Europe - Thy Name is Cowardice

A few days ago, I received a newsletter from Lamb&Lion Ministries. One of the articles included a reference to a blistering piece written about a year ago by Mathias Döpfner, entitled "Europe — Thy Name is Cowardice." Those fluent in German can read the original article here, but if not, you can find a full translation at Snopes.com. I found Mr. Döpfner's article to be bold and extremely to-the-point. He definitely isn't going to pull any punches! I encourage all of you to read it; it's only a little over 750 words, so it shouldn't take that long. But because nearly 800 words is way too long for a post on this blog, I'll just comment on the article in general. Mr. Döpfner starts out by quoting a journalist named Henry Broder, who said a few days before this article was written that "Europe's family name is appeasement." The Europeans definitely do have a history of appeasement. The article points out that attempts at appeasement cost millions of Jews their lives during WWII. It allowed communism to gain a stranglehold on Eastern Europe and Asia. Today, this same theory of appeasement turns a deaf ear to the suicide bombings in Israel by terroristic Palestinian Muslims. And now, says Mr. Döpfner, we are faced with "a particularly grotesque form of appeasement." Since Islamic violence has been escalating in Holland and other parts of Europe, Germans have proposed appeasing the terrorists by instituting a national Muslim holiday!

A substantial fraction of our (German) Government, and if the polls are to be believed, the German people, actually believe that creating an Official State "Muslim Holiday" will somehow spare us from the wrath of the fanatical Islamists. One cannot help but recall Britain's Neville Chamberlain waving the laughable treaty signed by Adolph Hitler, and declaring European "Peace in our time".

"All Experience hath shewn" that Muslims look on such hopeless guestures as signs of weakness. Claiming that Islam will be stayed by a national Muslim holiday is like playing music from "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" when a cougar is about to pounce on you.

Only two recent American Presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. His American critics may quibble over the details, but we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand: Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the German people from nearly 50 years of terror and virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic War against democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed.

We self-sufficient Americans may argue about the ethics of Bush's policies, but Europe knows him for what he is: a man who is not afraid to do everything he can to stop the flood of Islamic terrorism. Mr. Döpfner angrily blasts Europe for sitting back on its haunches and doing simply nothing. It is not because of "our morals", he says. It is because of "our materialism":

We Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to those "arrogant Americans", as the World Champions of "tolerance", which even Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic. For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt, and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy, because unlike almost all of Europe, Bush realizes what is at stake — literally everything. While we criticize the "capitalistic robber barons" of America because they seem too sure of their priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare systems.

Stay out of it! It could get expensive! We'd rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or our dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid vacation, or listen to TV pastors preach about the need to "Reach out to terrorists, to understand and forgive". Appeasement? Europe, thy name is Cowardice.

I wholeheartedly agree. In Him, D3