author of “The Right Side of History,” discusses that the twin pillars of discovery and factor– originating from ancient Jerusalem and Athens– form the bedrock for Western civilization’s extraordinary success.
Western civilization. The obvious evidence is that the world is extremely Western. The rules He lays down for us are vital for building a working, ethical civilization and for leading a delighted life.