Tani Newton
Nathan Smith’s recent article, “Christianity and the Death of the Nation”, appears to have been written merely to provoke a response, perhaps from the Christian nationalists in our midst. Indeed, it is hard to imagine that such a well-read writer would unknowingly make such obvious logical and factual blunders. My rejoinder may be the least well-thought-out, but I can’t resist the bait.
Firstly, let's dispose of the obvious. Some of the strongest European nations have been Christian for the better part of 2,000 years. If Christianity has caused their decline “gradually”, that is pretty spectacularly gradual. Really, over such a timescale, practically anything could be the cause of Europe’s demise. (The invention of glass? The rise of Buddhism? The total solar eclipse of 1133?) And even more obviously, these nations are only collapsing now, having ceasing to be Christian over the last 200 years.
Secondly, the ancient pagan nations of Europe were not permanently rooted to one spot, but from time to time invaded, pillaged and overthrew one another to obtain new territory. The history of this is so well known that it would be tedious to give examples.
Thirdly, if Christianity has taught Europeans not to care if other people invade their country, why do all countries fight wars against foreign invaders? And why do millions of people in the West – as Nathan Smith points out himself – want immigration to stop? “Almost everyone would immediately vote against immigration – if it were ever put to a vote” implies that the leaders of the West are forcing this on their nations against their will. It is a bit of a stretch to conclude that these leaders are the people most deeply affected by the Christian worldview.
But, all that said, let’s consider the article’s central argument. Does ancestor worship, and a belief in the continuing presence of ancestors, tie families to their ancestral lands? It would be a very interesting idea to consider and discuss, if it were not so plainly contradicted by the plain facts of history. That being the case, there’s not really much to talk about.
Europe, and what used to be Christendom, is being destroyed from the inside by powerful anti-Christian forces, some of which have seized the reins of power and are carrying out a mind-boggling population replacement while the people rage in vain. But what has most decisively caused, and is causing, the death of Europe is the collapse of the European population itself. That is the result of millions of individual decisions to avoid having children – coupled with the loss of transcendent values – things that have been features of collapsing civilisations throughout history. Indeed, I think that one of the books Nathan Smith cites – The Ancient City by Fustel de Coulanges – goes into this. And, from a Christian point of view, it is one of the most conclusive signs that Europeans today do not have a biblical worldview, whether they believe that the souls of the dead are in Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Gehenna or elsewhere. It is what we think about birth – whether there is something to live for and a reason to invest in the future – that seals the fate of a nation.
