It is common today to compare the spiritual and political collapse of the West to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Undoubtedly, both processes share several common features in terms of their scale and dramatic nature, yet the comparison is extremely far-fetched. In reality, the collapse of Western civilization is far more terrifying and grim than the fall of Rome.
If the fall of ancient Rome can be likened to the slow dying of an infirm, chronically ill, and jaded old man, then the demise of the modern West is more akin to the irrational suicide of a person in the prime of life, possessing every advantage.
For one thing, Rome was unfamiliar with the destructive pseudo-Marxist concepts — such as Identity Politics, Critical Race Theory, Institutional Racism, Intersectionality, “White Privilege/Male Privilege,” Cancel Culture, etc. — that have infected every sphere of intellectual and spiritual life in the modern West. The Roman elite were mired in debauchery, perversion, corruption, and cynicism, yet this pales in comparison to the self-hatred and self-flagellation that the West practices. Class-based and racial gradations that divided citizens into the “inferior” (white Christian men and Zionist Jews, viewed a priori as exploiters, racists, manipulators, and colonizers — modern “Untermenschen”) and the a priori “oppressed” (ethnic and sexual minorities, migrants, and peoples of the Third World — modern “Übermenschen”) were unthinkable to the Romans.
Romans in the twilight of the empire continued to respect ancient philosophers and their own culture. It would not have occurred even to a madman in Rome to call Plato, Aristotle, Epictetus, the founders of the Republic, Scipio, Caesar, or Cicero “dead white European males” (DWEM). Fashions, beliefs, and ideas changed, but the memory of their ancestors and admiration for them remained alive in the hearts of the Romans.
They took pride in Rome that conquered, ruled, enacted laws, and built bridges, amphitheaters, and roads, and they did not torment themselves with pangs of conscience. They were also aware of the evil nature of man and rightly considered that Rome — for all its vices — represented the highest manifestation of the human spirit when compared to the barbarians.
Secondly, Ancient Rome, even as it was dying, continued to maintain a rich spiritual life. The ideas of Stoicism and Epicureanism (Epicurus’s philosophy had nothing in common with unbridled hedonism) provided rich food for the intellectual and imaginative life of the educated Roman, laying the foundation for the Italian Renaissance. Followers of Pythagoras and Plotinus (Neoplatonists), as well as Gnostics, engaged in vigorous intellectual debates regarding the fundamental philosophical issues that have always occupied the human mind: divine providence, the origins of the cosmos, the causes of evil in the world, the paths to the salvation of the human soul, and the nature of virtue.
The mystical cults of Mithraism captivated Rome’s military elite. Among intellectual circles, a fascination with Judaism became a sign of the times: Caesar himself and Octavian August were famous for liking of Judaism, and Horace, Seneca and Cassius Dio wrote that the Jewish religion had spread across the whole of the empire.
This ferment of ideas ultimately contributed to the spread of Christianity and the formation of the modern Church, shaping the future of Western civilization. Judeo-Christianity is not an empty cliché. It is a complex of moral and ethical paradigms — such as the concepts of conscience, empathy, reflection, guilt, and remorse, as well as the striving for a spiritual ideal — that has elevated humanity above primal animal instincts.
No other culture has created anything like it. The West has committed many terrible crimes in the past. But ONLY the West was willing to accept repentance. Neither Japan, China, nor Turkey, nor the peoples of Africa and Asia — and certainly not the Muslim nations — feel the slightest pangs of conscience for the atrocities they have committed and continue to commit.
What ideas define the intellectual and spiritual state of the West today? Only one: endless Marxist mutations in their most repulsive and absurd forms.
Rome left behind the fertile seeds of countless ideas and concepts. The West leaves behind a spiritual wasteland that quasi-Marxism has scorched, a graveyard of ideas, and a cult of perversions — leaving nothing but a vacuum. But nature abhors a vacuum, and it is already easy to predict who will fill this void.
