Publisher's Synopsis
The war that lies at the back of every other is the timeless war on the childlike. Whether the object of hostility is the spiritual child or the actual physical child, civilization has been arranged to suppress and ultimately destroy all forms of innocence. For anyone who has ever asked "What is wrong with the world?," or even more, "What is wrong with kids these days?," this sweeping analysis of the spirit of the child against the spirit of the modern world offers an answer. In part one, author Daniel Schwindt traces the tendency of man to offer up his own innocence at the altar of the world. Here he clearly identifies the virtues of spiritual childlikeness, and points out the subtle ways in which it is being destroyed. From the Garden of Eden to the European Enlightenment; from ancient idolatry to modern materialism; from wisdom of Tradition to the universal liberalism of today; everywhere the spiritual extermination of the childlike is on the rise. Part two moves to the open and obvious attack on the actual physical child. Schwindt shows that man has built for himself a world that is actively hostile to his own children. Every stage and area of life is examined: infancy, education and literacy, family life, child labor, television, technology, youth protest, and violence. In the end, the physical child will always follow man's innocence to the sacrificial altar. As this great war reaches its peak, and the holocaust of the childlike becomes ever more obvious, men will need an outline of the battlefield. This book is a reconnaissance into enemy territory, seeking to offer that outline for anyone who cares to fight back.
