Europe: Sweet and Sour

Kate with one of many statues in Luxembourg

Sweet... Having spent the last two weeks with our granddaughter Kate traveling throughout the Low Countries (Benelux) I could post literally hundreds of photos of various cathedrals, castles and museums; however, if I did that I'd have nothing to bore friends with upon our return on May 1st. Instead I'll post a few that are representative of what we've been experiencing.

One is struck by how much of our western culture is based on religious buildings and icons located in Europe. Indeed after a few days trudging through many marvelous cathedrals from the 11th to the 15th centuries, one is in awe of the talent, dedication and creativity of the Catholic Church and its followers. Makes one speculate what might have happened had Martin Luther not have spoiled the party.

Lunch in Maaseik

Luxembourg

I titled this post Europe Sweet and Sour. Our two weeks has indeed been sweet. Not only are the historical surrounds "sweet and enjoyable" so are the food, music and people. Expensive, but sweet!

Belgian Chocolate and profiteroles ... sweet indeed!

It is no secret that I am afraid of heights. I was delighted to learn that both Kate and Jill feel the same way. This helped hide my girlish screams as we looked out over Ghent from 20 stories high on the ancient bell tower. I can't imagine what it must have been like for masons to work at such elevations with no OSHA!

Ghent Cathedral from bell tower

Opposing view

The castle in Ghent, unlike others, actually looks and feels like the castles we've all experienced in Hollywood films. It is cold, damp and has a very scary dungeon. Those two peaking from under the parapet are tourists trying to stay dry.

Cathedral in Ghent

14th century Guild Bldg. Ghent

We are staying in a small village named Maaseik (River Mass and Oaks- seik). It is a charming place full of very nice and expansive homes with great restaurants and shops. To catch a train to anyplace in the Netherlands we drive 20 kilometers to the train station in Weert. To catch a Belgium train, we drive 20 kilometers the opposite direction to Genk. A ticket for a senior (moi and Jill) is only 5 euros!!! Yesterday we travelled the width of Belgium to Brugge. It was very cold and wet. More on this in the next blog.


Sour... Unfortunately the joy of experiencing the beautiful iconic cathedrals ... the inspiring art work and lovely towns and villages of Europe is soured by the fear of what may soon happen to them. Already a huge, although not yet a majority, population of many European cities are Muslim. It is estimated, for example, that by 2030 Muslims will be in the majority in Brussels. In a recent interview on TV the head of the Sharia Now (Muslim Law) group was asked what white Belgians could do to stop this trend. Smirking, he replied ... "I suppose white males could take on four wives and start making babies, but even at that we will still take charge by 2030." I can hear the politically correct Kool Aid drinkers groaning that Muslims are peaceful people and we should not be alarmed ... to that I say there may indeed be peaceful Muslims but they have been cowed into silence by the extremists who are dominating their religion. They will not act in defiance of the radicals just as peace-loving Germans overtaken by the Nazis in the 30's. In the same interview, mentioned above, the head of Sharia Now (named Mohammed no doubt just like 40% of all male babies born in Belgium last year) said that the West should not worry about the fact that Sharia Law calls for amputation and stoning for various offenses ... "After all" he said "there have only been about 75 amputations in the last couple of hundred years under Sharia."

This Muslim thing really bothers me. What concerns me the most is that Europeans don't seem too concerned by the storm that's coming. I've
discussed this with European friends and they confirm there is little sense
of urgency because most believe there is nothing that can be done.

The problem, of course, is political correctness combined with German guilt over WWII. It will be hard for Germany to take a leadership roll in what needs to be done because the Left will climb all over them using that guilt to block any serious action. To solve this problem will take political courage. I don't think the solution is too difficult but it will be almost impossible for politicians, whose main objective is to get re-elected, to pass the laws that will be required to stop the Muslims.

The biggest problem is oil! If Euros instituted a program to solve the problem, the Saudis and all other Muslim oil exporting countries would institute a ban and sell to the Chinese and others. So they'd need to be ready to go to war or for the USA to step up and start drilling. The US and Canada have more oil than all of the Middle East countries combined. Here again, not hard to do if a country has courageous politicians... and that's a BIG 'if'!

Before and after peace loving Muslims

Lest you think I'm an alarmist I suggest you recall that at one time not long
ago, high up along the Afghan border there were two massive Buddhist
statues carved several hundred years ago in limestone cliffs. These were
remarkable works of ancient art. They no longer exist because Muslim
extremists blew them apart because the Koran states there should be no
religious images. Think about all of the beautiful religious statuary that exists in Europe. The incredible cathedrals with their priceless icons. The ancient
paintings by some of the world's great masters. What will happen to them
should Europe fail to awaken in time? What will happen to western culture? Need more proof ... look what's happening to Christian churches in the Middle East after the so-called Arab Spring ... Spring indeed.