Barbarians at the Gate

By Lars Møller

A long time ago, Charles Martel, uncrowned ruler of the Franks, led his Christian army to victory over the forces of Arab commander Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi at the Battle of Tours (October 10, 732 C.E.).

The defeat of the Muslim invaders, especially dreaded for their heavy cavalry, marked a turning point in the long-standing war against the Umayyad Caliphate. After crushing the Visigoths at the Battle of Guadalete (July 19, 711 C.E.), they had earned a reputation for being invincible as they expanded their dominion toward the north of the Iberian Peninsula, founding the province of al-Andalus. At one point, it seemed inevitable that they would march on Paris. It is stated by historians, however, that the Frankish infantry finally succeeded in stemming the Islamization of Western Europe. At least for the time being.

It may very well be that present-day migrants, who traverse entire continents to reach the post-Christian, liberal, and affluent societies, landing on south-facing shores of Spain or crowding at border posts in the Balkans, are not armed and organized in ranks on arrival in the West. However, they are far more numerous than the saber-wielding cavalrymen that ravaged Christendom in the past. They make a formidable invasion force.

The fact that migrants, whatever their origin, single out the West as the destination of their perilous journey is due to the expectation of prosperity rather than admiration of Western values. Of course, they are indifferent to the exhortations of the Gospels, the critical thinking of the Enlightenment, and freedom of speech. Inadvertently, they are the invaders and spearhead colonizers of our time, driven by basic motives such as envy and greed. What “infidels” have in the West, they also want for themselves. 

Including a large element of illiterates from packed out, nefarious rogue states, the enormous crowds of migrants, though invaders, do not behave in the orderly fashion of Roman legions marching off to war as in the days of the Republic. On the contrary, they are barbarians on the move. Infinitely many at that. In every sense, they represent the antithesis of Western civilization. Accordingly, the impression of their somewhat protracted, disorganized invasion is more like that of Goths, Vandals, and Franks pushing through “Limes Germanicus” as a prelude to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Muslim migrants, who tend to concentrate in the suburbs, like yielding to a sense of shared destiny, are civilian invaders with a distinct culture of their own. Although poor and needy at the outset, they may soon grow a disparaging view of those who take them in and provide for them. Inspired by homeborn leaders trying to set them against the West, they may convince themselves that it is inappropriate to show signs of gratitude. In their view, accepting funds from those of another — and “inferior” — faith is only to assert their right. It is like collecting the traditional tax from dhimmis: “Jizya”. 

The plentier the migrants become, the stronger the cultural impact on Western society. Properly speaking, Islam has behaved like an “invasive alien culture” outside the Arabian Peninsula. Wherever this faith has been introduced by invading armies and migrating masses, followers of other faiths have been persecuted, forcibly converted, and massacred.

At first glance, the invaders may look like venerable, peaceful nomads. The narrative goes that they are simply in search of a better life. A favorite pastime of the progressive elite, it is tempting to romanticize and pity the young men entering the West from sinking boats or dusty roads. Without personal cost, “telescopic philanthropy” may yield a social media return. 

Even as the invaders break the laws, committing theft, robbery, and rape on a warlike scale (e.g. events at New Year’s Eve in Cologne, 2015–16), their apologists turn the charge against their own countrymen for being bigoted and unreasonably judgmental. (In retrospect, it might dawn on Western opinion that a specific pattern of offenses gave it the first hint of a supremacist contempt for non-Muslims.)

It is rumored around the world that the West has become decadent and vulnerable to blackmail. France, formerly the home of academic-artistic refinement, is a truly despairing case of its own. Inasmuch as he betrayed his “pied noir” compatriots in Algeria when making the irrevocable decision to withdraw from Africa in 1961 (following a murderous campaign costing the lives of as many as 500,000–1,000,000 Algerians), Charles de Gaulle may have realized that France would eventually be “absorbed” by the former colony, whose birth rates were at the top, rather than the other way around.

For cultural reasons, Algeria would never become another French province. Though sharing a common past as Roman provinces, France and Algeria had gone their separate ways in the meantime; matters of faith now stood in the way of cultural and social integration.

At any rate, the French already had the demographic destiny against them back then. Therefore, it looks like the height of imprudence, indifference, or (deliberate) betrayal of the nation that subsequent governments should liberalize immigration laws and allow Algerians — along with other North Africans — to invade France massively and take possession of its cities. Seen in this perspective, the predictable absorption of France — a tragedy of titanic proportions — has merely been transferred to the European theater, neither prevented nor delayed very much.

Nowadays, French cities, ancient centers of architectural beauty and learning, are surrounded (and besieged) by hostile suburbs — the so-called “banlieues”: Arab-dominated satellites serving as hotbeds of (a) organized crime, (b) civil unrest, and (c) terrorism (i.e. “jihad” in other words).

Compared to the invading Arabs and Berbers from the south, the Frankish forces under the command of Martel were technically and numerically inferior at Tours. However, his footmen had faith and fought with confidence. To the great relief of Christian Europe, they walked away victorious.

So far, France has retained the technological advantage of the nineteenth century. Industrialism combined with an unshakeable belief in civilization gave the Western powers the edge that allowed them to dominate world trade. In principle, France has the necessary weaponry to win the war against the old enemy. Yet, it has chosen to give up the chance to crush him.

The thing is that the invaders have long since crossed the border into France and set up camp everywhere. Their ongoing conquest is a chilling reality. Not only have they been met with nothing but passive resistance along the way, despite historic grievances, they have also been invited to settle in the country by its treacherous rulers. 

The reason, why the enemy is allowed to intrigue and operate unhindered in our time, is that the French have lost faith in both God and themselves — bereft of the will to prevail, agreeing to the arbitrary conditions of invaders willing to rule. The moral challenge for those with a conscience that extends beyond themselves here and now is that largely ignorant, pretentious, and irresponsible legislators make far-reaching decisions that cannot be undone. They will call down darkness upon posterity and force it into slavery indefinitely.

As strange as it sounds, the French are now ready to approve their alien masters and suspend allegiance to “liberty, equality, and fraternity”, tantamount to the end of state secularism (laïcité). However, they have chosen their own destiny and should not be pitied. Failed by their leaders from the progressive elite, they are beyond salvation. Ideological rigor and submission comprise their future. In their own way, they have been preparing for the new era for a hundred years.

Ever since the interwar period, the French have been busy ridiculing tradition, breaking down the remains of Christian piety and aesthetic ideals handed down from antiquity. What has been left behind after the deluge of modernism — following waves of malignant ideology (e.g. socialism), egotistical philosophy (e.g. existentialism), and fake “science” (e.g. sociology) — is a nation of godless, desperately pleasure-seeking, and impuissant souls without any sense of community; a nation given to mindless consumption, superficial-ecstatic fashion whims, and degenerate artistic expressions. Others are waiting to fill the power vacuum, though.

Milestones in the long march of the French nation towards its self-inflicted doom have been the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan massacres. However, it does not stop there. The world has only just seen the beginning of what is to come.

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/08/barbarians_at_the_gate.html