No Cause For Surrender
The cultural suicide that we see taking place in today’s Europe is puzzling to many observers. Europe’s headfirst plunge into Islamic hegemony seems completely incongruous to many people, especially in light of Europe’s storied past. Go back just a couple hundred years and we see the nations of Europe ruling the majority of land on our planet. (Remember “The sun never sets on the British Empire!”) And on top of that, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, and Italy were powerful empires as well. We are now long past their abdication of power, however. What we are now seeing is omphaloskepsis, apologetics, and involution. Not only do we witness shrinking military might, we see that the people of Europe have become so effete that they don’t seem able to even reproduce themselves. And we see a shocking acceptance (“welcoming”) of the advance of Islam, a religion that, in the words of its many Mullahs, Imams, Ayatollahs and proponents, and even in its sacred scripture, repudiates all that the European elite says that it holds dear. Surely, a shift this profound must have an explanation? It does, indeed. And many explanations have been proffered. Some of these explanations follow.
One explanation maintains that virile genes (and the male constitution that accompanies them) have essentially been selected out of existence by two major wars, leaving a male European population of effeminate dandies, incapable, even, of defending themselves, let alone their culture.
Another explanation posits the diminution of and reduced participation in Christianity, whose principles and goals had been a driving force in Western Civilization for nearly two millennia. Agnosticism is the fashion of the day. There simply aren’t any Crusaders anymore.
Another is the rise of cultural relativism. The reasoning is simple: if all cultures are valid and equivalent, then, basically, there’s nothing worth fighting for. And, if there’s nothing worth fighting for, then there’s nothing worth defending either.
Another explanation revolves around a very simple concept: guilt. And this explanation applies especially well to the two countries committing the most rapid cultural suicide: Germany and Belgium.
There are a number of commentators that feel Germany’s open arms to Islam is a response, consciously and subconsciously, to the profound guilt that many Germans still feel about the torture and execution of 6 million Jews and the killing of countless others in the wars of the first half of the twentieth century. The “welcoming” millions of “the other” is an attempt, they say, to atone for this sin.
The same might be said of Belgium: approximately 10 MILLION Congolese died under the brutal directives of Belgian King Leopold II, solely for the purpose of enriching Belgium and, mostly, himself.
Obviously, there’s much to feel guilty about in both cases. But, does self immolation do what it purports to? Does it really atone? Does it undo the horrific crimes committed? Does it, in any way, settle the score?
Guilt can be both a positive and negative force. In the case of personal guilt, remorse can spur one on toward apology, reconciliation and reconstruction. On the other hand, remorse can gnaw, disorient and even incapacitate an individual. The same applies to the guilt of nations. National remorse can lead to a repudiation of the causes of the atrocities of the past, reconciliation, reconstruction, and building a bulwark for prevention. But abdication and involution of a guilty culture accomplishes nothing. While there may be repudiation of the causes of the conflict, there will be no reconciliation, and no reconstruction. And if replaced by another hostile culture, there can be no bulwark for prevention either.
So, we can, perhaps, understand the suicidal events we see taking place on the other side of the Atlantic. We must make certain that the same fate does not befall our great Nation and our great culture. When I look around, I see that there is no shortage of virile young American men. Christianity is still a major force in our nation. And while cultural relativism is fashionable, the majority of us don’t buy it. And, regarding national guilt, I would say that if WE feel remorse for OUR past sins as a nation (subjugation of Native Americans and promulgation, for a century or so, of slavery) we must also be proud of our virtues (saving Europe from Nazi domination and thwarting Japanese Imperial aggression). And if, as a nation, we feel remorse, let us make that remorse a positive force for good, and never ever a cause for surrender.