“…and then I should wish rather to have not heard the singing.” There is a long tradition in the U.S. of shutting one’s ears to the singing. Many of the spiritual and political descendants of Augustine have mistrusted the sound of music. It is a manifestation which obviously cropped up in the English colonies of North American. A period of two hundred and sixty years separates the Puritans of Salem’s witch hunts (1692) from Senator Joseph McCarthy’s attempts to root out the communists then in our midst. The witch hunters of 1692, the communist hunters of 1952 and the Islamo-phobes of the current period all share a zeal and a commitment to demonizing the foe that is all too common on the American political landscape. Always present is the snarl, the curled lip, the ironic wink in response to
those suspect of a willingness to compromise with the Devil. Often, the visceral response to political demons goes beyond mere facial expressions and is converted into overt violence. The sanctioning of “extremism in defense of liberty” is all too easily interpreted as license to commit mayhem. Few of the anti-war protesters in 1970 would forget the hatred on the faces of the hard hat contingent who began beating them in the corridors of Wall Street. Similar expressions of hatred have been seen in the faces of Southern white housewives protecting their children from school integration and rabid anti-abortion protesters. And, again, we are often just a dangerous step or two from translating contorted expressions of hatred into violence. Forty-five U.S. marshals were shot by white mobs attempting to keep James Meredith out of the University of Alabama, and there are numerous cases of doctors willing to perform legal abortions be
ing shot at or murdered. When Augustine wrote, the barbarians were at the gate. Always there are new barbarians in the wings. It is always the most dangerous of times, slouching toward Armageddon. As a Bishop, Augustine knew his congregants needed to be kept under control. The devils he wrestled with within were real for him, and he knew they were in the minds and bodies even of the faithful. Appetites, pleasure, concupiscence, were distractions from the path to virtue. Only the elect, the select few, have the discipline to steel themselves from their dangers. In the political discourse of twenty-first century America, modern notions of sexual freedom as it manifests itself in the debates over contraception, abortion, gay marriage resonate with these ancient fears. It may seem a precious argument to some, but
those rare occasions in U.S. history when it seemed that ordinary working people could lead lives of comfort—well housed, their medical needs met, organized into unions, empowered—only proved that too much “prosperity” led to Spock babies, sexual promiscuity and anarchy. Better to spend down, pauperize, the resources of the state and make any further attempt to create a welfare state impossible. Who knows when there will ever be a better chance?
“…and then I should wish rather to have not heard the singing.” There is a long tradition in the U.S. of shutting one’s ears to the singing. Many of the spiritual and political descendants of Augustine have mistrusted the sound of music. It is a manifestation which obviously cropped up in the English colonies of North American. A period of two hundred and sixty years separates the Puritans of Salem’s witch hunts (1692) from Senator Joseph McCarthy’s attempts to root out the communists then in our midst. The witch hunters of 1692, the communist hunters of 1952 and the Islamo-phobes of the current period all share a zeal and a commitment to demonizing the foe that is all too common on the American political landscape. Always present is the snarl, the curled lip, the ironic wink in response to 
those suspect of a willingness to compromise with the Devil. Often, the visceral response to political demons goes beyond mere facial expressions and is converted into overt violence. The sanctioning of “extremism in defense of liberty” is all too easily interpreted as license to commit mayhem. Few of the anti-war protesters in 1970 would forget the hatred on the faces of the hard hat contingent who began beating them in the corridors of Wall Street. Similar expressions of hatred have been seen in the faces of Southern white housewives protecting their children from school integration and rabid anti-abortion protesters. And, again, we are often just a dangerous step or two from translating contorted expressions of hatred into violence. Forty-five U.S. marshals were shot by white mobs attempting to keep James Meredith out of the University of Alabama, and there are numerous cases of doctors willing to perform legal abortions be
ing shot at or murdered. When Augustine wrote, the barbarians were at the gate. Always there are new barbarians in the wings. It is always the most dangerous of times, slouching toward Armageddon. As a Bishop, Augustine knew his congregants needed to be kept under control. The devils he wrestled with within were real for him, and he knew they were in the minds and bodies even of the faithful. Appetites, pleasure, concupiscence, were distractions from the path to virtue. Only the elect, the select few, have the discipline to steel themselves from their dangers. In the political discourse of twenty-first century America, modern notions of sexual freedom as it manifests itself in the debates over contraception, abortion, gay marriage resonate with these ancient fears. It may seem a precious argument to some, but 
those rare occasions in U.S. history when it seemed that ordinary working people could lead lives of comfort—well housed, their medical needs met, organized into unions, empowered—only proved that too much “prosperity” led to Spock babies, sexual promiscuity and anarchy. Better to spend down, pauperize, the resources of the state and make any further attempt to create a welfare state impossible. Who knows when there will ever be a better chance?
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