Václav Havel called the Soviet system “Absurdistan.” Today, the West itself resembles “Absurdistan,” even when compared to the Soviet empire.
Thirdly, the Romans invited barbarians into their midst, yet the barbarians quickly and willingly integrated into Roman society, adopting its way of life, worldview, and ideals. Even upon entering Rome, Alaric, the leader of the Visigoths, sought to minimize senseless bloodshed and the desecration of sacred sites.
Today’s Muslim barbarians are filled with an instinctive, irrational hatred of the West. They crave its humiliation and destruction. They bring their most vile habits and primitive traditions to the West, including a crude cult of force, cruelty, violence, contempt for women and minorities, pedophilia, female genital mutilation, incestuous marriages, polygamy, blood feuds, hatred of animals, and patriarchal mores.
Islam is reshaping Western culture, erasing it just as it has previously erased so many others.
The founder of modern liberal democracy, Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote: “I studied the Koran a great deal … I came away from that study with the conviction that by and large there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad.”
There is the following characteristic of the Church historian Philip Schaff: “Mohammedanism conquered the fairest portions of the earth by the sword and cursed them by polygamy, slavery, despotism and desolation. The moving power of Christian missions was love to God and man; the moving power of Islam was fanaticism and brute force.”
Ernest Renan called Islam “the heaviest chains which have ever shackled humanity.”
Yet it is precisely Islam that the Western elites welcome as a “good and peaceful religion” of the future.
The collective West threw its doors open to Islam, which the Muslim Brotherhood and its patrons represent, most notably Qatar and Turkey. This is not merely suicide — it is the most agonizing and merciless suicide imaginable. It would have been far less painful back then to let in Soviet tanks than to welcome the Muslim Brotherhood, with their mosques, seventh-century Sharia law, and cult of superiority.
No, the demise of the West is not the fall of Rome. The demise of the West is not a process of dying at all; it is suicide — and in its most horrific form.
Alexander Maistrovoy is the author of Agony of Hercules or a Farewell to Democracy (Notes of a Stranger), available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Rick Gordon says
Frightening ………………. more importantly ……….. is it already too late to stop it.
Timmy says
Assuming the West wakes up at some point. The first effort would be to pay Muslims to leave, buy their property at fair value, help them resettle elsewhere. For those who refuse that, make life so difficult for them, they either leave Islam, or somehow just endure the situation, some would self-deport. After that, rounding them up, forcibly removing them, would the West ever have the stomach to do that? Maybe if it was finally acknowledged that would be necessary for our civilization to survive. Needless to say, we are so far from doing what is necessary, but we should begin thinking about possible alternatives for the future.
Focusing currently on Sharia is an idea. Deport anyone that promotes it, in any form, close any mosque that supports or teaches Sharia. Deport any Muslim family that does not allow a member of that family to leave Islam if they so choose. Chip away at the enforcement that allows Islam to survive in the first place.
Michael Shaw says
Timmy, that is good thinking.
PRCS USN (ret) says
IMO, the faw in your suggestion:
Benign practices like praying fasting, and wiping their butts with the left hand are legal in the U.S.
The *divine* amputation of a human beings hand and foot on opposite sides (Qur’an 5:33), for example, is not.
Timmy says
The biggest problem, full stop, is no freedom of religion. Any human born in America, in a Muslim family, automatically is denied their right to freedom of religion. Their own family, or others close to them, will kill that person if they “choose” to not be a Muslim, or even worse, choose to follow Christ.
Trying to pick and choose through the insanely long list of requirements associated with Sharia is a non-starter, it all has to go.
As for wiping their butts, look up the chef in UK who was contaminating food due to his wiping practices.
And even foot washing! They bring that disgusting practice into public restrooms, putting their disgusting feet in sinks, getting water all over the floor, etc. Then infidels have to use those restrooms?!? So what then, set up a special separate space for the Muslims to wash their filthy feet? It NEVER ends.
