Rabbi Kook writes: “The foundations of Christianity, which mocked the words of the Rabbis, caused havoc in the Nation of Israel, but because of the mighty hand of God which fills the life of the Jewish Nation, it failed to destroy the foundations of Israel. Nevertheless, it spun its webs which succeeded in becoming a tapestry like a quilt of false shelter over many nations” (Orot, Israel and its Revival, Ch.15).
Much of modern Western culture, which Rabbi Kook terms a culture which “praises itself with melodious lies” (Orot, Ch.2:4), is an outgrowth of Christianity, whether in its adoption of Christianity’s teachings, or in rejecting the Christian dogma, and subsequently rejecting any allegiance whatsoever to God. By usurping the role of the Jewish People, and by casting the Torah and the Divine commandments aside, Christianity brought darkness to the world. By saying, “Come to us – we will save your souls and bring you close to God without have to elevate yourselves by bearing a yoke of Divine laws and commandments – just confess, accept Jezeus, believe in the gospels, and be miraculously healed” – Christianity led mankind away from the true faith and onto a path of falsehood. Therefore, Rabbi Kook writes: “The world must come to recognize that not through a single utterance of abstract belief alone is it sufficient for a person to fly into Paradise while the entire arsenal of evil, murder, and licentiousness, which is embedded in man’s unrefined spirit and flesh is allowed to remain intact” (Ibid).
To get to Gan Eden, it isn’t enough to say “I believe!” and dangle a little crucifix from the rear-view mirror of your car while you commit adultery with your neighbor’s wife in the back seat. In order for a person to refine his evil character traits, he must set his life in life with the laws of the Torah (for non-Jews this means the 7 mitzvot of the Sons of Noah) and engage on a lifelong path of inner cleansing, as set forth by our holy Jewish Sages. As Rabbi Kook writes:
“Christianity abandoned the Divine Law and rooted itself in the trait of mercy and illusionary love, undermining the foundations of the world and destroying it” (Ibid, Ch.3).
Ever since the Roman Empire adopted the banner of Christianity, its doctrines were imposed, often with ruthless violence, throughout the world. Christian morality became the foundation of Western civilization. Tragically, the Church’s dogmas demand more from man than he is able to achieve. Under the guise of holiness, Christianity demands from humanity an unnatural saintliness. Man’s powerful passions are banned, instead of being refined, tempered, transformed and channeled into constructive paths. Mankind cannot adhere to the repression of character traits which Christianity teaches, because it does not provide man with the means to attain true holiness and moral refinement. Cut off from the Torah, the mitzvot, and Judaism’s moral teachings and the ladder to achieve them, Christianity breeds a culture which dooms man to darkness and guilt, and a festering inner rage whose only outlet is violence, sexual corruption, and wars.
This rejection of the One and Only true God of Israel leaves mankind to develop a civilization empty of Divine Truth and God’s Divine Laws for mankind. Instead, man is left to evolve his own apostate system of values, and his own measures of right and wrong, with as many different measures and moralities as there are opinions and philosophies, until almost everything becomes permitted, or repressively forbidden, and every individual becomes his own conscience and judge. This is the path to moral anarchy, where God is given a backstage role, shoved behind the curtain so as not to interfere with the lewd cabaret on stage.
This is the culture of Edom which Christianity bred and which rules over the Western world today. The Midrash compares it to a pig (Vayikra Rabbah, 13:5). In order to be kosher, an animal has to have split hooves and also chew its cud. The pig has split hooves, but he does not chew the cud. He holds out his forelegs as if to say, “Look at me- I’m kosher!” On the inside, however, he is thoroughly trafe. This is the culture of Christianity which proclaims, “Look at me – I’m pure.” It seduces mankind with the Name of God on its lips, but beyond its outer pompous façade, it is rancid with impurity and lies. From the beginning of its foundation, when it turned its back on the Torah and the Jewish People, it called out to God with the sweet Psalms of David, which it stole from the Jews, while blasphemy blazed in its heart. As Rabbi Kook writes: