LIFE ISSUES NO. 2796

ISLAM AND CHRISTIANS

The great English writer, Hillaire Belloc, wrote a book seventy years ago entitled, The Great Heresies.  That was before World War II.  At that time, the Islamic world was considered not important.  It was still dominated, to a large extent, by the Western powers; its religion was certainly not considered a threat to Christian nations.  People did remember that its conquering armies, as late as the 1600s, had only been stopped at the gates of Vienna – and in the West in Southern France.  But that was long past history. 

Belloc predicted that Islamic nations would again one day challenge the West.  Nobody paid any attention to this improbable scenario back then, but recent events have brought much of this back to our consciousness.  By this, I don’t mean conquering armies from Muslim countries, again subjugating Christian nations.  No, I’m talking about a much more subtle and much more permanent effect on what had been Christian nations – and that is the flow of population.

A quick look at Europe leads one to be very distressed.  The average woman in Western Europe has fewer than 1½ babies in her lifetime; 2.1 is minimum for maintenance of current population.  And as a result of this deficit, Western Europe, with one or two exceptions, is progressively dying.  This includes the Russian Federation, which is now losing almost one million people a year from the birth dearth that affects it and the West.  In fact, the only significant nation in the West that is not losing population is our own United States.  Our birth rate is just barely keeping up, and we have been postponing death, so that people are still living; and, of course, immigration accounts for most of our growth.

But let’s look at Western Europe.  There are now 1,500 mosques in Germany.  Italy is rapidly depopulating, and who is moving into Italy?  North Africans, most of them Islam adherents.  Who is washing the dishes in France?  Algerians.  And in Britain?  West Indians, Pakistanis and others. 

As an example, let’s take Algerians in France.  They’re having an average of three or four babies per family; the French are having 1½.  What does that mean?  It means that, given enough time, there will be a gradual, but progressive, dramatic shift in France’s racial composition.  And, incidentally, this will occur also in most other European nations. 

The West is still very strong—no question about that—but it’s dying.  Islamic nations are very weak, but they are growing.  So, what am I saying?  I’m saying that, yes, we have a problem with terrorists, and yes, we should confront that and do whatever is necessary.  But, in the long run, maybe we shouldn’t only worry about terrorists, but for any of you who would worry about Islam replacing Christians, perhaps you should worry about birthrates.

[03/25/02]