Reading: The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God by George Weigel

This book is relatively short, and I finished it during one rainy, Saturday afternoon. Above all else, The Cube and the Cathedralis a primer on the decline of Christianity in Western Europe, and the weakening of that region's greatness in the world.

The Cube in Weigel's book is The Grande Arche, a Parisian monument first envisioned by French President Francois Mitterand, who imagined a 20th century Arc de Triomphe. The Grande Arche is a cube-shaped office building and bears minimal physical resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe. To Weigel, the Cube allegorically represents the triumph of the enlightenment and humanistic views of Western Europe, and how, over time, they have supplanted Europe's Judeo-Christian heritage. The Cube is a tribute to modernism and naturalism.

Weigel's Cathedral of course represents the Church and its waning influence in that part of the world. Western Europe's declining native population, its rejection of traditional Christian faith, and the growing influence of Islam, portends a dark future for the cradle of the Catholic Church and the land of the Protestant Reformation. Anyone interested in understanding the power of Worldview should consider a look at this book.