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Okay, so looking at the handout gear, I'll be working through those sections, just a first,

a basic distinction in politics between good rule and bad rule, rule for the sake of the ruled,

versus rule for the sake of the ruler.

Then look at what I'm going to call the original Benedict option, St. Benedict himself, bad rule, rule for the sake of the ruled versus rule for the sake of the ruler.

Then look at what I'm going to call the original Benedict option, St. Benedict himself,

1500 years ago.

Then the postmodern benefit option will look at that and say, well, when people say when people say bened adoption today, this is what they have in mind.

What is that?

And then offer some to mystic points of reflection

for how to analyze the Benedict option. And I should say when I've kind of retitled this,

you'll see on the handout, head for the hills question, a, tumistic response to the

limited option, just to make it clear that I'm offering some principles

from Aquinas that are the way that I would put them forth and that Thomas would disagree about this,

and I'm not going to try to channel Aquinas himself, but just try to use some of those principles.

I want to begin with a quote. If you've seen the movie Apocalypse, which is pretty dated now.

It was a Mel Gibson movie after Passion of Christ. He has this quote from Will Durant.

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within.

And I think this is what a broad group of Christian pundits and analysts are in agreement upon,

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