There is a creeping war against everything that symbolises Christianity: attacks on mountain summit crosses, on sacred statues by the wayside, on churches and recently also on cemeteries.
That is the conclusion of a comprehensive report by PI-News a German press agency which has gathered its information from scores of Catholic and Protestant churches, their priests and pastors. Many hundreds from their congregations were interviewed and they revealed shocking stories of abuse, vandalism, desecration and arson; crucifixes smashed and sacred vestments defecated upon. All these accounts have received independent verification.
In France, two churches are desecrated every day on average. PI-News documented 1,063 attacks on Christian churches in 2018 alone. This is a 17 per cent increase over 2017, when ‘only’ 878 attacks were registered.
Here is a selection from the countless incidents contained in the official report:
In February, vandals desecrated and smashed crosses and statues at Saint-Alain Cathedral in Lavaur, France, and mangled the arms of a statue of the crucified Christ. An altar cloth was burned.
In March, vandals plundered Notre-Dame des Enfants Church in Nîmes and daubed a cross in human excrement on the floor of the chancel. Consecrated bread was stolen from the tabernacle and thrown into the dustbin.
Arsonists torched the Church of St Sulpice in Paris soon after midday Mass on Sunday 17th March. Similar reports are coming out of Germany where four churches were vandalised or torched in March.
Do the authorities know who is responsible for these continuing and increasingly fierce attacks on churches in Europe? ‘Yes,’ said an official spokesman: ‘when crosses are broken, altars smashed, Bibles set on fire and baptismal fonts overturned, the church doors are often smeared with Islamic expressions such as Allahu Akbar.’
It has been going on for a long time. Another German news report from 11 th November 2017 reported that, in the Alps and Bavaria alone, around 200 churches were attacked and many crosses were broken: ‘Police are currently dealing with church desecrations over and over again. The perpetrators are often immigrants, mainly militant Young Islamists.’
Frequently in European regions with large Muslim populations, there is a concomitant rise in attacks on churches and Christian symbols. Before Christmas 2016, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, where more than a million Muslims reside, over fifty statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary were
Also in 2016, following the arrival in Germany of another million mostly Muslim migrants, a local newspaper reported that in the town of Dülmen, ‘Not a day goes by without attacks on religious statues – and that in a town of fewer than 50,000 people.’
In France it is the same story: where the number of Muslim migrants increases, so do attacks on churches. In January 2017 a study showed that, ‘Muslim extremist attacks on Christians in France rose by 38 per cent from 273 attacks in 2015 to 376 in 2016; the majority occurred during the Christmas season.’
A typical example: in 2014, a Muslim man committed massive acts of vandalism inside a historic Catholic church in Thonon-les-Bains. According to a contemporary newspaper report, ‘He overturned and broke two altars, the candelabras and lecterns, destroyed statues, tore down a tabernacle, twisted a massive bronze cross beyond recognition, smashed in a sacristy door and even broke some stained-glass windows. For good measure, he also trampled on the Eucharistic elements.’
So how do the police and the courts respond? In virtually every instance of attacks on churches, they hide the identity of the vandals. In those rare instances when the Muslim – or, euphemistically, ‘migrant’ identity of the destroyers is leaked, the perpetrators are presented as ‘suffering from mental health issues.’
Indeed they are, and there is a name for this particular mental issue: the effect of a fundamentalist medieval doctrine on deranged 20 th century minds.
On 24 th of March 2019, PI-News commented, ‘Hardly anyone writes and speaks about the increasing attacks on Christian symbols. There is an eloquent silence in both France and Germany about the scandal of the desecrations and the origin of the perpetrators. Not a word, not even the slightest hint that could in any way lead to the suspicion falling on migrants. It is not the perpetrators who are in danger of being ostracised, but those who dare to associate the desecration of Christian symbols with immigrant imports. These truth-tellers are accused of hatred, hate speech and racism.’
Are Muslims being falsely accused and scapegoated? Decide for yourself. Bear in mind the fact that these monstrous sacrileges never used to happen before the current massive Muslim influx. Neither German neopagans nor French leftie secularists go around shouting ‘Allahu Akbar!’ Meanwhile, in pursuit of their social and sexual agenda, they wish for nothing except the extirpation of what remains of European Christianity.
So they make all possible excuses for the outrages perpetrated by Muslim fanatics.
Peter Mullen is a retired Church of England Priest and a writer.
This article first appeared in the summer edition of The Salisbury Review
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The reason Muslim migrants as well as atheists are desecrating churches is because Christianity has never been weaker in its entire history than it is today. The sexual abuse scandals have deprived the church of respect and trust. The churches in an effort to appeal to secular culture have turned themselves into social justice organisations and diluted the message of Christ. Big mistake. God’s demands are tough and we ought to return to them – beginning with worship of Him, not of ourselves.
If Christians marched through the streets and demanded respect – that would put people on notice that we are not a bunch of doormats!
Atheists desecrating churches? Not so. As for Xians being specially sexual abusers vis a vis other religions – also not so. Up here in Yorkshire we have a constant processions of Islamic abuse gangs before the courts now running to 100s (but suppressed by HMG and the media). We can only guess what a thorough investigation would reveal. AS for your social justice point – The Sermon on the Mount? Paul Corinthians 13?
Doormats – Matt 5.39 on turning the other cheek?
Another thought – ‘atheists’ implies negativity like ‘non-Catholic’ and ‘infidel’. It hides the fact that monotheism is as crude and unintelligent as polytheism but with the vile consequence of intolerance and hatred as we have seen for 2000 years. The ancient Greeks and Romans were neither bigots nor racists. Melissus would have demolished the creation story and injected metaphysical rigour had he still been around, and Xenophanes would have explained about epistemology. The enemy of Christianity and Judaism is Islam, not thoughtful, cautious, hesitant Conservative sceptics.
