Interview with Bishop Williamson on "Back to the Land Movement"

These are some excerpts from the February 6, 2008 interview by Steven Heiner with Bishop Williamson. These excerpts deal with His Excellency's comments on the "Back to the Land Movement":
Heiner: "It is said that the dino-bishop Williamsorus Rex, is overly pessimistic....So let me frame the next series of questions for you to tell us where you see hope, and where we need improvement.

Williamson: "Ways of Life": Many traditional Catholics are beginning to see the radical artificiality of the suburban way of life. That's hopeful. Broadly, the big modern city and suburbs are 24/7 anti-Catholic environment. Broadly, the more a family can keep away from electronics and return to nature, or the country, the better. However, a return to the country and country living, which is much more healthy for children, needs to be well thought out, and planned beforehand, if it is to succeed and not fail of its purpose."

Heiner: Going back to the idea of the land, in the Archbishop's sermon for his priestly jubilee on the Feast of St. Pius X, 1979, in Paris, he is quoted as saying (and here I am quoting from the Bishop Tissier de Mallerais biograph, p. 513) that families should "home-school if possible, and go back to the land, which is healthy, brings one closer to God, evens out temperments, and encourages one to work." Some people have said that this quote is "out of context," but given the way that the Archbishop favored Econe's rural setting, can one seriously maintain that the Archbishop did not advocate returning to the land where possible? And in what context could this be placed to have a different meaning?

Williamson: Obviously, the Archbishop meant what he said. Countless serious thinkers, and not only Catholics, have understood how harmful the big modern city is to human beings living human lives, let alone getting to Heaven. The Archbishop is merely saying what is common sense for anyone who has thought about the matter. But of course it is somewhat demanding common sense. Which is why someone might invent a convenient excuse to get out of it, like the quote "out of context."