European Persecution

The secularist states of Europe are degenerating into neo-fascism and neo-nazism - even as they sing the praises of their liberality, democracy, and freedom. This article from Brussels tells of a pro-life Lutheran pastor who has recently been sentenced by a German (who else?) court to one year in prison for comparing legalized abortion to the Nazi Holocaust. In their perverted, diabolical reasoning, for a man to decry what he believes to be (and, of course is) a horrific evil by comparing it to the Holocaust, is, to deny the Holocaust. Incredible!

In the current age, the Approved Religion is Secular Statism. Do as your masters in Almighty Government say, and no-one will get hurt. It's a very German way to go about it (sorry, fellow Lutherans, but I'm of Celtic stock, and while German beer and music are wonderful, the German cultural mindset about unconditional obedience to authority and the desire to brutally silence any and all opposition is, to me, a very strange trait. I'm sorry, but putting a guy in jail for a year because of an expressed political belief is Hitlerism at its finest.)

But we should hardly be surprised. Our Lord Himself warned us that we too would be persecuted. The fact that we've had a few hundred years without anyone burning us at the stake, racking us up, or feeding us to lions is becoming increasingly irrelevant as secular governments become less and less tolerant of religious (especially orthodox Christian) belief. In his 2001 work The Spiritual Society: What Lurks Beyond Postmodernism? LCMS pastor Dr. Fred Baue argues that trends in contemporary art and poetry indicate that we're in for a cateclysmic cultural shift that includes an increasing hostility to Christianity, one that will become violent - a fact being borne out in the past six years since the publication of his book. (Note: Dr. Baue was not only my parish pastor when I lived in Philadelphia, he laid hands on me at my ordination, and is himself being bullied by certain people in power in our own church body who seek to silence him for telling the truth. Please keep Dr. Baue in your prayers. He is a faithful pastor and a gentleman of integrity).

The tenor of the debate in the Council of Europe is irrational to the point of hysteria. The way they argue, you would think that there are armies of Christians waiting to seize power and reinstitute the Inquisition. Please. How many of those magnificent European cathedrals have more than a few dozen faithful in them on any given Sunday? How many Europeans are active Christians anyway?

Meanwhile, blinded by their diabolical rage against the Church, they are straining the gnat and swallowing the camel. For radical Islam is crouching at the door - thanks to the secular ideology of "tolerance" that flung open Europe's borders and cultural institutions to Muslims. If these folks think the Christians pose an ideological threat to their cherished institutions of abortion, infanticide, homosexuality, and Darwinism - wait until a critical mass of Muslims are in political control of Europe (especially given the Western tendency to shoot themselves in the foot by extremely low birth rates). According to a study published June 6, 2007 by the London Times, "Muhammad is now second only to Jack as the most popular name for baby boys in Britain and is likely to rise to No 1 by next year."

Islam is the elephant in the European parlor that no-one wants to notice while they're hysterically trolling behind the curtains and under the chairs with magnifying glasses looking for Christians to step on.

Meanwhile, these "useful idiots" of Satan think a handful of Baptists pose a clear and present danger to the state. Equally stupid is to persecute the few remaining Lutherans in Germany - for the Lutherans routinely speak of separating the "two kingdoms" (church and state) and have no desire to create a theocracy - even if Christians were anything more than a tiny minority in Europe.

Europe's arrogance is like that of Israel and Judah in the Old Testament. They will be severely judged. Perhaps the secularists will be in the same prison camps with the Christians one day.

Until then, maybe everyone should ponder the words of another German Lutheran pastor who was jailed by the German state for holding an unapproved political viewpoint, the Rev. Martin Niemöller (1892–1984):

"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."