Those few Christians who have remained faithful when the Dutch people descended into apostasy should know that they are not alone: even outside the persecuted Church and outside their Behouden Huys36 there are still people who have not fallen into idolatry. Perhaps these remaining faithful, wandering in the new spiritual desert of the Modern Netherlands, are re-living the experience of the prophet of Tishbe: …and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life for I am not better than my fathers (1 Kings 19:4). But these faithful should know that they are not alone — that there are still others, invisible and hidden. Twenty-eight centuries ago the sorely tested prophet was moved to return to the place where the Law, forgotten and reviled in his day, had first been given, thinking he was the only one who had remained faithful to it. His lonely quest, however, did not result in a resigned repeal of the Law by the Lawgiver, but rather in a mission that would return the People to their Covenant. Reverently covering his face with his mantle, the prophet is given a remarkable message: Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him (1 Kings 19:18).
The Dutch people can mirror themselves in this ancient lesson: the Katechon has not yet been removed, the Law is still standing and there are still many who are conscious of the Dutch Vocation. Despite the reality of apostasy, deviously presented as ‘progress’ in the ‘politically correct’ media, there are still many people who have not bent to the idol of nihilistic secularism and who have not kissed the feet of the golden calf of materialistic hedonism. In the politically correct lying press all those who raise their voices against the neo-liberal demolishers’ regime that hides under the mantle of pseudo-Christianity37 are depicted as primitive ‘populists’.38 In the make-believe ‘public debate’ all those who use their heads and hearts to combat the Cultural Marxist consensus prevailing within the academic and intellectual establishment are depicted as guilty of ‘hate speech’.39 But all those who dedicate their honest and modest work to the preservation of the endangered heritage of their ancestors — authentic doctrine, authentic knowledge, authentic identity — deserve recognition of their effort and respect for their courage. It is their unbowed stance and their honest witnessing that are helping to preserve a remnant of this heritage (Daniel 3). Many of them are finding themselves outside of the Church, unwittingly and innocently, because they were not instructed in the Faith, neither by their family nor by their teachers. The remaining authentically Christian churches are correct to maintain a proper distance from the political world and to maintain various degrees of quarantine with regard to all that is in the world (1 John 2: 15). But this should not extend to reckless otherworldliness regarding their responsibility for their flock: these churches would be well advised to heed the fact that outside of their walls there are still many people who refuse to bow to literally foreign idols — people who deserve their support. Many people outside these churches still experience the foreign-imposed idolatry of ‘globalizing’ neo-liberalism, ‘pan-European’ anti-nationalism and nihilistic ‘culture relativism’ as a literally alien cult. Where knowledge of Scripture and experience of grace are lacking, philosophy and ideology serve as weapons against this alien cult. To the extent that such philosophies and ideologies are compatible with authentic scriptural knowledge and divine inspiration, these churches would do well to make a careful study of those extra-ecclesiastical discourses that are opposed to the dominant system of idolatry.
It is of vital importance that all responsible Dutchmen of good will unite and take counsel in the face of the approaching Crisis of the Modern Netherlands. It is essential that church-going Dutchmen look at their non-practising comrades from this perspective. There is no reason to take offence at superficially ‘heathen’ terminology if the underlying analysis and intention objectively conform to the ‘standards and values’40 upheld by the Church, i.e. if they objectively translate and foster eternal Truth. The Katechon is more than the Church only: it can be in everybody that sincerely seeks, hears and knows that Truth. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit (John 3:8). All Dutchmen who are sincerely concerned for the future of their people should realize the following: flexibility of mind and fundamental reorientation are absolute preconditions for surviving and overcoming the Crisis of the Modern Netherlands.
