This analysis offers a compelling perspective. When evaluating Christianity today, it becomes evident that what we now experience is merely a distant echo of the religion’s former influence. The state dismantling of the Catholic Church by the Tudors in England, the sweeping changes of the Protestant Reformation, and the revolutionary fervor of France in the late 18th century all contributed to the fragmentation of a once-monolithic institution. The Catholic Church, which held a totalitarian grip on much of Western civilization for over a millennium, is now a shadow of its former self, and the intellectual landscape that dismembered it was shaped by towering figures such as Pasquale Paoli, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Karl Marx. Marx’s ideas continued to influence global thought well into the late 20th century, while Paoli, though less well-known today, played a key role in shaping the democratic ideals that would give birth to the United States.
Amid these intellectual giants, figures like Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 18th century and Aleister Crowley in the early 20th century worked insidiously to undermine the remnants of Christian ideology. While their influence may have been more cultural than political, their ideas nevertheless contributed to the erosion of Christian influence. Curiously, there seems to be a connection between Crowley’s legacy and the extreme right movements in Europe, such as Brexit, as well as in Russia and among certain elites in Silicon Valley.
In contrast, Islam remains a more insular and cohesive system. It is possible that Islam may fare well in the late 21st century, partly due to its social structure, where the segregation of men and women contributes to higher birth rates. Moreover, Islam has demonstrated a remarkable resilience against 21st-century military technology. Over the past two decades, Islamic forces have managed to outlast and, in many ways, defeat the vastly superior military power of the United States in both Iraq and Afghanistan, despite operating with only a fraction of the military budget. This is a lesson China, currently facing its own struggles with Islamic populations in its western regions, would do well to heed. The Ummah, it seems, cannot be easily subdued—neither by advanced weaponry nor by the state-building efforts of foreign powers, as the failed Project for the New American Century demonstrates. After six trillion dollars in expenditures, no meaningful progress has been made, highlighting the futility of such endeavors.
Looming over these geopolitical dynamics is the specter of Peak Oil. The inevitable decline in oil production will likely trigger a massive economic downturn, particularly for Western economies that are heavily reliant on this resource. As the world attempts to transition away from oil, the resulting instability will lead to widespread loss of prosperity in the West. In this scenario, Islam, much like the Barbarians at the gates of the Roman Empire or the Mongols beyond the Great Wall of China, may be better positioned to endure the economic unraveling that will accompany the end of the Oil Age.
