By Selwyn Duke

Tradition is, noted philosopher G.K. Chesterton, “democracy extended through time.” It also is something else: under assault in the West. And Britain, in particular, is going nuclear on its time-honored and -dictated traditions.

In fact, it seems every week there’s another story about how the U.K. is trashing its culture. This is, too, say critics, a result of an unholy alliance between leftists and a foreign culture: the Islamic one.

Consider, for example, the Bank of England’s recent announcement that it will be removing Winston Churchill from its £5 note. Churchill, of course, is arguably one of Britain’s greatest statesmen, credited with helping defeat the Nazis during WWII.

But perhaps the chucking of Churchill isn’t surprising. After all, back in 2014 already, a British politician was arrested for publicly quoting some of Churchill’s words. It isn’t just Churchill, either. All historical figures will be removed from the U.K.’s next generation of £5, £10, £20, and £50 polymer notes.

But, hey, history is so, well, yesterday (or the day before yesterday). Why, a poll found that over a third of British teenagers couldn’t even identify some of Churchill’s most famous words.

And what will replace these historical figures? Animals, plants, or landscapes will (relevant tweet below), with hedgehogs, puffins, and badgers mentioned.

Given this cultural surrender, though, critics may say that other animals are more appropriate. The chicken, hyena, fainting goat, rat, scorpion, and donkey come to mind.

“There’s No England Anymore”

Or maybe the extinct dodo. Churchill, you see, is perfectly symbolic of the Britain now considered passé. This isn’t just because he said some unflattering things about Islam, but because he’s a dreaded dead white male. Many sharing this quality are besieged, mind you. Another example is the U.K.’s most famous writer, William Shakespeare, who was attacked last year.

Speaking of which, however, live white males are taking it on the chin in Britain, too. (See the illustrative tweet below.)

Then there’s the recent announcement regarding the House of Lords. No, it isn’t being eliminated, as some sources claim. But it is nixing its 92 remaining hereditary seats. The vast majority, 667-plus — filled by those appointed for life by the monarch on the prime minister’s advice — will remain.

Now, this may seem reasonable. After all, having seats occupied by nobility, there just by accident of birth, isn’t very democratic — or republican. Yet there are issues.

First, further shedding tradition isn’t a good idea when your country is already dissolving culturally all around you. Second, I’m guessing these swells are probably just a tad less woke than the life appointees prime ministers deliver.

But then there’s something else. Is the real issue that the remaining hereditary seat holders are 100 percent male and white? Would this be happening if Britain hadn’t been flooded with Third World (im)migrants, a phenomenon that, an ex-aide to former U.K. prime minister Tony Blair admitted in 2009, was designed to “rub the right’s nose in diversity and render their arguments out of date”? “Paranoid” critics, such as the below tweeters, may wonder.

And “what’s next?” asks commentator M. Walter (who deserves a hat tip for all the above) rhetorically. “Disowning the Magna Carta?” Actually, this is next….

Don’t Draw Jesus

From the You Can’t Make This Up file comes the following gem:

It’s even worse than the above indicates, however. This Labour (Britain’s major liberal party) warning includes a recommendation to not even draw Jesus Christ. The issue?

Muslims consider Jesus a prophet, so depicting Him could offend them.

Never mind that millennia of Christian tradition has included loving and reverent depictions of Jesus. Britain isn’t Christian anymore.

Next, and in this vein, the aforementioned Walter writes that now,

1,000 years of Christian worship and tradition, defended by blood and sword for ten centuries, [have been] absolutely defiled, and [this is] endorsed by a Prime Minister. [Emphasis in original.]

He’s talking about this:

Walter then adds:

The cut-off text reads:

labelled “Big Iftar at Westminster 2026,” was organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims.

How does this happen? Walter presents the following explanation and warning:

“Pray to God for England and the rest of the United Kingdom,” Walter then concludes, “as they’ve clearly forgotten who brung them to the dance, are under verbal and physical attack, and may not survive. Quite literally.” The commentator then closes with the below.

The Real Enemy

This brings us back to Churchill. Reporting on his currency demotion, commentator Andrea Widburg implies that his actual “sin” is something he wrote back in 1899. As she relates, quoting from his book The River War:

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia [rabies] in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. … No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith.

My, my, calling Islam “Mohammedanism”? That’s a cancel-worthy offense in today’s Britain.

This said, the real problem with the West is Westerners. (And, yes, the same woke forces are still at work in the United States and elsewhere.) We wouldn’t currently be imperiled by alien cultures had we not ourselves become alien to what made the West great. We have not been sunk by outside forces. We are sinking in the cultural quicksand of godlessness, relativism, hedonism, and general immorality. Culture wars are won by the passionate, not those who prefer decadence to their own democracy extended through time.

This article was originally published at The New American.