Timmy says
An excellent article indeed.
The brainwashing by modern liberalism into multiculturalism has worked to such a degree that the average Western citizen no longer has that most basic instinct common to all living things, self-preservation.
Nothing short of an actual miracle from the God of the Bible, not Allah, can save the West at this point.
Wellington says
Yes, worse. Far worse.
somehistory says
Not just islime….but it has brought with it a loss of the view that there is a sacredness of life.
Just reading the various conversations after the one lone juror….whom the supporters of the murderous mom excoriated for reports that he hadn’t paid his rent and he shoved his nephew…caused the murderer to have to wiait for another trial, lets me know that we are living in evil times.
I knew it before, but this is evil on steroids.
clancy is not the only one who has murdered her children recently. There are so many. and the murderers are getting the sympathy for what they have done and claim to be “suffering.”
If I wasn’t sure of the final outcome, I’d despair.
somehistory says
And an example of those who are bringing the “demise and suicide”
“CNN anchor Dana Bash lamented on Thursday the findings in a new poll out of Michigan that 45% of the electorate would not vote for a Muslim candidate, calling it “just gross.”
She doesn’t see it acceptable. I recall conversations showing fear of the first Catholic becoming president. there was no reason for that fear…..but with the objections of muzzies, there are a gazillion *reasons*.
““And then the question, which kind of goes to the strategy here, perhaps, by some voters who are thinking about the balance of power in Washington: ‘What is your preference for party control in the US Senate?’ Democratic, 53. Republican, 45,” Bash said, adding:
Now let’s get to what you were just talking about, Nia. “Would not consider voting for a presidential candidate who is…” Atheist, 46%. Muslim, 45%. Jewish, 20%. Christian, 7%. These are Michigan voters, the people who are going to go to the polls to decide between Rogers and El-Sayed. 45%?
“Yeah, I mean, listen — Barack Obama had to deal with this, right? I mean, he had to deal with the reality that some people in 2008 were not comfortable voting for a Black man for president, a Black man that people thought was Muslim, and all that kind of stuff,” replied”
Bloomberg columnist Nia Malika-Henderson, who added:
So, you know, if you listen to Abdul El-Sayed, he says, “Oh, there are many Abduls in Michigan, and take my name out your mouth if you can’t say it correctly.” But the reality is there are biases out there, and he’s got to figure out a way to address them. It doesn’t help that he is essentially campaigning with Hasan Piker.
“Well, yeah, I mean, he did — he did one time. Now he’s trying to distance himself-ish. It’s one thing to sort of suggest that; it’s another thing to say — to have respondents from this poll, 45% say they would not consider voting for a Muslim. First of all, it’s just gross, right?” Bash added.”
:”distance himself-ish”?
These women are fools.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/just-gross-cnn-s-dana-bash-taken-aback-by-poll-on-how-many-people-would-not-vote-for-a-muslim/ar-AA2cssJu?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6aac6ae8ee5147e8b7acf8da596b12f1&ei=7
Timmy says
NPR had a similarly disgusting story today:
Growing number of GOP candidates are using anti-Muslim rhetoric on the campaign trail
September 17, 20264:45 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition
By Barbara Sprunt, Leila Fadel
3-Minute Listen, Transcript
Anti-Muslim rhetoric has become increasingly common on the campaign trail at a moment when many Republicans are eager to shift attention away from the economy.
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5961533
Fadel is a Muslim from Lebanon, uses her soft voice to propagandize the naive…
—
LEILA FADEL, BYLINE: Over the last few months, anti-Muslim rhetoric has found a solid foothold in GOP messaging. Muslims, who make up about 1% of the population, are being made into a bogeyman in many of these political ads.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #1: Radical Islam is taking root in Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #2: Radical Islam is incompatible with the West.
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #3: They don’t think we deserve the right to exist as Americans or as Christians.
