2. The Foundation of No Foundation: A Reflection on the Tendency of Modernity Toward Absolutization of Change; of Building a House on Sand
by Dr. Clemens Cavallin

Of all the foundation myths of late modernity, that which rejects the need for foundations all together is perhaps the most formidable opponent of traditional Christianity. The earlier attempts of high modernity to shift the burden of an absolute, necessary foundation of truth and social life from God to humanity, at least when failing highlighted the impossibility of making the contingent necessary, and the relative absolute. Like the Tower of Babylon, the grander the ambitions, the more spectacular the downfall.

In the following reflections, I will argue that ironically the late modern rejection of absolute foundations is founded on, or more properly bound to, a spiritual denial of divine fatherhood. The motivational force of the modernist abjuration of patriarchy is the pursuit of self-realization without firm moral boundaries, which its advocates consider mere human constructions that can and should change with the expansion of freedom.

From the Conference Modern Foundation Myths and the Destruction of Church and Civilization Presented by the Roman Forum in Gardone, Italy in July of 2019, these talks critique some base assumptions of modernity and address the truth that the Catholic Faith alone can create a lasting and just civilization.