Oriana Fallaci, Europes Warrior

Prophet of Decline An interview with Oriana Fallaci

by Tunku Varadarajan (The Wall Street Journal)

NEW YORK--Oriana Fallaci faces jail. In her mid-70s, stricken with a cancer that, for the moment, permits only the consumption of liquids--so yes, we drank champagne in the course of a three-hour interview--one of the most renowned journalists of the modern era has been indicted by a judge in her native Italy under provisions of the Italian Penal Code which proscribe the "vilipendio," or "vilification," of "any religion admitted by the state."

In her case, the religion deemed vilified is Islam, and the vilification was perpetrated, apparently, in a book she wrote last year--and which has sold many more than a million copies all over Europe--called "The Force of Reason." Its astringent thesis is that the Old Continent is on the verge of becoming a dominion of Islam, and that the people of the West have surrendered themselves fecklessly to the "sons of Allah." So in a nutshell, Oriana Fallaci faces up to two years' imprisonment for her beliefs--which is one reason why she has chosen to stay put in New York. Let us give thanks for the First Amendment.

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Oriana Fallaci, Europe’s Sage Warrior. Ms. Fallaci is one of the few Europeans who understands the predicament that is facing Europe. With the possible exception of Pope Benedict XVI, Ms. Fallaci is doing her best to warn Europe of its impending end. I do not agree that Europe is that much in a mess, but I will not fault her for that at all. But I do agree Europe is a mess.

She expounds in her frustration at how much Europeans (mostly elites misguiding the common people) hate themselves and their history. Sounds somewhat similar to America’s Democratic party and liberals doesn’t it. She is clearly vexed and upset at the course events have taken Europe over the past century. She sees no hope but in Pope Benedict XVI leadership and stewardship of Western Civilization. Quite ironic for Ms. Fallaci is an atheist, an adamant atheist.

She freely admits in her first book, The Rage and the Pride, how religion does play an important role in defining the character of civilization. How religion provides the “soul” and “backbone” of a civilization. She sees much doom and gloom due to the influx of Muslims. But it is not Muslims that may destroy civilization, but the Europeans themselves.

Because Europe wants to be “secular” and reject their past, Europe now faces population decline, economic decline, and of course a moral decline. It is heartening to know that some in Europe can identify this.

Being a practicing Catholic, I pray for God’s forgiveness of Ms. Fallaci’s atheism, but above all I thank God each time for Ms. Fallaci. Because there is someone besides myself with greater influence than myself to point the errors of Europe’s ways.