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #4: Hate our way of life. They want Sharia law.
UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #5: Oklahoma is next.
FADEL: And this bigotry has been met with virtually no condemnation from Republicans. NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprunt has been following all this and joins me now. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA SPRUNT, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: So you’ve spent a lot of time looking at campaign ads for Republicans around the country who’ve been using anti-Muslim rhetoric. What stands out to you?
SPRUNT: I mean, it’s striking to me how explicit those ads are. They basically are saying radical Islam is infiltrating our communities – our way of life is at stake. They traffic in really ugly language. And experts on political speech say that that language can lead to real harm, real threats.
FADEL: Especially the last two decades, there’s been this kind of sentiment in our politics and in policies. But what’s been shocking to me has been how blatant it is. I mean, is it growing right now?
SPRUNT: Yes. I mean, the experts that I spoke to will say it is growing. And…
FADEL: Yeah.
SPRUNT: We see this partly because, in more recent years, the success of some Muslim politicians. You know, you have Mayor Zohran Mamdani in New York, Abdul El-Sayed, who just won the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan. And people who track this type of hateful language have found that after both of those elections, anti-Muslim speech skyrocketed among Republican politicians.
But it’s a little too simplistic to sort of lay this at the feet of successful Muslim politicians. This is really just one piece of a bigger puzzle. And this new chapter of anti-Muslim hate really traces back about two years to a Muslim community-development project in Texas that got a lot of attention and investigations and lawsuits from Texas Republicans. And the language around that development was intensely focused on, quote, Sharia law, and it sort of acted as a nexus and spread out from there.
FADEL: And it spread to Congress as well. I mean, there’s a Sharia-Free America Caucus on the Hill with dozens of GOP members, which to me is striking, given that Sharia refers to Islamic rules for the way practicing Muslims live their life. How is this being distorted in the ads that you looked at?
SPRUNT: The way that some Republicans are talking about Sharia is as though it’s something that can be superimposed on the American legal system, and that’s just not the case. And the fear-mongering about Sharia echoes the ideas of great replacement, the conspiracy theory that white populations in Western countries are being replaced by nonwhite populations for political purposes. And this theory is linked to deadly attacks of various minority communities in the U.S. You know…
FADEL: Yeah.
SPRUNT: We’ve seen it in San Diego, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, El Paso.
FADEL: It is dangerous. But politically speaking, is it an effective messaging strategy?
SPRUNT: Well, this is a question I actually put to Vinny Minchillo. He’s a Republican consultant. He’s done work for President Trump in the past. And he said, you know, motivating issues for voters are typically either hope or fear. This would be the fear. And there’s another component he mentioned.
VINNY MINCHILLO: Let’s be honest. If you look at any poll anywhere in the country, people’s No. 1 concern is economy and inflation. So for those of us on the Republican side, gee, if we can have a problem to talk about that’s not economy and inflation, we’re excited to put that in the message set.
SPRUNT: But others see this as sort of shortsighted – you know, that it weakens the inroads that Republicans have made in more conservative pockets of Muslim communities. Plus, a lot of American voters who aren’t Muslim are just as disturbed and offended by this hate speech.
FADEL: Well, that’s NPR’s Barbara Sprunt. Thank you, Barbara.
SPRUNT: Thank you.
Beans🫘 says
That election will be much more about Israel and aipac than a Muslim. The polls look great for such a maniac. If Abdul wins, the bottom will fall out for this Israel issue and the sheeple will begin parroting like we’ve never seen. “Israel bad aipac bad”.
They will vote for any person who simply is more anti Israel. The people are so stupid as a whole, they have no clue. This is so dangerous about how obsessed they are with Israel . Israel is not a big deal folks. Neither is Palestine. What is this mass psychosis about? It’s just brainwashing and parroting propaganda left and right.
