Great-Great-Great Grandson of Guinness Has a Lot to Say About This…

INTERNATIONAL WITNESS 

Os Guinness is an author and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. Between 1928–1930 Northwest China Famine in Shaanxi, Gansu, and neighboring provinces caused approximately 3–6 million deaths. Guinness lost two brothers during that time. As a witness to the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, Guinness was only 7 years old when the chaos started. He recalls, “I will never forget the day in January of 1949 when my dad said, ‘Os we’re in trouble.’” In 1949, the term "Reign of Terror" was used to describe events in China under Mao Zedong's Communist regime, and all Westerners were considered suspects. As the Communist Party solidified its control over mainland China following its victory in the Chinese Civil War, a campaign of violent repression was launched against perceived "counterrevolutionaries" which included mass executions, public parades of prisoners, and state-controlled media propaganda that reinforced and justified the killings as a mean to save the majority and deter future crimes 

“I saw what the revolution did and may now have killed up to 50-75 million of his people. In other words, more people have been killed under the atheist regime in the 20th century than all the religious oppressions probably in human history,” he shares. This campaign marked a brutal phase in China's transition to Communist rule, characterized by fear and widespread violence. It drew comparisons to earlier historical periods of political terror, such as the French Revolution's Reign of Terror.

In 1951, Guinness and his family, along with many other foreigners, were expelled from China and sent to Europe. He was educated in England and moved to the United States in 1984.

THE CRISIS OF THE WEST

In his book, Our Civilizational Moment, Guinness highlights the crisis facing the West today. Rejecting our foundational Christian faith and the ideological roots that made our nation dynamic has led us to such a place. Attempts to replace our ideals with enlightenment secularism and reason have proven insufficient, leading to a decline in cultural and institutional cohesion. Guinness has categorized those threats into what he calls “ideological waves” as follows:

1. The Red Wave (Marxism)
This wave encompasses various forms of Marxist ideology, from classical Marxism to neo-Marxism. It includes revolutionary socialism, communism, and cultural Marxism, which have historically sought to dismantle traditional Western structures and replace them with socialist or communist systems. This wave has been influential in shaping modern political and social movements, particularly in academia and cultural institutions.

2. The Rainbow Wave (The LGBTQ Revolution)
This wave refers to the sexual revolution and the rise of LGBTQ+ movements, which challenge traditional norms around gender and sexuality. Guinness argues that this wave has led to significant cultural shifts, particularly in the West, where it has influenced laws, education, and societal attitudes.

3. The Black Wave (Islamic Radicalism)
This wave represents the rise of radical Islamism, which poses a threat to Western values and institutions. Guinness highlights that this wave is not just a religious movement but also an ideological one that seeks to replace Western civilization with Islamic governance.
These waves, according to Guinness, are part of a broader "war of the worlds" that is being waged against the West from both within and without. He argues that understanding these threats is crucial for addressing the current civilizational crisis and determining the future trajectory of the West.

CALL TO ACTION

Guinness explains the critical juncture civilizations face when confronting existential threats, requiring strategic and often radical responses to navigate the challenges ahead. He suggests that three broad options typically emerge:

1. Renewal: This involves revitalizing the foundational values and principles that originally sustained the civilization. To restore cohesion and purpose, a return to core beliefs, such as faith or cultural traditions is often required. For example, Guinness emphasizes the need for the West to reaffirm principles like human dignity and freedom to combat its current decline.

2. Replacement: This option seeks to adopt new ideologies or systems to replace the failing ones. However, this approach can be fraught with challenges, as seen in the critique of Enlightenment secularism, which has struggled to provide a unifying framework for Western civilization.

3. Decline: If renewal or replacement fails, the civilization may enter a phase of decline or collapse. This can manifest as social fragmentation, loss of cultural identity, or systemic breakdown. 

To purchase the book or find out more about O's Guinness click the LINK! 

CREDITS

Written or edited of over 30 books, latest: Our Civilizational Moment: The Waning of the West and the 
War of the Worlds (Kildare, 2024); Undergrad, University of London; D.Phil in social sciences, 
Oriel College, Oxford; Guest Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center for Int’l Studies; Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum and the EastWest Institute in New York (EWI); Lead drafter of the Williamsburg Charter in 1988, a celebration of the bicentennial of the US Constitution, and later of “The Global Charter of Conscience,” published at the European Union Parliament in 2012; Spoken at major international universities, etc.