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Utopia: "nowhere," now here
Underlining and marking throughout, small pen marking to back cover, minor wear to covers and edges.
- GenresCatholic
200 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Solange Hertz
20 books6 followersAn established writer before the Second Vatican Council, Solange Hertz wrote for most Catholic periodicals and had five books to her credit, one a selection of the Catholic Literary Foundation. When she refused to adjust her theology to the new “Spirit of Vatican II,” her manuscripts almost overnight became unacceptable to her former editors. After a series of articles on feminine spirituality for the old Triumph magazine, she continued speaking for tradition by successfully producing The Thought of Their Heart and Sin Revisited on her own.
In 1973 she began writing the Big Rock Papers, published privately throughout the next decade and the source of the highly acclaimed Star Spangled Heresy: Americanism, published in 1992. Currently her articles can be found in The Remnant, and abroad in Apropos, Christian Order and Action Familiale et Scolaire. Mrs. Hertz is universally regarded as one of traditional Catholicism’s foremost writers.
Solange Hertz died on October 3, 2015 in Ashburn, VA. She was 95 years old. For more information on her life, visit http://solange.strikingly.com
In 1973 she began writing the Big Rock Papers, published privately throughout the next decade and the source of the highly acclaimed Star Spangled Heresy: Americanism, published in 1992. Currently her articles can be found in The Remnant, and abroad in Apropos, Christian Order and Action Familiale et Scolaire. Mrs. Hertz is universally regarded as one of traditional Catholicism’s foremost writers.
Solange Hertz died on October 3, 2015 in Ashburn, VA. She was 95 years old. For more information on her life, visit http://solange.strikingly.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 29, 2014
The Good:
continuous stream of air-tight arguments; chapters are more cohesive than usual; surprisingly upbeat for Hertz
The Bad: you either love or hate her politics
As with all of her books, in Utopia Nowhere Hertz approaches history with a unique point of view:
History is the record of an apocalyptic struggle between those two primordial kingdoms - that of God and that of the devil.
In other words, all of the important events in history can be attributed to either to God's Kingdom or Satan's, whether it be the overthrowing of a government, the emergence of democracy, the Protestant Reformation, the discovery of the New World, or any other significant event you can think of. Seeing history through this kind of lens is a fascinating journey.
The main point of Utopia Nowhere is that the revolutions in France and the North America were not so much revolutions against a king, but Christ the King. She argues that these revolutions mimic Satan's nonserviam ("I will not serve") directed toward God. In addition to that, the "equality" preached in these usurping democracies is eerily similar to the serpent's sales pitch in Eden, suggesting that if they take a bite of the apple they would be "like gods." As Huey Long, the Louisiana governor in 1935 stated, "Every man a king."
But we don't need to take Hertz's word for it that America's democracy is not Christian. Let's hear from some other people in the book who are far more authoritative than she:
JFK, campaigning for the Presidency in Kentucky: "If any Pope attempted to influence me as President, I would tell him it was completely improper. If you took orders from the Pope you would be breaking your oath of office and commit a sin against God."
George Washington: "In 1796, in the treaty with Tripoli, George Washington would formally declare, 'the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.'"
So if democracy conflicts with Catholicism, what's the alternative? Hertz says it is monarchy:
Theology shows monarchy to be the one most closely patterned on the Godhead, one in which the king acts as father of the national family. As in the family, ruler and subjects in a monarchy are admittedly far from equal, where not even the citizens are equal to one another. As in heaven and the family, all subsist in a divinely established hierarchy of persons whose peace lies in their harmony. As in the family, the king is bound by the same natural law as his subjects, and like them he too must obey the laws of the nation. As Fr. Rager points out, 'Monarchy in the hands of God is indeed a perfect system of government; in the hands of imperfect man, however, it is exposed to many defects and abuses.' The divine right of kings as promoted by Henry VIII was one of them. Absolute monarchy is absolute heresy, and eventually it undermined the whole institution.
She goes on to explain this foreign concept of inequality:
Inherent in this inequality is subsidiarity. This means that within an established hierarchy every part has its ordinary function, which may not be fulfilled by another. There are no identity crises in God's economy where everyone is somebody, just by the fact that he exists. Everyone has his place. He is not just 'equal.' He is much more than that. Superiors may not arrogate to themselves tasks which belong to subordinates, any more than inferiors may usurp higher authority.
The Catholic Church itself is a monarchy structured in this fashion. So if you're Catholic, you might not know it, but you're a monarchist! After she nails all these basic points home, Hertz hits a bullseye in explaining why Americanism is in conflict with Catholicism, and why American Catholics are more American than they are Catholic:
As reported in The Centre-Réform Catholique for July 1990, the American Archbishop John May inadvertently acknowledged this when he remarked, 'Catholic doctrine and moral teaching are largely judged according to the criteria of the democratic spirit and practice. Hence the very fact of stating that there is an authoritative Church teaching that binds and looses for all eternity is certainly a sign of contradiction for many Americans who regard the divine right of bishops as outmoded as the divine right of kings.
Bingo. Americans are used to having opinions on whether laws are good or bad. Tragically, that state of mind carries over to the Church, spawning "cafeteria Catholics" who pick and choose when to be orthodox and when to do their own thing.