This chapter serves to contribute to this reorientation and offers church-going Dutchmen the opportunity to learn about one specific anti-secular, but non-ecclesiastical discourse: the Traditionalist discourse. In terms of this discourse, i.e. of Traditionalist epistemology and hermeneutics, the authentically Christian churches represent remnants of the authentic Christian Tradition. From a Traditionalist perspective, the Modern world still counts several authentic Traditions — above all the five great world religions; but these Traditions, now all marked by various degrees of historical ‘wear and tear’ as the result of the storm of Modernity, are not interchangeable at will. God’s Creation is characterized by near infinite physical variety — variety in climate, terrain, plant life, animal life, human life — and human understanding of God and Creation conforms to this variety. In every human collective (people, tribe, lineage) and in every human individual (man, woman, young, old, rich, poor) this understanding is expressed in different ways in accordance with this variety. From a Traditionalist perspective, Dutch religious forms and Dutch religious experiences represent a precious heritage: they represent special ‘adaptations’ and ‘applications’ of God’s Master Plan that are specifically suited to this country and this people. Against this background, Dutch Protestantism can be understood as a historically necessary archetype: it constitutes an essentially Dutch expression of the authentic Christian Tradition. Thus, the Protestant churches — to the extent that they can still call themselves authentically Christian — should be aware of their high responsibility as the executive force of the Christian Tradition for their people. Thus, they are required to ‘accept their responsibility’.41 Their responsibility is nothing less than the responsibility to act as Katechon to their country and their people — and the Katechon does not carry only a shield, but also a sword.
In Traditionalist symbolism every authentic Tradition may be represented as the ‘Sword of Knowledge’. This image is also found in the first vision of the last book of the Bible: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword (Revelation 1:16). It is with this vision in mind that this chapter calls upon the authentically Christian churches to redefine their role in the approaching Dutch Ernstfall, the Crisis of the Modern Netherlands. This life-threatening crisis justifies sharp words: the Sword of Knowledge must remain sharp.
The Dutch Vocation
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
— Matthew 5:13
To accurately fathom the depths of the Crisis of the Modern Netherlands it is necessary to grasp the roots of the original immaterial roots of Dutch national identity. In Traditionalist terminology, this refers to the transcendental referent of the immanent phenomenon of ‘the Netherlands’. In religious terms, this refers to the Dutch Vocation. Revisiting this referent inevitably implies reconsidering a motif that is essentially incompatible with Modernity: the motif of the Netherlands’ Christian heritage. From a Traditionalist perspective, Christianity is merely one of multiple authentic religious Traditions and there exist multiple forms of (more or less) authentic Christianity. But this ‘relatively relativist’ perspective does not in any way diminish the intrinsic value of each authentic religious Tradition: this perspective is a hermeneutic instrument and does not affect religious identity as such. As stated earlier: authentic Traditions are never exchangeable at will. Human intellec
tual and experiential capability, whether individually or collectively defined, may exceed specific forms of identity, but they never eliminate identity. The historical identity of the Netherlands is inextricably bound up with Christianity: the original Vocation of the Dutch people as a whole stands or falls with its Christian identity — irrespective of the different roles of individuals within the national collective. The Christian Tradition emphasizes the role of different ethnic identities until the end of time: it is written that the angel will cast the devil into the abyss ‘that he should deceive the nations no more’ until the end of the Thousand Year Reign (Revelation 20:3). Thus, it is clear that, within the realm of worldly affairs, respect for ethnic identity remains of vital concern for Christians on a collective as well as individual level. A premature and ideologically motivated ‘universal brotherhood of all peoples’ — an essential ‘article of faith’ of secular-nihilist Modernity, such as represented by Socialism and Liberalism — is not only contrary to every form of rational political practice, but also to every authentic form of authentic Christian religious experience.
