Operational Dialectics: Utilizing the Enemy

By Kerry Bolton

It is time to re-evaluate the effectiveness of attacking certain symptoms of Europe's decline head-on, and consider how the virus might be reformulated as a medicine. Can what is killing us be transmuted into something that can bring us back to life?

The traditional, conservative "Old Right", of which I do not think the OJB can be a part, has generally attempted to take its enemies head-on and has failed in the process. Fortunately, a
"New Right" has emerged in Europe which is dialectical, and has not started from ANY ideological preconceptions. It is "NEW" in the sense of dispensing with old Right dichotomies, yet its dialectical approach parallels that of original fascism. Of course, Fascism was born not of the Old Right of its own time, but of its own synthesis.

Christianity

From a dialectical perspective perhaps it is time for Pagans, including Satanists, to rethink their polemics against Christianity, especially when anti-Christianism becomes a preoccupation, obscuring the realities of history and the development of positive and effective strategies.
Satanism is still too much in the clutches of Church and Hollywood stereotypes, and renders itself irrelevant to the struggle for European rebirth. It too often sees itself ultimately engaged in a Biblical Armageddon scenario against the mass forces of Christianity. Thus the Satanist will, "on principle" eschew any association with Christians, however nominal their Christianity, who are fighting for European rebirth. They will refrain from joining any European Nationalist movements and parties, merely because some leader might make occasional referances to Christian Civilization, or adopt some Christian symbol which has been thoroughly imbued with the traditional essence of a nation, and often has pre-Christian origins anyway.

Thereby European-oriented Satanists and other Pagans put themselves on the sidelines, while the nominal "Christians" do the front-line fighting. What is to be offered in return? Satanist political parties? Satan or the hustings? A grand vision of a pentagram being unfurled over Europe after some imagined armageddon?

Fascism

Think dialectically. When the church sought to convert Pagan Europe, it soon gave up trying to ban Pagan festivals, slandering Pagan heroes and deities, destroying Pagan symbols. Rather its real successes came by co-opting Pagan aspects to subvert Pagans. The old Pagan heroes became Christian "Saints" such as St. George, Pagan symbols such as the Celtic cross became Church symbols, and of course the Pagan festivals such as Yule and Easter became Christian festivals.
But despite the tremendous damage done to Europe by Christianity, and the fundamental way Europe was hijacked from its destiny, the process was not entirely one way. Blood will out, and Christianity was itself not immune to the impress of European race and culture. A Gothic Christianity emerged re-expressing the old Pagan ethos of honour and duty as "chivalry". "Christian" became synonymous with European, especially relative to "outsiders" such as the Muslim and the Jew. Learned "Christian" teachers such as Meister Eckhart expressed fundamentally Germanic mystical concepts of Godhood. The Guildmen left their Pagan "Masons Marks" (including pentagrams and Runes) on the Cathedrals they built.

Those who saw European rebirth realistically had to do so within the context of this tradition. As deplorable as it might be, we must deal with facts rather than wishful thinking.

Fascism was essentially a Pagan resurgence. Mussolini and Gentile explained it basically as a grand synthesis of all the major currents of European thought. Thus the most avid traditionalist and the most fanatical futurist were encompassed within the same movement, and both contributed to a new Fascist culture. Whilst the ethos that was revived was undoubtedly, robustly, Roman, Fascism also healed the breech between the state and the Vatican, without which there could be no national unity.
Even the NSDAP programme made mention of "positive Christianity", as a means of countering materialism, seen as the "Jewish spirit from within and without". Hitler often used the term "Christian" as synonymous for German and Aryan, as distinct from Jewish. Rosenburg considered ways in which a Germanic Christianity could be established in the tradition of such heretics as Eckart, and by replacing the Old Testament with the sagas, and purging the New of the influence of Paul.

Yet, to Hitler, it was "the same old Jewish swindle", and Rosenburg eventually advocated a Reich Church which would replace the Bible with Mein Kampf, and the crucifix with the sword and swastika. But for the most part they had to speak the language of the common folk. A head-on attack against Christianity would have divided the folk still further along religious lines. Hitler rightly saw Christianity as senile, a dying creed, and believed a new generation with a new folkish faith, would replace the old, making Christianity defunct within a few generations.

Many Fascist movements developed from Catholic reform movements per se. This is not to accept the idiotic notion of these mostly American "Libertarian Satanists" (sic) who consider Fascism itself as Christian. Rather the Catholic Church continued to embody certain European traditions, such as the Guild method of social organization, which developed into Corporativist policy of Fascism. Examples include Father Coughlin, the American "radio priest" who formed a Fascist Mass following in Depression America (ultimately to be silenced by his Church superiors). Adrian Arcand in Canada started as a Catholic journalist and went on to form a National Socialist Party (for which he was jailed during the war). Likewise, Leon Degrelle in Belgium started the Rexist Movement. Yet to hear some Pagans and Satanists, who profess faith in Europe, someone like Degrelle (highly decorated Waffen SS hero, of whom Hitler said if he'd had a son he'd wish him to be just like Degrelle) would be dismissed as one of the "Christian Enemy"!

Dialectical

There are yet others who adopted the full trappings of their Nations' religious tradition whilst espousing some form of Fascism, and did so in a conscious, dialectical manner. Even Charles Maurras, founder of "Action Francais" during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was himself an Atheist. Yet his own movement, a precursor of French Fascism, was considered as traditional Catholic. In the same country, in our time, Le Pens National Front celebrates Joan de Arc as their Patron Saint in massive demonstrations of French Nationalism. Le Pen calls for the defence of "Christian Civilization" as synonymous with European Civilization. Yet Le Pen himself (according to his ex-wife) will not have a crucifix in the house, and has stated he'd rather have his children educated by socialists than Catholic Priests.

Reclaiming Our Heritage

The most effective way of reclaiming our heritage from the Christians is not to direct anti-Christian invective towards an indifferent or hostile public, or to alienate fellow Nationalists. It is to adopt the Churches original tactic. Just as the Church subverted Pagan Europe by hijacking its symbols and Heroes; Pagans might consider how a Gothic Christianity can be utilized in the service of Europe, while expressing a fundamentally Pagan character of European Nationalism, whatever its fundamental Christian trappings. Simultaneously, this does not mean that Pagans must abandon their creeds or refrain from presenting them as integral to the ultimate destiny of Europe. The European New Right, particularly influential among French intellectual and cultural circles, from the start rejected "Judeo Christianity" in favour of "Indo Europeanism" with a particular affinity to Ancient Greece. Certain movements, such as C.Bouches "Nouvelle Resistance", are anti-Christian and cultivate esoteric links.

A two-pronged strategy should be pursued, using the emerging European Nationalist Parties, whatever their Christian facade; whilst continuing to propagate the ultimate vision of a Pagan Europe. Whatever Christianity many Nationalists claim to profess, the very fact of their Nationalism is a repudation of Christian dogma, which is nothing but universalist and egalitarian.

The options are many, when a simplified dichotomy is abandoned. Perhaps we can apply the "Bach Remedy" to politics, and use a little of the poison to obtain a cure?