Western civilization. It's been around for a while, but suddenly everybody is talking about it.

Some are anxious to save it. Others are happy to see it go.

But what exactly is Western civilization?

Is it the great cathedrals of Europe or the Nazi concentration camps?

Is it the freedoms secured in the US Constitution or Chattel slavery?

Life-saving medicines or poison gas?

The left likes to focus on the bad, genocide, slavery, environmental destruction.

But 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 scientific method. These are accomplishments of a scope and scale

that only the West can claim. These aren't the only achievements that make the West special

and uniquely successful. As Western thought evolved, it secured the rights of women and minorities,

lifted billions of people out of poverty and invented most of the modern world.

Progress hasn't been a straight line, of course, but the arc of history is clear.

The obvious proof is that the world is overwhelmingly Western,

and, with few exceptions, those parts of the world that aren't aspire to be.

Why? Why has Western civilization been so successful?

There are many reasons, but the best place to start is with the teachings and philosophies

that emerged from two ancient cities, Jerusalem and Athens.

Jerusalem represents religious revelation as manifested in the Judeo-Christian tradition.

The beliefs that a good God created an ordered universe and that this God demands moral behavior

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