We can recover from the hedonism, chaos and decline upon us

The Catholic tradition of subsidiarity works very well even as a secular way of defining all human authority moving outward from the hierarchy of first the family, then kin and ethnic group, to localism, state, region, and finally national and international power at the lowest end of power. This is the opposite of what unnatural modern life presents as authority.

We can applaud the attempt by great Cathodic philosophers of subsidiarity to include tradition in change, which works much the same as material evolution works in handing down and retaining what is essential, with change happening for the purpose of preserving not getting rid of tradition. The problem with this most wise and practical social scheme, which is in harmony with real ethnocentric human nature, is that it contrasts with the strict asceticism of Jesus Christ who rejected the world and all the desires of the world so as to pursue the God or Father Within. All the great religious founders promoted the same materialism-blocking asceticism for the same purpose.

First truths are upheld by the laws of nature and intellectual intuition---another way of saying this is by the synthesis of science and religion. In theological materialism the deepest source of authority comes from evolutionary nature activated by the material Spirit-Will-to-Godhood. This avoids the conflict between practical subsidiarity and the ascetic founders of religion. In the Twofold Path of theological materialism, the Inward Path of Christ is retained as the first glimpse or experience of the Godhood which is reached in the Outward Path of material evolution to supermaterial Godhood.

We can save the nearly destroyed Cathedral but we need to rebuild the foundation. This way we can renew tradition and religion while still changing and evolving toward real Godhood, and we can recover from the hedonism, chaos and decline upon us.