Denmark's PM calling for Church to return to politics…
The Socialist Prime Minister of Denmark recently called for their Church to be more involved in National Life despite trying to get the church out of national life for decades. This was reported in The Spectator by Iben Thranholm and also in Courage Media from a more Christian perspective.
PM Mette Frederiksen seems to want a state religion to give it a sense of meaning and purpose. As wokeism doesn't cut it and other incumbent religions don't sound friendly, Denmark will have to go back to what the PM assumes did work, and will again. She's worried that Danes will not die to preserve secular Denmark whose main debates seem to be about minutely adjusting differential tax rates rather than fighting for the soul of the country (as they'd decided it didn't have one): “We will need a form of rearmament that is just as important. That is the spiritual one.” She celebrates Denmark's Christian heritage and foundation – echoing Danny Kruger!
Constantine moment
Is this her 'Constantine moment'? Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire (i.e. the whole classical world) after he saw a cross in the sky before a key battle. But it was more than a victorious symbolic reaction, it was a sober recognition that this faith, growing in all areas of society despite persecution, was what was needed to unite the empire and give it strength, purpose and perseverance. It had strong ethics and was loyal, honest, hard-working and family/community affirming.
Constantine himself didn't get baptised until towards the end of his life, but he was keen that the Christian faith was organised and regular, as befitted the empire. To this end he organised the Nicean Conference in 325 to sort out differences. He favoured the views of Arius from Alexandria who relegated the role of Jesus in favour of one supreme being. This fitted the imperial model but the bishops disagreed and from the biblical record affirmed the Trinity and hence the first Nicean Creed 1700 years ago. Constantine conceded.
Nicea moment
If Denmark wants to adopt Christianity again – what will it have to concede? What has the official 'Evangelical-Lutheran' Folkekirken church said? It seems relatively liberal – maybe it won't challenge consumerism, wokeism, family-breakdown, gender ideology, abortion…? It needs its own radical Nicea where the true Christian leaders finally get listened to, and the sovereign Lord obeyed in church and state.
In Hungary they have shaped policies to encourage Christendom and it's become something of a pilgrimage destination for those wanting to see a model of how things can be done – very limited migration from hostile out-cultures, tax incentives for families etc – all in the teeth of opposition from the EU.
What threat – civil war?
'But when a society is asked to sacrifice, to endure, or to fight, it needs more than procedural values — it needs faith.' Iben Thranholm
So there is also the question of what the Danish PM thinks the threat is - Russia, China, Islamic terrorists, economic meltdown and subsequent domestic unrest? How do these affect Britain?
Dr David Betz has been speaking widely on the likelihood of civil war in Britain. There is an introduction from him on Unherd (30 mins) and a longer one on Triggernometry (96 mins) and some additional topics on New Cullture Forum. As professor of War Studies at Kings College, David Betz describes what typically happens when insurgencies/civil war takes place (i.e. what you would do if you wanted to take over) and shows how these actions are being carried out aggressively in Britain (extraordinarily being allowed by Government - past and present).
His main arguments are -
Causes:
- people are becoming more polarised as groups – and critical thinking is lost – people just adopt the views of their group when that group feels powerful
- 'downgrading' - the majority population feel they are being prejudiced against by those in power
- loss of faith in the leaders, their competence and intentions
Normal 'bulwarks' against civil strife (now being eroded):
- wealth - feeling OK makes us down-play the negative consequences (but people now are feeling poorer, less influential, more at risk)
- obedience - Britain has been ruled relatively well in the medium past, with relatively low corruption so people tended to trust them (not now). Also elite is not unified – elite defections (eg MAGA, Reform etc)
- expectation - things getting better for each successive generation (young people now forced to have lower expectations than parents due to housing costs, lack of marriage and children, loss of middle-class jobs? etc)
What does Civil War look like
What form would it take - Northern Ireland? Kosovo? Palestine? England in 1640s?
There are historically 3 stages:
1 'defensive' by insurgent actors - organising, planning, propaganda, infiltration of institutions, recruiting 'useful idiots'
2 'stalemate' - physical attacks but met with equal response from police, however there are already insurgent no-go areas, stable bases, military structures developing [said to be the current phase]
3 'offensive' – insurgent growing strength while government weakens, falls and concedes (N Ireland), or insurgents defeated and wholly driven out, as too much of a risk.
Who are the insurgents?
The Daily Mail reported in 2020 that “'Ninety per cent' of 43,000 extremists on MI5 watchlist are Islamist terror suspects”. This number is likely to have increased significantly and continues every day. 43 terrorism extremists would be a worry, when attacks have proved so easy to carry out – but 43,000!! Also many, many more are sympathisers.
However a civil war takes two main sides, and looking at the current situation it's only reasonable to conclude that the Global Left and Islam are already in charge, the Revolution has happened, so the 'insurgents' are the indigenous British population. Their ways of working will be different and they need even more determination.
There are also external parties that stoke these conflicts for their own ends. The Soviet Union supposedly encouraging UK Union strikes in the 70s, other would-be global oppressors fomenting division in the US today to so weaken the nation that nothing is left to oppose them.