This stupid issue will carve this country apart in the purple states.
somehistory says
Hungary is changing. Orban is out. Per Glenn Beck
https://glennbeck.com/watch/videos/what-hungary-just-did-to-conservatives-is-a-stark-warning-for-america-guests-salena-zito-marissa-streit-91726?utm_source=Recurring%20%7C%202026-09-17%20%7C%20PM_Newsletter_Recurring&utm_medium=
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Yeah, that happened a few weeks ago. But as far as the refusal to let mohammedans into Hungary, that policy continues unchanged. I’m not sure about their internal policies, but the main thing that has changed is their attitude towards Russia. Orban ensured that Hungary would veto punitive anti-Russian measures, but Peter Magyar – the new leader – is fine w/ the anti-Putin policies of the EU
ploome says
meanwhile,
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/09/17/cnns-bash-just-gross-45-of-mi-electorate-wont-vote-for-a-muslim/
And then the question, which kind of goes to the strategy here, perhaps, by some voters who are thinking about the balance of power in Washington:
‘What is your preference for party control in the US Senate?
Democratic 53, Republican 45.
Now let’s get to what you were just talking about, Nia.
‘Would NOT consider voting for a presidential candidate who is,’
Atheist 46%,
Muslim 45%,
Jewish 20%,
Christian 7%.
These are Michigan voters, the people who are going to go to the polls to decide between Rogers and El-Sayed. 45%?”
OLD GUY says
Islam is a questionable form of religion if you can call it one at all. It is more of a political ideology that wants to control all human beings on earth. And what Islam does to women and young girls is unbelievably wicked and cruel. If we MEN in America love our wives and daughters it is time to standup and pass laws that ban islam in America and defend them seriously. One thing America has going for it is the huge number of previous military trained civilians who are armed and know how to protect themselves. As the saying goes lock and load and keep your powder dry fellow veterans.
Beans🫘 says
I’m in Texas. If you came to my block and sat on the porch with me on Saturday’s and Sunday’s you’d be scared as hell.
The family across the street is Syrian, when all their family comes together there is a sea of little Muslims who take over the block. Like 50 kids, very young. It’s amazing to see. That’s only one house.
I’m sure there is teenagers we haven’t seen, and older kids in college. But just these ones ages 2-14 are a horde of Muslims. They’ll all be Texas voters one day, and have 50 kids of their own. This is just spamming people how they do us. You never find these. People working a normal job like a factory or construction. They’re all some kind of nonprofit, charity , something that takes money in and does very little work.
somehistory says
More on the suicide front. from The Daily Caller
“Story by Mark Tanos ”
“‘Officials remove Republican candidate from forum after ‘misgendering’ transgender Rep Sarah McBride”
“A Republican House hopeful got the boot from a Delaware candidate forum after twice refusing to use female pronouns for his transgender Democratic rival.
Joseph “Dr. Joe” Arminio lost his spot on the stage Thursday night at a forum run by the Jewish Federation of Delaware at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville, according to WDEL. He is challenging Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride, the first openly transgender member of the U.S. House, for the state’s lone congressional seat in November.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/officials-remove-republican-candidate-from-forum-after-misgendering-transgender-rep-sarah-mcbride/ar-AA2cx4HD?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6aadd7a971f4430aa3423c0fa9fb2b6d&ei=6
somehistory says
And another step from he idiot governor of VA She wants pretend girls….really males…to compete with girls in sports.
“A governor takes back proposed protections for girls’ sports
Fox News political analyst Gianno Caldwell slams Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger as the state rolls back policies for girls’ sports. Caldwell also weighs in on antisemitism allegations against the New York Times. ”
”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/va-governor-takes-back-proposed-protections-for-girls-sports/vi-AA2cwyPH?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6aadd7a971f4430aa3423c0fa9fb2b6d&ei=25
Rob R says
We have more technology and achievements so we have more to lose.
Its worse for us to end up in the gutter
The Romans didnt have any of our technology they just had theatre by candlelight and other sh*t