Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... Romans 12:2
by William D. Gairdner
Stoddart Publishing Company Ltd., 1992
655 pages
Reviewed by Paul Crouser
Question: Who proposed the following ideas, paraphrased from his most popular book?
The perfect society will achieve harmony as its members submit their individuality to the collective whole. To reach this worthy goal, private property must be abolished, women and men must be indistinguishably equal, religion must be replaced by rationalism, marriage must give way to free love and children must be raised by the State, the affairs of which will be run by a benevolent Elite.
Was it Lenin? Pol Pot? Hitler? Pierre Trudeau? Plato? B.F. Skinner? Marx? Engels? Bob Rae? Your Philosophy prof in university?
Time's up! If you answered "Plato," give yourself 10 points. He proposed this utopian vision in his book, The Republic, some 375 years before Christ. If you answered any of the others, give yourself 9 points since you were as good as correct. In his book The War Against the Family, William Gairdner forces home the revelation that not only the people listed above, but a host of revered Canadian politicians, educators, health care professionals, lawyers, judges, and institutions have fallen for the Platonic "Ideal Society"—hook, line and sinker. And they would very much like to make Canada in the image of the Republic.
Why is it that when 91% of Canadians espouse affiliation to the "Judeo Christian" religion, the State school system teaches religion as myth and naturalistic rationalism as fact? Why is it when most Canadian women want nothing to do with feminism, that radical feminists are promoted and encouraged by our elected "representatives?" Why is it that policy after policy handed down from the national and provincial capitals seem to fly in the face of common sense and decency? The answer, Gairdner tells us, is because the country is run by a "Knowledge Class" who 's values are diametrically opposed to those of the majority. How did they get there? Essentially by default.
William Gairdner's qualifications include an impressively well-rounded background in athletics, business, and academics; he holds a Ph.D. from Stanford in Philosophy and Literature. This is his second major book on Canadian society: his first was The Trouble with Canada, published in 1990. The War seems to finish what his former book began. It amounts to a damning expose of the tax-funded elitist programs working steadily to undermine our historical way of life and the traditional, procreational family (husband, wife and children).
This book is not for the faint of heart. In it the reader will find a careful exposition of how the lies that currently warp our society are spread in the media, the public schools, and other supposedly neutral institutions. Gairdner deals with radical feminism, homosexuality, and abortion in cutting detail, ably destroying the facade of legitimacy that they've been given by those who seek to enshrine them in law.
I have read numerous books decrying the steady disintegration of Western society, but none so well researched, methodical, and thorough as The War. It is a challenging read—600 pages written at a grade twelve language level—but it is well worth the effort. Once read, this book will become a valuable reference for those who seek to confront and refute the spirit of this age.
Although writing from a secular perspective, Mr. Gairdner's book is keenly interesting from a Christian point of view. His conclusions are inevitably Biblical, strongly favouring the Christian world view. His historical, philosophical and statistical evidences demonstrate clearly that when a civilization rebels against God's way, it sows its own doom.
The Apostle Paul taught that we are to destroy speculations and every lofty thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5). This book's value for the Canadian Christian does not lie in its theology but rather in the brutal thoroughness with which it exposes the deeds of darkness.
Canadian society has historically been founded on what the author calls the Four F's: freedom, family, free enterprise and faith. We have moved a great distance from each of these cornerstones. The War Against the Family equips the reader to understand our present political and philosophical crisis—and provides philosophical and scientific ammunition to refute the erroneous ideas of our day.
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