This year, instead of the most-read articles of the year, the team have picked their favourites of the 1,500 or so we have published in 2024. They will appear in no particular order until New Year’s Eve. Today’s choice was first published on August 29, 2024.
IF YOU were a malign power wishing to destroy a country, but you didn’t want to go to the expense in lives and money of a military invasion, how would you go about it?
Certain steps can be taken to undermine and ultimately to destroy the culture and the cohesive identity of a people. The United Kingdom today functions as a laboratory where we can witness them being played out in real time. Here are some of them.
First, recognise that Britain is a Christian nation, and proceed to undermine that concept. Britain is Christian not in the sense that it is made up of born-again worshippers, or even of people who identify as Christians. Rather it means that the nations of the UK were shaped by Christians. Their laws, their culture, their understanding of life were the products of people who had a Christian view of reality. To undermine the culture, it is essential that this view be undermined.
The capture of the church began early last century with the rise of liberal theology. Its capture is now complete. The institutional church in the shape of mainstream denominations has become the handmaid of those who want to change the culture utterly. Instead of challenging the culture of the day with God’s Word, the church has too often meekly prostrated itself and adopted the political, social and sexual ethics of the world. When the bulwark is breached, the flood pours in.
Second, in the culture-shaping fields of education and entertainment, deny that there is anything worth celebrating about the historic peoples of the United Kingdom. The Haywain by Constable is Britain’s most loved and celebrated landscape painting. Here the BBC tells us why it is ‘problematic’ because Constable painted it ‘from a position of privilege’ and it ignores the Enclosure Acts.
Emphasise the wrongs that have been done by the British as though the UK is unique in having blots in its history. Don’t hand down to the next generation stories of the contributions made by the people of the UK to the wellbeing of people everywhere. If you do this they might have pride in their country.
Underline the evil of slavery without mention of the lives and treasure lost by Britain in the dangerous and costly suppression of the transatlantic slave trade. Emphasise the evils of colonialism without mention of bringing education, agriculture, medicine and justice to great swathes of the world. Make youngsters ashamed or at least embarrassed to be British.
Third, open the borders and actively encourage mass legal immigration. At the same time break election promises to stop illegal migration. Foist young men from cultures which have recently known civil war and are radically opposed to the Christian culture which built Britain on to communities throughout the UK. Then tell the concerned British that they must be quiet and take their ‘fair share’.
Back this up by constant media propaganda to convince the native population that this process is historically irresistible, beneficial to all, and morally good. Make it a mark of shame to question the wisdom of importing masses of people who have no interest in assimilating to British ways of doing things. Self-censorship is the most effective form of censorship.
Fourth, practise a selective governing approach in which the authorities use their power to hammer lower-class men and women who when their legitimate concerns are ignored are driven to express their feelings somehow.
Institute a de facto two-tier policing system. Give anti-social demonstrators the freedom to disrupt and threaten society as long as they come from a minority group or are demonstrating in support of an approved concern, such as Palestine, the environment or climate change. Then have overly aggressive policing of mainstream opinion.
Establish disproportionate sentencing between the two. Those who pursue approved campaigns may receive minimal punishments (if any) for causing criminal damage. The white working class, or ‘far right thugs’ and ‘racists’ as they are known to the elites, can get long prison sentences for hurty words on the internet.
March through London calling for ‘jihad’ and ‘intifada’ and the destruction of Israel, and the police will ensure you are not hindered. Chant ‘Who the f*** is Allah’ and ‘You’re not English any more’ at the police and you can end up with 20 months in prison.
Make an example of dissenters in order to frighten others into submission. Under the present ruling class, mainstream Britain is dangerously close to becoming ‘the enemy within’.
Fifth, make acceptance of the new ideology an unstated but mandatory requirement for entry into the power-wielding caste, particularly the political, media and ecclesiastical professions. At the same time, make rejection of the new ideology the distinguishing mark of an ignorant, bigoted and vulgar lower-class mentality held only by those whose concerns can be safely dismissed out of hand.
The condescending class system of Jane Austen’s day pervades the UK still. Instead of an early nineteenth century self-satisfied middle and upper class telling the lower orders what to think, we have the early twenty-first century Guardian telling us that we shouldn’t be concerned about ever-rising immigration, knife crime, or pressure on housing and medical waiting lists.
Those who constitute the power caste have luxury beliefs. To uphold policies such as mass immigration and two-tier justice brings them the approval of other members of the power caste without any cost to themselves. It is good to feel part of the morally righteous, the people on the ‘right side of history’, while being able to look down on the unenlightened who want to protect the things they know and love: things like their national identity, their heritage and way of life, and their faith.
Those who govern us have ridden roughshod over the wishes and deep instincts of the people. As a result the UK is in its greatest danger since 1945 and the end of WWII. If the establishment did not realise that there would be growing discontent eventually reaching the outpouring of unlawful and violent rioting as we have seen recently, they are not fit to govern.
If we are ever to recover our country and our culture, it is imperative that we first recover our church, the institution which shaped our culture. This is a task for all biblical Christians whether by prayer, encouragement or action. The recovery begins with us.
