Could the world be witnessing the beginning of the wakening of another beast?
In case you haven’t heard, Adolf Hitler’s biographical book Mein Kampf has recently made a come back in Germany. Mein Kampf means My Struggle. Hitler began dictating it to Rudolf Hess while in prison in 1923-24 and finished it soon after his release.
According to Wiki:
‘In Mein Kampf, Hitler used the main thesis of “the Jewish peril”, which posits a Jewish conspiracy to gain world leadership. The narrative describes the process by which he became increasingly anti-Semitic and militaristic, especially during his years in Vienna.’
Wiki states that Hitler’s attitude towards Jews was “liberal and tolerant.” At one stage he even deemed the anti-Semitic press as unworthy. However, he eventually changed his mind and anti-Semitic views crept in and became crucial in his national program for reconstructing Germany.
As far as I can remember, I first encountered Hitler’s Mein Kampf at school at around age thirteen. One of my friends began reading the book, often mentioning it in conversation. At one point he even grew a small mustache, just like Hitler’s. He was going through “a stage”, and we thought it was funny.
This kid was hardly an aspiring Germanic Aryan looking for Jews to persecute. In fact his parents were Greek immigrants. He was dark and short, and he was one of the nicest, gentlest persons I ever met. Moreover, there no Jews at our school of which I was aware.
So why would he read Mein Kampf? For some reason he temporarily found affinity and solace in Hitler’s struggle. Like most of us in our group he was socially awkward (more so than the rest). He wasn’t athletic, had a slight lisp and his awkwardness attracted bullies.
Unfortunately, our school was the sort of institution which didn’t properly deal with the bullying issues, whether physical or emotional. Years later I learned that some of the teachers cracked under the pressure.
Years later I wondered what would have happened if he wasn’t a pacifist. What might happen if a significant collection of people, with different dispositions to my friend, began taking an interest in Hitler’s biography? The recent publication of Hitler’s Mein Kampf sold out after only a week on German bookshelves.
According to one source:
“This is the first time the book has gone on sale in Germany since World War II. The southern German state of Bavaria held the copyright since 1945, and blocked all reprints out of respect of Holocaust victims.”
Following the German success, there are plans for a new English version, as well as an eBook and audio book. Some apologists are quick to note that this is an academic-inspired “Annotated Version of Mein Kampf.” The inference is that the notes “contextualize a violent era in Germany’s past.” Others are concerned at the sudden interest, and I believe rightly so.
Annotated or not, why the recent interest in Mein Kampf? It hasn’t happened in a vacuum or a sudden academic interest in history. Are more people relating to Hitler? If so, there may well be a number of contributing factors. But I suspect the perceived “Islamization of Europe” must be somewhere at the top of the list.
A few years ago Bat Ye’or (pen name of Gisèle Littman) coined the term Eurabia. She warned about the slow Islamization of Europe through immigration. Littman was accused by some of being virulently Islamophobic for voicing her views. Others adopted the word “Eurabia” and echoed the same warnings.
I’ve never been entirely convinced of the “Eurabia” theory. There are too many stark differences between the extremist Islamic culture we’re seeing in Europe and secular, hedonistic Western values.
Studies have shown that as the Muslim population increases in a given locale, it begins to assert itself in several ways. It begins to make demands of employers and schools to accommodate prayer times and it seeks the right to practice Sharia Law, among other things.
Would secular European citizens continue to watch passively as their culture changed around them? I suspected there would be a critical mass point which would usher in some sort of corrective response.
Europe has recently experienced Islamic terrorist acts on its soil, as well as an uptick of rapes and sex attacks. The recent attacks on young German women in Cologne brought the wrong kind of responses from leaders. Women were advised to take measures as to not appear provocative. One Cologne Imam blamed the women for being scantily dressed and using perfume.
Writing about the Paris terrorist attacks, Iben Thranholm has observed that “the terrorists themselves issue statements that indicate that religion is their motivation.” She noted:
‘A further look at the character of the attacks reveals with ever-increasing clarity their symbolic significance. They were carried out on a Friday, the Muslim holiday. The victims at the Bataclan were listening to music, which is banned in fundamentalistic Islam, and the first targets to be shot were guests at the bar drinking alcohol. The symbolism assumed a new dimension when the perpetrators started firing on the audience of a performance by the band ‘Eagles of Death Metal’ of its popular tune “Kiss the Devil”.’
Yet, as in the Cologne fiasco, leaders like Hollande and Obama have refused to link terrorism to Islam. And while it’s true that many Europeans refuse to link Muslim migration to these problems, there also seems to be an increasing unrest and discontent. This has been expressed in protests and the increasing popularity of the Right-wing parties.
Iben Thranholm ended her article by citing Robert Schuman:
“Europe will not live and will not be saved except to the degree in which it has awareness of itself and of its responsibilities, when it returns to the Christian principles of solidarity and fraternity”.
She added that:
“If Europe persists in rejecting Christianity, it must abandon all hope of ever being able to stand up to Islam and its Islamic terrorism.”
It’s true that Christ is the only answer. Christianity acts as a restrainer against evil. Yet, as these people note, Christian influence has been steadily declining in Europe.
There’s another sober warning. In Hitler’s Cross, Erwin Lutzer showed how the Swastika was openly displayed in churches across Germany. Many church leaders were deceived by pride and nationalism and at first supported Hitler. And that was at a time when churches exerted significant influence.
All this brings me back to the recent surge of interest in Mein Kampf (aka the Nazi Bible).
Might the lack of Christian influence in Europe give way to some other response to the lack of leadership in the face of Islamic extremism? Are we seeing hints of the awakening another beast in Europe?
The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? Jer 17:9
I think it’s entirely possible.
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:2-3
Keep looking up!
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