Despite the profound effects of anti-Christian Modernity, the specific Vocation of the Dutch people in a collective sense therefore retains an undiminished Christian character. Under this Christian identity it is possible to discern the substrate identities of Indo-European ethnicity and nature-worshipping spirituality, but these substrate identities are no longer specifically Dutch: at most they can be defined as ‘Germanic’ and ‘ex-pagan’ and, as such, they are necessarily shared with other ‘Germanic’ and ‘ex-pagan’ peoples. To fall back on such substrate identities involves an atavist regression into a pre-Dutch Urzeit — a phenomenon that became temporarily visible during the Nazi-German occupation, when the specifically Dutch and Christian identities were pealed away. More specifically the Vocation of the Dutch People is inextricably moulded by the 16th century Radical Protestant vision of a new Chosen People, purified by history, dedicated to unblemished adoration and shielded by Divine Providence in a new Holy Land. The preceding Devotio Moderna, with its ideals of interior devotion and personalized Imitation of Christ,42 can be understood as a necessary precondition for this Protestant vision. In this sense, the Reformation could never truly break the historical continuity of the Christian Tradition: there can only be one true Church, even if its members cannot agree on its worldly reflection. From a Traditionalist perspective, there is much to ‘criticize’ in the historical role and effect of the Protestant Reformation; the theses of Max Weber’s Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus (1905) are merely faint reflections of the more fundamental criticism of the Traditional School. When textual critique of the Holy Books ends in secular ‘deconstruction’, when worldly sanctification ends in hedonistic materialism and when personal justification ends in narcissist individualism, then Protestantism may be said to be the frozen water that cracks the Rock of Saint Peter. But it is not the water that causes the split: Protestantism is merely the ultimate distillation of the Christian Well. It is the Wintertime of Modernity that determines its work.
The unique 16th century Res Publica Christiana between Ems and Scheldt,43 experiencing itself as a providential miracle in a world of spiritual darkness and political tyranny, was deeply moulded by the Protestant vision. From a Traditionalist perspective, it is important to note that, while Protestantism is inextricably linked to Modernity, it also constitutes an ultimate and desperate attempt to realize the Christian vision during the rapid onset of the Dark Age of Modernity. It represents a sublime attempt to realize a City upon a Hill (Matthew 5:14), even after the total loss of ancient institutions, ancient communities and ancient certainties. It represents an iconoclastic Flucht nach vorne — into Modernity — and at the same time a purist retreat into the core experience of the Christian Tradition: redemption and resurrection. In this sense, the Dutch people is a quintessentially Modern people: it has its origin on the threshold of Modernity and it is characterized by a radical incorporation of Modernity in its ‘spiritual sense’. The historical radicalism of this incorporation may be gauged by its ‘choice’ for the most radical form of Protestantism: Calvinism. The collective archetype of the Dutch people bears the indelible stamp of this historical ‘choice’. This means that the capacity of the Dutch people to adapt to Modernity is very great: it experiences itself as Modern and it is able to ‘live’ Modernity as a natural existential mode, instead of merely ‘submitting’ to it in a passive manner. This has ‘advantages’ and ‘disadvantages’. The Dutch peoples share these ‘advantages’ and ‘disadvantages’ with other Radical Protestant peoples: it is possible to discern a ‘shared destiny’, especially with the Anglo-Saxon ‘fellow thalassocracies’. An evident advantage is a considerable socio-economic adaptability, resulting in social malleability and economic prosperity. An evident disadvantage is a permanent cultural-historical instability, resulting in low social cohesion and weak ethical standards. This specific combination allows the Dutch people to endure an exceptional degree of anarchy, capitalism and Darwinism, but it also renders it particularly vulnerable to the Modern plagues of political hyper-democracy, social hyper-individualism and Cultural Nihilist secularism.
