“Take up the White Man's burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.”
-Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden”
There is but one people group, one segment of our collective humanity, and one faith system that has shaped the world in unparalleled fashion: the juggernaut of Greco-Roman European Western Christendom.
Western Christendom isn’t just a chapter in history – it’s the definitive compendium of human progress. From science to governance, from art to warfare, no other people or religion has contributed more to the trajectory of mankind. To say otherwise is to ignore the evidence etched in every cornerstone of the modern world.
Let’s start with the raw power of innovation. The Chinese may have stumbled upon gunpowder and used it to light up the sky, but it took a Westerner, Marco Polo, to see its potential and bring it to the West, where it was weaponized into the tools that reshaped warfare and built empires.
The Chinese used gunpowder for firecrackers; Christendom turned gunpowder into cannons and muskets, instruments of conquest and defense that redefined global power. This isn’t just about tactical firepower – it’s about strategic vision. So much for the Great Leap Forward … they are still trying to catch up.
Western Christendom didn’t just inherit ideas – it forged them into tools that changed history. The printing press, born in Gutenberg’s Germany, spread knowledge like wildfire, fueling the Renaissance and Reformation. The steam engine, perfected by James Watt, powered the Industrial Revolution. From the compass to the computer, the fingerprints of Western Christendom are on every significant advancement. Modern science, yes even AI, owes its modern form to this legacy.
The scientific method, formalized by men like Francis Bacon and Galileo Galilei, emerged from a Christian worldview that saw the universe as orderly, created by a rational God. This wasn’t an accident; this is providential design.
Islamic scholars may have preserved Greek texts, but it was Christendom that built universities and churches in places such as Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, where inquiry and logic flourished. Copernicus, Newton and Einstein worked within this framework, unraveling the cosmos while others merely gazed at the stars.
The data speaks for itself: Over 80% of Nobel Prize winners in science hail from Western nations, most rooted in Christian heritage. This is a definitive example of my unique belief in cultural ascendancy theory (not to be confused with Marxist cultural hegemony). Essentially, I believe that certain national archetypes of similar cultural characteristics ascend to greatness naturally.
Governance, too, bears Christendom’s stamp. The Magna Carta, penned in 1215, laid the groundwork for individual liberty and limited government. The U.S. Constitution, inspired by Christian principles of justice and human dignity, became the gold standard for democratic governance. Compare this to the stagnation of imperial China (now Communist China) or the tribalism of pre-colonial Africa. While others clung to despotism or chaos, Christendom birthed systems that balanced order and freedom.
The concept of human rights, now global, sprang from Christian theology, which held that every soul is equal before God. No other religion or people group articulated this with such clarity or impact.
Art and culture? The West’s church buildings – from The Vatican, Notre Dame, and St. Peter’s – are just a few standing as testaments to a faith that inspired beauty on an unmatched scale.
Michelangelo, Bach and Shakespeare created works which were grounded in Christian themes of redemption and transcendence that resonate across centuries and continents. Compare this to the repetitive motifs of other traditions … none have the depth or global reach of Western Christendom’s cultural output.
Even in warfare, Christendom’s influence is undeniable. Beyond gunpowder, it was European ingenuity that birthed the naval fleets that mapped the globe. Alphonso De Albuquerque, (The Lion of the Seas or The Portuguese Mars) a Portuguese badass, set the table for Columbus, Magellan and Drake, all products of Christian Europe that opened the world to exploration and trade.
The Age of Sail wasn’t just about conquest; it spread ideas, goods, and progress. Yes, it had its flaws, such as slavery and colonialism, but it also laid the foundation for a connected world. The abolition of slavery, driven by Christian reformers like William Wilberforce, was another Western triumph. No other civilization has so fiercely confronted its own sins.
Christendom’s importance cannot be understated. It’s not about supremacy for its own sake but about recognizing the undeniable. From the Roman roads to the internet, from democracy to the moon landing, Greco-Roman Western Christendom has been the engine of history. Others contributed – nobody denies the Chinese invented paper nor the Indians gave us zero – but it was Christendom that took these sparks and set the world ablaze.
The evidence is overwhelming: the modern world, with all its advancements, is unthinkable without the West’s Christian foundation. To deny this is to demonstrate a mind untrained, a wit dim and ignorant of obvious empirical truths. Further, it allows the losers to rewrite history for the sake of feelings. Historically the winners get to write history; now we let the ash and the trash losers use revisionism. What we need is gratitude for a legacy that lifted humanity from darkness.
Western Christendom isn’t just a contributor; it’s the cornerstone and the role model for the rest of the world and its peoples. Let’s honor that legacy, not by resting on laurels, but by carrying its torch forward with pride, principles, and the purpose of our primacy in our manifest destiny … thy will be done.
Troy Carico is a former infantry enlisted soldier (11B) and infantry officer with branch qualifications including counterintelligence (35E) and military intelligence (35D). He served with distinction in the U.S. Army for more than 22 years, and is highly decorated and service connected disabled. He also has prior service as a civilian intelligence officer for the Defense Intelligence Agency Great Skills Program and has served in numerous clandestine assignments throughout the world.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
