By: Dr Andreja Valič Zver
Events overtake one another, the world spins ever faster, and thank God for Advent, which is meant to be a time when we at least slow our pace a little. The inner preparation for the coming of God’s Son is outwardly expressed in the lighting of candles, baking of cookies, thoughts of setting up nativity scenes and Christmas trees, and above all in meetings with people we would like to embrace and accompany into the New Year with good wishes. During Advent, towns and villages dress in festive attire and celebrate the approaching birth of Jesus, which is characteristic of the Christian cultural‑civilisational circle. Yet the culture of death and destruction, which in Slovenia was knocked out in the recent referendum on assisted suicide, tries every year to stain and spoil the beauty of Advent.
About the tasteless Janković‑style brass bands on Prešeren Square in front of the Franciscan church and about Magnifico’s concert – well, well – on Christmas Day itself, even the sparrows are already chirping. As if the mayor of Ljubljana, with his phalanx, wanted in this way to further humiliate the citizens of Ljubljana and indeed all Slovenians, who once gladly came to see the famous nativity scene at the Franciscans, stroll along the Ljubljanica, and enjoy the authentic Advent atmosphere. Nowadays, many no longer even think of going into Janković’s enclave. Klagenfurt, Graz, Salzburg, Zagreb, Budapest, and other Central European cities, where Advent is still clothed in Christian joyful expectation, are within easy reach. Yet year by year the feeling grows that Europeans are not safe, especially not at Advent venues. Past terrorist attacks have reinforced fear, which is in fact the aim of attackers against the European way of life. Let us not pretend, as authorities like to do, but say aloud that in most cases the attackers shouted “Allahu Akbar,” that they were “imported” in the wave of Merkel’s migrations since 2015, or descendants of radicalised newcomers. Let us not deceive ourselves that they are not among us, if, of course, the reports of dormant Hamas cells with secret weapons caches in Austria, Germany, and elsewhere have not yet convinced us.
I especially emphasise turning a blind eye by Western European authorities, which the more farsighted have been warning about for years. The fact is that today it is much safer to spend and celebrate Advent in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary than in Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, or the Netherlands. The seat of EU institutions has a special place in this regard, serving up new oddities every year. The leftist city government with its socialist mayor naturally blesses the most extreme “projects,” just to shame and humiliate the Christian tradition and those who respect and celebrate it. Let us recall only the plastic Christmas tree in blood‑red colours on Brussels’ main square a few years ago, or the inscriptions “Merry Whatever” instead of “Merry Christmas.” This year the leftist scene on the central Brussels square devised special “nativity scenes” in the form of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph without faces. Instead, there are some kind of stickers, which the authors explained as “diversity, inclusiveness, multiculturalism.” Well, the figure of the Baby Jesus was already stolen overnight from this Augean stable of nonsense and leftist “constructivist” distortion. Incidentally – and not by chance – Hamas sympathisers also added their share with an orgy on the main square at the lighting of the Christmas lights and the start of “festive December.” The pro‑Palestinian cult of death and destruction, it seems, must now be present everywhere in the leftist agenda.
Yet despite everything, this column ends with a message of hope, peace, warmth, and expectation. Dear readers, may the troubles of this world not weigh you down. May Advent, despite everything, strengthen you in God’s peace, and may the culture of life triumph within you over the culture of death, which we have just rejected, and strengthen you also in the conviction that it is worth striving and fighting for our original heritage!