Going.Going.Gone?
A commentary by Robin Webber
United Church of God pastor, Redlands and San Diego, California
Europeans, as we think of them, are slowly
melting away before our eyes. Not since the decades of the infamous Black
Death has the indigenous population of Europe been threatened with such
depletion. And this isn't a historical article from an encyclopedia
in a library. It's an event that's happening even as you
read.
As children, many of us played Ring Around the Rosey. You probably
remember how it concludes: "... ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" It
sounds harmless until you recognize its full ramifications. This ancient
children's' rhyme dates back to the horrific time of the
14 th century epidemic of plague called "The Black Death."
It was a time when one fourth to one third of Europe's population
was decimated by disease. Many an inhabitant "fell down" never
to rise again as children do when reciting the rhyme. Many a family name
became extinct. European society did not recover for nearly a century,
not until the time of the Renaissance.
Today Europe is in the grips of another demographic decline that only
now is beginning to appear in the back or middle pages of newspapers.
But present day Europeans are vanishing—one person at a time.
Many European headlines grab our attention, such as the widespread
opposition to the War in Iraq; concerns over America's approach
to the Kyoto Treaty dealing with global environment; the role of the
United Nations in relationship to sovereign states; or how nations are
dealing with potential nuclear powers like Iran.
But another powerful story is in the making in Europe. It's simply
this—not enough babies are being born to sustain the current population.
This presently healthy, wealthy and peace-secure continent is de-populating
itself by not giving birth to enough children to maintain the next generation
at current levels.
George Wiegel, author of The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America
and Politics Without God (Basic Books, 2005) projects the haunting
picture "... that by the middle of the 21st century, 60% of
Italians will have no personal experience of a brother, a sister, an
aunt, an uncle or a cousin; Germany will lose the equivalent of the
population of the former East Germany; and Spain's population
will decline by a quarter."
Different analysts present various compelling reasons for this looming
melt down of Europe. Some suggest the cause is economic, due to the high
costs of raising children. Others suggest it is sociological, due to
current social attitudes. Others suggest that the ideological rise of
feminism has put a damper on Europe's procreative drive.
But Weigel, in his op-ed piece "The Spiritual Malaise That Haunts
Europe" (The Riverside Press-Enterprise, May 1, 2005), suggests
that there is a much larger problem. He defines it as "spiritual
malaise."
Simply put, Europe has chosen that the public square of life must be
completely secular. The most profound realization of this "choice
of being" is found in the recent 70,000 word European Constitution
that is currently up for ratification. It never once mentions Christianity
or God as the historical roots of the modern European civilization.
Weigel illustrates the effect such spiritual malaise has in society.
He says, "Europeans can only debate grave issues in biotechnology
in utilitarian terms; 'will it work?' completely trumps 'is
it right.'"
European high culture's conviction that to be adult, mature and
free is to be radically secular has led to a vast and withering spiritual
boredom—"a drastic shrinkage in personal and social aspiration." He
further comments, "... that spiritual boredom is why Europe is
depopulating itself. Europe, bored, "asks only to be left alone
with its pleasures."
But history teaches us such demographic vacuums are not left alone.
The ancient Romans came to a point in their history where their self-imposed
and self-inflicted de-population attracted vigorous and dynamic tribes
from outside the empire to fill the void of a people engrossed in a "crisis
of civilization morale." Today's Europe faces a clash of
civilizations with the increasing tide of vibrant immigrants from Islamic
peoples to fill the current depopulation void.
Will Europe, as we know it, just completely melt away? Is it going…going…gone?
Or is something even more significant coming…coming…emerging?
Consider this! Pope Benedict XVI has laid down the gauntlet regarding
Europe's "unrenounceable Christian roots." Who will
hold sway over the 21st century European mind set—the public square
of secularism or the man who speaks at St. Peter's Square?
  Wherever
these trends take the Europe of today, the Europe of tomorrow is destined
to play a powerful role in the future. If you would like to take a
peek into that future please request, read online or download our enlightening
booklets: You Can Understand Bible Prophecy and The
Book of Revelation Unveiled.
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