Europe at War… with its Heritage, its Identity, its People, and Itself
By Tom Gilbreath
A few months ago, the Trump Administration released its “National Security Strategy.” It struck a nerve — not so much in the United States, but in Europe. In listing crucial challenges for U.S. national security, it said that Europe faces “civilizational erasure.” Strong words.
Europe remains in a panic over Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, yet holds to policies that make it increasingly dependent on Russian fuel. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech largely grew out of Europe, yet European leaders seem ever more determined to halt religious expression when it does not align with their views. Europe’s share of global GDP fell from 25% in 1990 to 14% today — a startling and precipitous decline. Its security depends on NATO, but European leaders seem intent on making it a toothless tiger — or destroying it altogether.
In summarizing Europe’s precarious state, the “U.S. National Security Strategy” made a series of devastating yet accurate assessments: “The larger issues facing Europe include activities of the European Union and other transnational bodies that undermine political liberty and sovereignty, migration policies that are transforming the continent and creating strife, censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition, cratering birthrates, and loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
Decades ago, when faced with a birthrate too low to sustain their civilization, European leaders looked to the Islamic world for cheap labor. They failed to grasp the vastness of the cultural divide between historic Europe and historic Islam. They felt sure that assimilation would quickly erase any differences that existed. Europeans tend to see organized religion as a matter of empty ceremony, not something to be taken seriously. They projected their apathy onto the people they brought in. They saw Islam as something like another Christian denomination. Europe’s leaders assumed that within a generation or two, immigrating Muslims would turn into cold, atheistic materialists like themselves.
It didn’t turn out that way. Instead, Europe saw the emergence of grooming gangs and an overall rise in crime. To inoculate themselves against criticism for their errors in cultural judgment, Europe’s leaders laid down the law to government institutions such as schools and law enforcement. Criticism of their actions, they decreed, must be labeled “Islamophobia.” They instituted laws criminalizing such criticism. Most of Europe’s media jumped on the bandwagon.
And just like that, the birthplace of free speech and freedom of religion slid back into its authoritarian past. It became again the oppressive place their ancestors fought to change.
The U.S. National Security Strategy went on to say, “Should present trends continue, the continent will be unrecognizable in 20 years or less…. Many of these nations are currently doubling down on their present path. We want Europe to remain European.”
European once meant Christian. In the 1700s, 20 to 25% of girls born on that continent received some form of the name “Mary.” Christianity shaped European education across the centuries. It became the theme of Europe’s art and the foundation of its science. It built Europe’s hospitals. It organized care for orphans and the disabled — ensuring that even the most vulnerable were not forgotten. Christian innovations in Europe spread and later became the standard for the world. Europe was far, far from a perfect place. Yet something extraordinary was happening.
Alongside the good, Europe harbored a love for war, empire, and colonialism, along with a deep hatred for all things Jewish. In the spirit of its old colonialism, it is now trying to restrict the speech of Americans and others around the world on social media platforms. As an outgrowth of its long hatred for Jews, it reflexively condemns Israel and defends terrorists.
I believe Europe’s self-immolation will leave it deeply scarred — and extremely vulnerable to the rise of a charismatic super leader known as the Antichrist.