Clash of Civilisations
Part of our blindness to the threat is our refusal to think about the Clash of Civilisations. We naturally see the world from a Western perspective where we should generally be nice to everyone. Most of the nations however do not share Western altruistic values and (their elites) do all they can to advance themselves while pretending to be friends at the UN.
Post Cold-War one of the strongest definers and glues of current civilisations/cultures (mainly Western, Slavic, Hindu, Sino, Latin-American, African, Muslim) is said to be religion, a key component of culture, and some are more aggressive than others. There are arguments with sibling nations but the real fault-lines are among religions and as with geology, that's where the real damage is done.
Western 'religion' is essentially secularism, consumerism, permissiveness, individualism (as communicated by Hollywood and reported back by incomers). It is of course shunned by truer Western Christians, but these are rarely heard.
Talking with Indians working in the UK on contract – they thought Christianity was what they saw in Britain (as Hinduism is defined by everyday practices and attitudes in India). I said that while Christianity has had a huge and beneficial impact on Britain in the past, real Christianity is very different from Britain today.
TS Eliot said: 'If you will not have God (and He is a jealous God), you should pay your respects to Hitler or Stalin' and we're seeing that in authoritarian global and national policies.
Given its history, true Islamist assertiveness should be no surprise. It believes itself superior to Westernism and will do all it can to spread itself in the world (details). At one level that's fine – we all have the right to promote our beliefs if we think them better. But we should do that with openness and lack of coercion – which is difficult when beliefs endorse secrecy and use of force. In Islam there are two worlds dar al-Islam ('territory of Islam'), dar al-harb ('territory of war') and that the whole world is to be converted – however these are interpreted. This is similar to the Chinese Communist Party, who also consider themselves superior and are carrying out fifth-generation warfare against us – but that's for another blog!
The ludicrous multi-level attempts to silence alarms are shameful. Not only that, there is some utopian idea that it will all work out for the good, in the best of all possible multicultural worlds, and they will all vote Labour.
Should it be talked about
Churchill was often criticised before WW2 as being a warmonger, or trying to rescue his career, for pointing out the German threat. But he didn't want war anymore than those still trying to forget the horrors of WW1, so he had to speak up. He cared enough to do it and it gave us breathing space - it was a near thing. Where were his critics when the bombs started falling?
Governments have been aware of the current civil threat for decades, and are already preparing for it – not by removing the threat but by trying to remove the indigenous resistance – planning and deploying control systems (censorship, persecution of dissenters, IDs, CBDC, Tony Blair's Crime and Disorder Act etc).
This alone is actually treasonable but excused as vaguely for a higher purpose, some undefined virtue (as British communist spys did). The 'defensive' stage of attack is part of this – where the morale of the majority population is ground down by economic collapse fuelled by false eco-concerns, denigration of its good history, advancement of false privilege ('islamophobia' definitions), betrayal of its once-trusted institutions: parliament, judiciary, police, industry, health, CoE… All this is not helped by the rival Globalist and CCP threats.
Will Reform help?
In the US they have finally adopted a plan to make their country safer from a slightly different threat – but have seen unprecedented domestic resistance – even to the deporting of illegal immigrant felons. They even condone political murder! The false-virtue is so addictive!
In Britain the proportional threat is much bigger and if a Reform government starts deporting people – will this kick off massive attacks ('Stage 3') and will they also face institutional resistance until the pain for the elite becomes personal?
It feels crazy to talk about civil war in Britain, despite N. Ireland, but people increasingly are, and it's from the hard evidence of how these things happen elsewhere.
Is the Hungarian approach the only one – moving would-be attackers out? Sweden is actively doing this where it can.
The recent keenness for flag-showing is a key civilizational marker and the reaction to it a demonstration of who will support who, if it comes to riots.
Engaging and praying for the nation
Christians are speaking up – having to be brave(!) Connor Tomlinson reports on The Imminent Islamic Terror Plot Against Britain. Dr Joe Boot of Ezra Institute (Canada & UK) introduces key points.
In the US the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development called for a million people to pray for the nation every week until next July 4th, endorsed by President Trump – who also said “When faith is weak in America, America is weak.” – an amazing address.
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Bonhoeffer resisted Nazi tyranny when so many church leaders (one of Hitler's biggest concerns) caved in.
Eric Metaxas, in his book Religionless Christianity: 'The church must stop pretending faith is a private matter. In times of cultural collapse, a silent church is not neutral — it is complicit.'
Christians have been called to resist evil physically in the past. CS Lewis' Edwin Ransom discovers this in 'Voyage to Venus'. Christians from the Puritan revival were at the heart of the English Civil War (including John Bunyan).
Like the men of Issachar we need to look to God to understand the times and what we should do…
“My job every single day is actively trying to stop a revolution,” Kirk said. “This is where you have to try to point them toward ultimate purposes and toward getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. That is the type of conservatism that I represent, and I’m trying to paint a picture of virtue, of lifting people up, not just staying angry.” Charie Kirk
And at the heart of heaven: 'the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.'
