Interesting story from Bloomberg:

Philanthropist and retired hedge-fund manager Robert W. Wilson said he is giving $22.5 million to the Archdiocese of New York to fund a scholarship program for needy inner-city students attending Roman Catholic schools.

Wilson, 80, said in a phone interview today that although he is an atheist, he has no problem donating money to a fund linked to Catholic schools.

“Let’s face it, without the Roman Catholic Church, there would be no Western civilization,” Wilson said. “Shunning religious organizations would be abhorrent. Keep in mind, I’m helping to pay tuition, the money isn’t going directly to the schools.”

Wilson’s donation is the largest the archdiocese has ever received. The money will be used to fund the Cardinal’s Scholarship Program, which was started in 2005 to give disadvantaged students attending the archdiocese’s inner-city schools partial or full tuition grants, Jacqueline LoFaro, the archdiocese’s associate superintendent of schools, said in a phone interview today.

Wilson is right when he says that without the Church there would be no western civilization and he is not the only one saying so. Jurgen Habermas, noted German philosopher of the Frankfurt School and self described ‘methodical atheist’ has stated:

“Christianity, and nothing else, is the ultimate foundation of liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy, the benchmarks of Western civilisation”.

Amen.

Civilization is based on reason and sound reason can only be based upon the true understanding of the nature of God and the nature of the soul. Only with this understanding of God and soul is firm reason possible and consequently a proper understanding of the true dignity of man. From the awareness of the dignity of man arises liberty, conscience, human rights, and democracy. Civilization.

This understanding of the nature of God and man was revealed by God through Jesus, understood with reason, and confirmed by history.