Image: Public domain.

The Thirty Years’ War was hard on Europe. So profound were the ramifications of the Christian schism that doubts arose as to whether the wounds could ever be healed. Leaving trails of mutilation and destruction behind them, armies of unscrupulous mercenaries terrorized civilians in both the countryside and the cities, testing their faith to the limit. It felt as if God had abandoned his children forever. Landscapes marred by burnt crops, pillaged homes, and piles of human cadavers resembled the antechamber of hell.

Catholics and Protestants are no longer at war with each other. On the contrary, without any children to baptize or any confidence in the future, Christians are resigning themselves to oblivion. Nevertheless, in the past thirty years, they have witnessed war-like conditions evolve in Western Europe.

In broad terms, the tragedy originates from a spiritual (moral) collapse, which is particularly evident at the higher education institutions, and unrestrained immigration from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. In the grip of (a) social activism, (b) historical revisionism, and (c) moral relativism, the progressive elite has opened the borders to people rooted in deeply divided, undemocratic societies characterized by the unchecked dominance of warring clans, indiscriminate violence, and ubiquitous abuse of power (e.g. nepotism, bribery, and extortion).

Showing a minimum of ethnological insight and without a clue about the critical importance of cultural (not “racial”) homogeneity — or high-degree compatibility, at least — for the layout of the modern welfare society, as we know it, Western leaders have put the survival of civilization at risk. Regrettably, they fail to appreciate how precious it really is.

Nothing like a “pragmatic construction” arising out of necessity, Western civilization represents the unequaled product of philosophical, religious, and legal ideas. It was never bestowed upon Judeo-Christian lineages as a favor from above but was born in pain by themselves. What they achieved in terms of prosperity and freedom, before they were forced to share it with immigrant adventurers and colonizers, they owed to nothing in the world but their own efforts.

In response to the ignorance, negligence, and conceit of the ruling class, the very sense of community that would normally motivate the individual citizen to make personal sacrifices and pursue the common good is giving way to a sense of alienation as provoked by ethnic conflicts, the experience of institutional corruption, and a general atmosphere of doom.

The importation of entire population groups from the Third World invariably disrupts cultural norms in the West. In view of the demographic projections, this change is likely to be irrevocable. Along with cultural homogeneity, trust in society disappears. Thus, the supporting pillars of civilization are crumbling. What remains is the morally degrading tyranny of clans at war with the rest of society. So, literally speaking, the West turns into a bloody battlefield where Christianity is in decline — just as it has been for centuries in North Africa and the Middle East. (On a smaller scale, violent disintegration of a harmonious, prosperous Christian society is known from Lebanon, propelled by anti-Western forces and demographics.)

The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years’ War. This time round, however, it is primarily Muslims against pagans of Christian descent. Unlike before, cities are not besieged and ravaged by regular troops. A state of chaos is created nowadays by tightly organized, ideologically inspired, and well-armed gangs that have defeated both civil society and law enforcement, undermining social cohesion in the former high-trust society.

British journalist, author, and editor Douglas Murray once reported the heated conflict between Hindu and Muslim inhabitants of Leicester, originally an English town in the East Midlands (Spectator, September 24, 2022). The occasion that set it off was a cricket match between India and Pakistan on August 28, 2022.

A few months later, street riots erupted in the French town of Montpellier (and various other towns at that). This time, the participants in the conflict were gypsies, though involuntarily so (in recognition of their limited numbers), and Muslims. The occasion was a football match between France and Morocco on December 14, 2022.

In either case, Englishmen and Frenchmen, respectively, were reduced to terrified bystanders, witnessing the display of lethal savagery and weapon power (e.g. iron bars and a couple of Kalashnikov assault rifles in Montpellier). A sign of the times, police officers, outnumbered and hesitant in the face of the foreign-enemy mob, limited themselves to playing a largely mediatory role.

European football hooligans are what they are: socially maladapted individuals with an attraction to the violent group culture surrounding major football clubs. They may be the sort of people who drink in excess, are challengingly loud, and go out to pick a fight. What they are definitely not, however, is declared enemies of society. In particular, they do not pretend to be at odds with — let alone superior to — ordinary compatriots. To be sure, their street clashes, whether accidental or premeditated, are completely unacceptable in an orderly society; they are a matter for the police.

By comparison, the involvement of religion dramatically changes the rules of the game. Religion introduces the notion of both individual and group fate. If, unlike your own brother, you are a loving fan of Tottenham and hate Arsenal, you may (actually) change your mind: hate Tottenham and love Arsenal. It affects, at most, your relation to your former groupmates from Tottenham. It is not “fate” in any meaningful sense of the word.

When practiced agitators exploit the inflamed passions aroused by a sporting event to intensify ethnic conflicts (e.g. by nurturing racial prejudice, mocking religious beliefs, and inciting violent action), however, much more is at stake. Thus, sporting events, which may be of no obvious consequence in themselves, in a wider perspective, become instrumental in expanding an existing culture war and leading a particular group to victory, defined by nationality, religion or both, as it may be.

In Leicester, combative Indians were facing equally combative Pakistanis (and other Muslims). In Montpellier, a Muslim mob — indulging in a group experience of invincibility — encircled a car because of a French tricolor visible from outside. So the story goes. Trying to escape, the driver, who happened to be a Gypsy, knocked down and mortally wounded a 13-year-old boy. Subsequently, the Muslim mob marched fearsomely through the streets, repeatedly praising their god while threatening reprisals (e.g. the rape of “mothers”), beating up random people, and “searching” apartments on their way.

Like its demoralized counterpart in Britain, degraded by ideological infiltration, French police have long since given up the so-called “monopoly on violence” that should pertain in a Western society under the rule of law. As the years have passed, it has simply been eclipsed by criminal clans and Islamist groups.

Although forbidden by its political employers to declare it publicly, French police have long since capitulated. It is persistently challenged by a superior power in the suburbs and fears for the lives and health of its members. As the conditions are, it is not rewarded for combating crime and lawlessness in society. Rather, it is suspected of political bias and subject to political (leftist) persecution. True enough, the West continues to fight itself rather than dealing with the destructive impact of immigration.

The gang wars taking place right before our eyes have a wider scope than drug trafficking, prostitution, and protection rackets; they are ultimately about social dominance in the West. Inasmuch as they neither have children nor stand up for their own civilization, post-Christian pagans have evidently given up faith in salvation. Instead of mourning, never mind reflecting on their own impotence and misery, they numb their senses with shallow diversions of the moment. They have become too cowardly to (a) think clearly, (b) feel honestly, and (c) act decisively.

Thus ends the history of Europe as the ancient home of Westerners. A darkness of despair is descending upon it as when plague and religious wars raged. Chaos marks the transition from post-Christian, secular society to Oriental-style tyranny. It is a given that civilization is being rolled back. One day, perhaps, it will be remembered as the golden era of humanity. Some may even lament its downfall.