But there are borders to the Dutch adaptability to Modernism, simply because there are borders to the definition of the Dutch Vocation and to the malleability of the Dutch society. Across these borders, this Vocation fades away and this society disappears. A re-appraisal of the pre-Modern roots of the Netherlands and a reconsideration of its Christian heritage are essential in determining these borders. This re-appraisal and this reconsideration permit a rediscovery of the simultaneously old-Christian and classic-Protestant ideals of worldly sanctity, socio-ethical transparency and a self-effacing work ethic. The Dutch Vocation expresses these ideals in a number of extremely stylized forms. In the physical landscape, there is a heroic attempt at near-restoration of the earthly paradise through incessant, self-denying labour: this is visible in a magical landscape of straightened water courses, symmetrically arranged enchanted flowers and exquisitely designed miniature gardens. In the psychological landscape, there is a nearly superhuman attempt at a collective, self-denying Imitation of Christ through the systematic cultivation of conscientiousness and self-control: this results in communities where front doors no longer need locks and where lost wallets return to their owners without their contents being touched. In the personal landscape, the work ethic is fully internalized, nearly to the extent of changing Adam’s condemnation to hard labour into a blessing. The solemn vows of monasticism are nearly entirely internalized in unprecedented degrees of thrift, taciturnity, charity and volunteer labour. A constant awareness of God’s presence is sublimely incorporated in scientific objectivity, artistic contemplation and spiritual silence.
Until deep into the 20th century, the Dutch people raised themselves up in conformity to this Vocation — until Modernity swept over the nation in the Second World War: this is the point at which the Dutch Vocation was overtaken by Modernity. Modernity subsequently attacks the Dutch soul through its two characteristic weaknesses — weaknesses that inevitably accompany its two characteristic hyper-Christian features. When self-denial and interior retreat are no longer aimed in a Christian-anagogic direction, they are liable to hypertrophy into senseless self-abasement and slavish servility. These excesses are latently present in all the Christian peoples of Europe, but most strongly in Protestant peoples because in them the authority of Traditional Katechon institutions (Monarchy, Church, Nobility, Academy) is per definition weaker. These two potential weaknesses render the Dutch people very vulnerable to exploitation by the Cultural Nihilist hostile elite, especially through ethnic replacement, i.e. the replacement of the Dutch people through gradual but constant mass immigration. This is the historical background to the perversely sadomasochistic fatalism and the perversely servile docility with which the indigenous Dutch population reacts to effective colonization in its own homeland.
This collective ricochet psychopathy can only be effectively combated if it is understood in its proper context of the hyper-Christian and post-Christian perversion of the Dutch Vocation. Thus, a proper re-appraisal of the authentic Dutch Vocation as a Christian nation and a proper re-evaluation of the authentic Christian doctrine are the keys to the solution of the Dutch ‘ethnic question’.
Ger Tsedek & Ger Toshav
But he answered and said,
It is not meet to take the children’s bread,
and to cast it to dogs.
— Matthew 15:26
As stated in Chapter 2, it was only Professor Fortuyn’s sacrifice that firmly established the Dutch ‘ethnic question’ as the number one item on the Dutch political agenda. Earlier attempts by political parties such as the ‘Centre party’ (Centrum Partij 1980–86) and the ‘Centre Democrats’ (Centrum Democraten 1984–2002) to openly address the issues of ‘immigration’ and ‘social integration’44 had been successfully suppressed by a combination of agent provocateur infiltration, witch hunt journalism and violent ‘Antifa’ intimidation. Professor Fortuyn paid for his brave patriotism with his life: the Dutch people recognized this sacrifice by honouring him as the second greatest personality of Dutch history — just behind William the Silent, Father of the Nation.45 The memory of his sacrifice effectively obliges all subsequent Dutch thinkers to continue adding to his legacy until the Dutch ethnic question is solved in a sensible — and timely — fashion. All throughout his life, Professor Fortuyn struggled with the identity problems that are characteristic of Modernity, both in the public and in the private sphere,46 but he was not a heathen; his trust in Divine Providence remains in plain view even in the most ‘worldly’ of his writings. He accurately regarded the Church as a failing institution and he attempted to find secular remedies for the failures of the Church. The single most dramatic failure of the Dutch Church — here abstractly defined as the Dutch remnant of authentic Christianity — is its inability to teach and guide the Dutch people in its relation with other peoples, inside and outside the border of the Kingdom.
Alba Rosa Page 14