Current Events & Trends: Is extremism on the rise in Europe?
Frederick Forsyth is a popular British novelist with a nonfiction weekly column in the Daily Express. Here's one particularly important title: "Extremism Is on the Rise Once More" (April 20, 2012).
In the column's text he stated: "But the extremists are coming back. Those who have read their history cannot avoid the recall of the [German] Weimar Republic circa 1930. At the core of it all is the despair. Communists and fascists love despair which is now the eurozone's only growth industry. But in Brussels and Berlin the dance goes on, the waltz of the blind . . . In my view the [European] dream is crashing and will not now be saved."
Max Hastings adds his voice in the Daily Mail: "The economic stresses afflicting southern Europe may give way to social upheavals of which past Greek riots are a mere taster" ("Europe's on the Brink of Probably the Gravest and Most Frightening Tumult of Our Lifetime," June 19, 2012).
This seems to be an increasingly held opinion. Consider an editorial in The Wall Street Journal with this opening sentence: "Nationalism—even extreme nationalism—is on the rise again in Europe" ("A Womb That's Fertile Still," June 25, 2012).
The drophead stating, "Extremists gain political strength as centrist parties fumble the crisis," the article goes on to point out, "What unites and motivates all of these [right-wing] parties is the conviction that the interests of the European Union increasingly run counter to the interests of its member states . . ." (Sources: Daily Express, Daily Mail, The Wall Street Journal.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: September - October 2012
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
