The Numbers Game

A few weeks ago History News Network published an article by Timothy R. Furnish entitled “Resurrecting Christendom: A Blueprint”. It’s a thought-provoking essay that floats the idea of a worldwide alliance of Christian nations for the purpose of containing Islam.

Dr. Furnish calls it the “Gondor Strategy”, and says it “would entail setting a ‘Watchful Peace’ upon the bloody borders of Islam, as in Tolkien the most powerful human kingdom did against Sauron’s land of Mordor.”

He supplies some specifics about what the Gondor Strategy would involve:

This strategy would be implemented by a Global Christian Alliance, formed by representatives from the aforementioned countries with the largest Christian populations, minus the problematic ones: Nigeria (as many Muslims as Christians, thus on the fault line between the civilizations); China (officially Marxist); Congo (too politically weak and unstable); and Kenya (see “Congo”). At first perhaps only one or two official delegates from each nation would be sent to the formative meetings in the de facto, working “capital” of the GCA. Rome is undoubtedly the best location, since the only other truly viable candidate, Jerusalem, might be deemed too hot a political potato (although meeting there would demonstrate the GCA’s dedication to the preservation of Israel). Eventually, as the mechanics of the alliance are ironed out, some sort of proportional representation might well be incorporated, with the U.S. getting the most delegates, followed by Brazil, Mexico, Russia, etc. This would acknowledge the reality of the power differential between the nation-states involved—for this is not a revamped World Council of Churches, but a political and military alliance grounded in a shared Christian culture.

Note, too, that [Jim] Pinkerton’s four main Christian blocs—Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and African—would all be represented (as, for that matter, would the Mormons, largely subsumed under the Protestant American category). The foundational membership for the GCA would, under this plan, include a majority of Roman Catholic nations, several Protestant ones (including the largest and most powerful, the U.S.) and two Orthodox ones (Russia, Ethiopia), with African Christianity represented by South Africa as well as Ethiopia. Also, borrowing boldly from [Robert] Conquest, very early on the GCA would create both permanent Foreign Policy and Military Committees, each of which would have as its purview, unlike NATO, the entire planet14—or at least the non-Muslim parts of it. Perhaps most importantly “these two committees would also provide a unified approach to political warfare—concentrating information and expertise and insisting on the major role of this side of the struggle.” Indeed, the GCA, like Conquest’s posited Anglosphere, “might eventually…raise or sponsor its own forces on a limited scale.”15 Unlike Conquest’s Anglosphere, however, the GCA would not have as its stated ultimate aim the total political unification of its constituent members—although it would not rule that out—but rather the goal would be to preserve, protect and defend Christian civilization against those who would destroy or subvert it, primarily Muslim enemies. Other civilizational blocs, as they continue to unite politically—the Indian/Hindu one most obviously, but also the Buddhist one—could be accorded “observer status” at GCA meetings for discussing joint counter-Islamic strategies.

I recommend a visit to HNN to read the whole thing.

It’s a tempting and compelling vision. As a Christian, I want it to happen. But how feasible is it?

The problem with assembling a Christian alliance to stem the Great Jihad is that Christianity is on the wane throughout the West, but especially in Europe. The center of gravity for Christianity in the 21st century has moved from a trans-Atlantic axis to one that runs from the heart of Africa to the heart of Asia. As I reported last week, it is thought that up to a million Iranians have converted to Christianity in the last five years, and people in China are becoming Christians at an astonishing rate. Current estimates place the number of Chinese Christians at between fifty and sixty million — a number roughly equivalent to the population of the entire United Kingdom.

And, unlike most nominal Christians in Europe, these are practicing Christians. If you live under a brutal totalitarian regime — especially one, like Iran, that punishes apostasy with death — you don’t become a Christian unless you’re serious about your faith.

In contrast, if you’re a European, and you blow off church most Sundays, you’re far from alone. According to today’s Daily Telegraph, observant Muslims will soon outnumber observant Christians in Britain:
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The increasing influence of Islam on British culture is disclosed in research today that shows the number of Muslims worshipping at mosques in England and Wales will outstrip the numbers of Roman Catholics going to church in little more than a decade.

Projections to be published next month estimate that, if trends continue, the number of Catholic worshippers at Sunday Mass will fall to 679,000 by 2020.

By that time, statisticians predict, the number of Muslims praying in mosques on Fridays will have increased to 683,000.

The Christian Research figures also suggest that, over the same period, the number of Muslims at mosques will overtake Church of England members at Sunday services.

[…]

The projections show that, if the Churches do not reverse their historical decline, there will be more active Muslims than Christians in Sunday services across Britain before the middle of the century.

Any functional Christian alliance designed to contain Islam would have to be anchored in the most advanced and powerful countries of the West. But, as the above news story illustrates, it’s a lost cause to urge the citizens of Western Europe to mobilize against the Islamic juggernaut on the basis of their Christian faith.

The United States is somewhat better off, thanks to the Baptists and the Pentecostalists. Christianity is still vigorous here, and will be for many years to come. But a global Christian alliance could not sustain itself solely through the muscular power of the USA.

Europe is necessary to the cause.

Based on the (admittedly anecdotal) evidence of Gates of Vienna commenters and email correspondents, about half of the impetus for the Counterjihad comes from atheists and agnostics. Throw in the Jews, the Sikhs, the Buddhists, and the Hindus, and Christians are in the minority among those who would roll back the Islamization of our societies.

That’s why I repeatedly advocate for a broad coalition. Christians may be the single largest component of the resistance, but this is not a Christian movement. It’s a movement of all people who oppose the backwardness and brutality of Islam as it is currently expressed in our world. It’s an alliance of people interested in maintaining and advancing what we all call “civilization”.

That’s what we have to work with. Two or three generations from now, when militant Islam has been extinguished, all the other faiths — Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Orthodox Atheism, and even devout secular Hedonism — will flourish.

I won’t be around to see the day, but some of you who read this will be. Stick around and keep your eyes on the prize.


Hat tip for the Telegraph article: TB.