Possible reasons for vandalism: One, Islamic clergy pumping out brainwashed humanoid robots to clear the way, literally, for their cult. Two, generous welfare states going out of their way to be paternalistic to people with no individual responsibility. Three, a general apathy for one’s own culture as a direct result of socialistic deracination. Four, political correctness. Five, state machineries that don’t really depend on the people they feed off of, thanks to diffusion and centralization of state power.
Creeping? It’s been overt for decades now in Europe, let alone darker parts of the globe.
Why would a mahometan symbolically smear his second most important prophets with excrement?
Anyone can shout that.
Perhaps we should look for someone with an interest in the provocation of Christians against Muslims, and vice-versa.
Someone for whom the association of Christ and excrement is not an abomination, but rather a duty… Now where might we find someone like that, I wonder…
I have vague recollections of whitened tombs, for some reason…
Careful with the manipulations. Not everything is what it seems.
So more than 1000 years of Muslim attacks on Christians and Jews and other infidels has been really a plot by – who exactly? They got previous, as the cops here say. You are England’s oldest ally through thick and thin. Conspiracy theories unbecome you.
And yet, one could well argue that the most valuable service by far we’ve provided you has been the asking of unbecoming questions…
The Christians may be infidels to others too, beside the Mahometans. To other Christians, even, are they not?
Furthermore, as the article says, no one is talking about this. Is that not, in and of itself, the manifestation of a plot?
If, as you say, this the conspiracy theory, then what is the practice?
We’ve both had our share of crusading, but you never had to do it in your own home. I wouldn’t be so keen in earning that particular accolade..
Seems to me, as it seemed to some of the pre-Socratic Greeks, that religion/gods serve particular needs among people. For example, fearful people living among rogues might want a fierce god to frighten their neighbours. The ISIS phenomenon, attracting dummies and losers from Europe, showed that Aquinas was dead right when he attributed Islam’s success to its appeal to concupiscent and violent men.
Today – news from Afghan is of women in professional roles in the government being expected to be whores for members of that Islamic government. Are they following the prophet or traducing him? Good question. We also see in Iran and Saud particularly a taste for the rape and lashing of young women by the ruling group. I do wonder if their sadism has the same source as that of James 1 who was unable to express his God-given homosexuality and persecuted and vilified women as a displacement. Two of my gay friends think the ayatollah and bin Salman are both a bit too well-groomed for their macho poses.
MODERATOR – please delete my post above.
The tone of your comment, Portuguese Man, with its wooly-minded attempt to show that Islam, is misunderstood and falsely accused, reads strangely enough like the comments made by someone who routinely posts on Disqus – one Telemachus. Are you by any chance related?
I could point out that the abundant hostility to Christianity shown by muslims throughout the history of the religion of peace offers clear indication that respect for Christ as a prophet is held by only a minority of more scholarly muslims. The claim that Christ is respected in Islam just as “people of the book” are supposedly respected tends to be made when “moderate muslims” are trying to distance themselves from the latest jihadi atrocity.
You are 100% correct.
I’m not this Telemachus you speak of.
And I did not make any claims about hostility towards Christians.
I questioned the presumption that the perpetrators of the attacks were Mohamedans.
For it it is mere presumption.
Mohamedans are not the only ones that hate Christianity. Nor even, perhaps, the ones who hate it the most.
There are international geo-political implications behind this question, and one has to be either blind, a fool, or trying to be taken as one, not to see them.
I can think of no precedent for this in history or myth. An implacable force, supremacist, racist, belligerent and uncompromising being tolerated, protected, treated leniently, and its manifold crimes covered up, partially reported or not reported at all.
What has brought us to this? Has it happened before?
Why has this been brought on us ?
One reply – this may not be acceptable to you – but the reply i’ve heard is – “Europe exterminated it’s Jews. Subsequently setting up the EU which by it’s foreign policies supports & funds the PA – and also Iran – implacable enemies of Israel – where half the world’s Jews now live.
So God’s response is if you dont want Jews to live in Europe or Israel – then you can have others and see how you like it”.
That’s an answer I’ve heard.
Thank you. I doubt God has anything to do with it, but you are right about the indulgence shown to Iran (why I ask again) and the moolah shovelled to the PA (ignorance of history is one reason and falling for the poor-me pose another). The displaced Jews of 1947 settled elsewhere, not all in Israel, but the smaller number of displaced Arabs decided to be permanent professional refugees. They showed what valuable workers they were when Saddam took Kuwait in 1990 and the half million Palestinian workers there joined in the atrocities.
I’ve often suggested to Labour Party Islamic-apologists they should see two films: Persepolis about Iran; and In Between about being a Palestinian in Israel where your only enemy is other Palestinians (men especially).
Meanwhile, the MSM migrant hugging continues unabated. In the current English language version of Der Spiegel online you will find a feature story about German sea captain Carola Rackete and her heroic efforts to save Lybian migrants struggling to cross the Mediterranean in small boats. Europe is portrayed as a cold inhuman fortress peopled by the callous and uncaring. Rescuers and aid workers the only ones equipped with a functioning conscience. Many journalists certainly seem prepared to limit their investigations to stories which support their moral mission. The temptation to stand out as a do-gooding campaigner must be strong.
The moral of the story, as ever, is that we in the developed world are responsible for the rest of the world’s problems and should carry the migrant burden without complaint. We must, however, be careful not to play the white saviour lest we bruise the collective ego of those who have so signally failed to solve their own problems.
Eloquent . Temperate . Brave. Genius…..as most simple thoughts/ philosophy is. Thanks. A.