In the news:

There are a number of interesting stories and commentaries in the news today - mostly unrelated:

The first is just a small quote but interesting to read:

EU Officials give first analysis of WikiLeaks impact

And what is that?

More investment in European External Action Service (EEAS) security, loss of goodwill in the EU's special relationship with the US and heightened tension in the Middle East are all likely consequences of the WikiLeaks scandal, EU insiders say.

...senior EU officials interviewed on an anonymous basis by EUobserver in the wake of the publications say it will have practical and political implications for EU foreign-policy-making.

"More investment in the EEAS". Indeed.

And this:

Radical Leftist Julian Assange Plays God

The article is interesting and thought-provoking, but within this piece, there are 20 questions directed to Mr Assange, but these questions are equally appropriate for any government or political movement to ask:

The following 20 questions should be answered by Assange and his radical ilk:

1. Where do you get your authority?
2. How do you know your beliefs are correct?
3. Why is morality only a political or public value and not private?
4. Why is your pragmatism acceptable, but a sovereign country’s is not?
5. Are you a socialist, Marxist or anarchist?
6. What is the law above human law you refer to when decision making?
7. Why treat America as the world’s worst country? How do you objectively defend this?
8. Is there a God?
9. Do you believe in “principled” lying as your old hacker name “Mendax” suggests?
10. Why do you have the authority to expose the secrets of states? Isn’t that a type of theft?
11. What if your acts cause others to be murdered?
12. Why does good government depend upon total transparency?
13. Why do you reject traditional morality?
14. Do you believe you are personally above the rules?
15. Why are your rape charges off the record, by definition? What about transparency?
16. Is there a life beyond this one?
17. Do you claim all secret negotiations are wrong? Is that a wise posture?
18. What if your actions make the world a less safe place than before?
19. Aren’t you still just a defiant hacker thumbing his nose at all authority?
20. Isn’t a great deal of what you do simply the seeking of the spotlight for yourself?

The article above actually serves as a nice entry into this article, another excellent read:

The Pagan Roots of the Fascist Culture

Fascism is an ideology which has its roots in Europe. The foundations of fascism were laid by a number of European thinkers in the 19th century, and it was put into practice in the 20th century by such European counties as Italy and Germany. Other countries which were influenced by fascism and adopted it 'imported' the ideology from Europe. So in order to examine the roots of fascism, we must turn to the history of Europe

European history has naturally gone through many stages and periods. But looking at it in the broadest sense, we can divide into three fundamental periods from the cultural point of view:

1. The pre-Christian (pagan) period

2. The period when Christianity assumed cultural dominance in Europe

3. The post-Christian (materialist) period

Looking at these three periods, we see that fascist culture belongs to the first and third. In other words, fascism was born out of pagan culture, and was later resurrected as a part of materialist culture. There was no fascist ideology or practice throughout the thousand or so years when Christian culture dominated Europe.

This is because Christianity is a religion of peace and equality. Christianity, which believes in and tries to bring people to live by love, compassion, sacrifice, affection and humility, is the complete antithesis of fascism.

The quotes above just introduce this timely article. After tracing through the historical horrors of the "fascist-pagan era" of European history, the article turns to the period in which Christianity dominated and the changes it inspired:

The fascist-pagan culture which dominated Europe disappeared by stages with the spread of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, first to Rome and then to all of Europe. Christianity carried the basic ethical characteristics of the true religion revealed to man by the Prophet Jesus to European society. Europe, which formerly believed violence, conflict and bloodshed to be sacred and justified, and which was composed of different tribes, races and city-states which constantly fought each other, underwent an important change.

1. Racial and tribal wars disappeared:

2. Peace and compassion came to be considered sacred, instead of violence:

3. The view of human beings as a species of animal disappeared:

Unfortunately, this period was short-lived and now we find ourselves in the midst of a return to "Modern Fascism":

Although European pagan culture was suppressed by Christianity, it did not die. In the 16th and 17th centuries, a number of European thinkers, influenced by the works of ancient Greek philosophers such as Plato or Aristotle, began to carry concepts from the pagan world back to Europe.

The Nazis defended paganism, both during the early stages, and also when they came to power in 1933. They tore German society away from Christianity, and tried to turn it to pagan beliefs.

Schoolchildren were taught the so-called 'Glorious pre-Christian German history,' and various rites and ceremonies, legacies of pagan culture, were held all over Germany. All Nazi meetings were in the form of traditional pagan ceremonies. There was almost no difference between Nazi rallies, held under the shadow of flaming torches, where slogans full of hate and violence were shouted and Wagner's pagan music played, and the perverted ceremonies carried out thousands of years ago at pagan temples and altars.

This deviant Nazi belief can be seen in many other fascist movements. Many neo-fascist groups today hold pagan beliefs which they consider the 'religion of the Aryan race,' and have a particular hatred of the revealed religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, which they describe as the 'semitic myth.' And because of this distorted logic, fascist groups have grown up in the Islamic world which have tried to develop a new anti-semitism

Well, this is clearly where we are headed as the world, unwittingly, marches rapidly into the Tribulation.