Of course it wouldn't be a Hertz book if she didn't assail a sacred cow in a way that would make most Catholics gasp. So in Utopia Nowhere, she spends a couple paragraphs slamming Mother Teresa on her pro-NFP stance and her toleration of eastern religious beliefs or rather, her lack of enthusiasm at bringing about conversions to the Faith. But Hertz's case is so brief that it makes you want to read up on Mother Teresa from other sources to really get the entire picture.
Utopia Nowhere's chapters are markedly more cohesive than most of her other books, all of which are composed by gathering various articles that she's written in the past for other publications. In addition to that, it's surprisingly more upbeat than her other books, which makes it an invigorating read.
It must be admitted that her main arguments are only broadly outlined in this review, while her peripheral arguments, which are also important, are not even covered. But as you will see if you go through the book, Utopia Nowhere will continually overwhelm you with poignant, head-turning quotes that you will want to underline and remember, to the point where you may find yourself reading the book twice over to soak it up.
The Bad: you either love or hate her politics
As with all of her books, in Utopia Nowhere Hertz approaches history with a unique point of view:
History is the record of an apocalyptic struggle between those two primordial kingdoms - that of God and that of the devil.
In other words, all of the important events in history can be attributed to either to God's Kingdom or Satan's, whether it be the overthrowing of a government, the emergence of democracy, the Protestant Reformation, the discovery of the New World, or any other significant event you can think of. Seeing history through this kind of lens is a fascinating journey.
The main point of Utopia Nowhere is that the revolutions in France and the North America were not so much revolutions against a king, but Christ the King. She argues that these revolutions mimic Satan's nonserviam ("I will not serve") directed toward God. In addition to that, the "equality" preached in these usurping democracies is eerily similar to the serpent's sales pitch in Eden, suggesting that if they take a bite of the apple they would be "like gods." As Huey Long, the Louisiana governor in 1935 stated, "Every man a king."
But we don't need to take Hertz's word for it that America's democracy is not Christian. Let's hear from some other people in the book who are far more authoritative than she:
JFK, campaigning for the Presidency in Kentucky: "If any Pope attempted to influence me as President, I would tell him it was completely improper. If you took orders from the Pope you would be breaking your oath of office and commit a sin against God."
George Washington: "In 1796, in the treaty with Tripoli, George Washington would formally declare, 'the government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.'"
So if democracy conflicts with Catholicism, what's the alternative? Hertz says it is monarchy:
Theology shows monarchy to be the one most closely patterned on the Godhead, one in which the king acts as father of the national family. As in the family, ruler and subjects in a monarchy are admittedly far from equal, where not even the citizens are equal to one another. As in heaven and the family, all subsist in a divinely established hierarchy of persons whose peace lies in their harmony. As in the family, the king is bound by the same natural law as his subjects, and like them he too must obey the laws of the nation. As Fr. Rager points out, 'Monarchy in the hands of God is indeed a perfect system of government; in the hands of imperfect man, however, it is exposed to many defects and abuses.' The divine right of kings as promoted by Henry VIII was one of them. Absolute monarchy is absolute heresy, and eventually it undermined the whole institution.
She goes on to explain this foreign concept of inequality:
Inherent in this inequality is subsidiarity. This means that within an established hierarchy every part has its ordinary function, which may not be fulfilled by another. There are no identity crises in God's economy where everyone is somebody, just by the fact that he exists. Everyone has his place. He is not just 'equal.' He is much more than that. Superiors may not arrogate to themselves tasks which belong to subordinates, any more than inferiors may usurp higher authority.
The Catholic Church itself is a monarchy structured in this fashion. So if you're Catholic, you might not know it, but you're a monarchist! After she nails all these basic points home, Hertz hits a bullseye in explaining why Americanism is in conflict with Catholicism, and why American Catholics are more American than they are Catholic:
As reported in The Centre-Réform Catholique for July 1990, the American Archbishop John May inadvertently acknowledged this when he remarked, 'Catholic doctrine and moral teaching are largely judged according to the criteria of the democratic spirit and practice. Hence the very fact of stating that there is an authoritative Church teaching that binds and looses for all eternity is certainly a sign of contradiction for many Americans who regard the divine right of bishops as outmoded as the divine right of kings.
Bingo. Americans are used to having opinions on whether laws are good or bad. Tragically, that state of mind carries over to the Church, spawning "cafeteria Catholics" who pick and choose when to be orthodox and when to do their own thing.
Of course it wouldn't be a Hertz book if she didn't assail a sacred cow in a way that would make most Catholics gasp. So in Utopia Nowhere, she spends a couple paragraphs slamming Mother Teresa on her pro-NFP stance and her toleration of eastern religious beliefs or rather, her lack of enthusiasm at bringing about conversions to the Faith. But Hertz's case is so brief that it makes you want to read up on Mother Teresa from other sources to really get the entire picture.
Utopia Nowhere's chapters are markedly more cohesive than most of her other books, all of which are composed by gathering various articles that she's written in the past for other publications. In addition to that, it's surprisingly more upbeat than her other books, which makes it an invigorating read.
It must be admitted that her main arguments are only broadly outlined in this review, while her peripheral arguments, which are also important, are not even covered. But as you will see if you go through the book, Utopia Nowhere will continually overwhelm you with poignant, head-turning quotes that you will want to underline and remember, to the point where you may find yourself reading the book twice over to soak it up.
August 12, 2017
An alarming critic of democracy and the never ending quest for Utopia. This book is eye opening and inspirational at the same time. The author is brilliant and a traditional Catholic. This book should be read by all college students and anyone interested in history...particularly US and French.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews