German Democracy on the Brink

The far-right Alternative für Deutschland won a massive victory in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt yesterday in a blow that threatens to destroy German democracy.

• Exit polls indicate the AfD won 44.5 percent of the vote, more than double its closest rival, the mainstream ruling cdu.

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What’s the problem with the AfD? Many look at its stance against mass migration and its pro-family values and applaud. But its attitude toward Germany’s Nazi history is most disturbing.

Hans-Thomas Tillschneider will be in charge of education in Saxony-Anhalt if the AfD gets its way. A radical change in how history is taught is a core AfD policy:

• Tillschneider says the focus on Germany’s Nazi past is “not good,” and he plans to teach “more Bismarck, less Hitler.”
• He wants to convey “a sense of the otherness of the past”—in other words, disconnecting Germany’s Nazi history from the present day.
• The party also wants to change how Germans view actual Nazi soldiers. Their program in Saxony-Anhalt states: “Fallen soldiers gave their lives to defend their country. Recognizing and honoring this great sacrifice is a first sign of a patriotic turnaround.”

These are just the statements that relate to one election in one state. Their “patriotic turnaround” means reviving Germany’s Nazi history.

The big question: Will they have a majority in the state legislature? No party has ever had enough support to govern Saxony-Anhalt without a coalition. That this is even a possibility for the AfD shows the astonishing level of support it has gained.

Unlike America and Britain, German elections are proportional: The AfD won 44.5 percent of the votes, so it will control 44.5 percent of the seats in the state parliament, just short of a majority. But:

• Any party that gets less than 5 percent of the vote receives no seats in Parliament.
• With the AfD close to 50 percent, the level of support for smaller parties will be the deciding factor. If several fall just short of the 5 percent threshold, then 44.5 percent will be enough to gain a majority.
• Current projections show the AfD receiving 39 seats, three short of a majority.

Saxony-Anhalt could now be ungovernable. Almost all the other parties have promised not to work with the AfD. But the only way to block them from office is if every other party works together. Among other awkward arrangements, this would require the CDU to work with the Left Party, the successor of the East German Communist Party, and viewed as extreme as the AfD.

The result could end Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He won leadership of the cdu by promising to cut support for the AfD in half. In this election, it more than doubled.

• Only 13 percent of Germans are satisfied with his performance as chancellor according to the latest Forsa poll; 85 percent are dissatisfied. This falls even below the record low set by his predecessor, Olaf Scholz.

From Russia with love: Close relations with Russia were a major feature of the campaign—which is unusual, since state legislatures have little to do with foreign policy. The AfD’s focus shows the broad appeal, especially in the East, of Germany breaking out from the U.S. alliance system and siding with Russia. Germany is already working with Russia behind the scenes, but the AfD wants something more public.

Can German democracy survive? Postwar Germany was set up by the Allies to be a Nazi-free democracy. But what if democratic majorities begin voting for neo-Nazis? You can’t keep the Nazis out without ending democracy.

• Germany has already responded with draconian restrictions on free speech. Courts or the federal government may now take further measures and could even ban the AfD outright.
• But in keeping out neo-Nazis, Germany’s elite would wield absolute power, and voters could do little about it.

“If a real crisis develops, will the Germans call for a new führer?” editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in one of the earliest issues of the Philadelphia Trumpet. “Your Bible says that is going to happen!” Now half of one German state just voted for that to happen.

• However, the man Mr. Flurry has pointed to since 2009 as most likely to fill that specific role is not from the AfD. This result shows the strong appetite for a charismatic leader who returns Germany to its roots, but an AfD candidate probably will not be the one to finally satiate that craving.

Daniel 11:21 says the German people “shall not give” this coming leader “the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”

• “This man doesn’t come to power the honorable way—by being voted into office,” Mr. Flurry wrote in November 2002. “He takes it dishonorably! He will work behind the scenes and come to power by flatteries—not votes!”

Yesterday’s vote signals a crisis in German democracy, as well as Germans’ appetite for radical change. This strongman could arrive very soon. Our free booklet A Strong German Leader Is Imminent reveals what the Bible says is coming in German politics.

What the Clancy Mistrial Exposes

Eleven jurors were reportedly ready to excuse her. A crowdfunding page has already raised $800,000 to celebrate her.

Friday, a Massachusetts judge declared a mistrial in the case of Lindsay Clancy, the nurse who admitted to strangling her three children—Cora, 5; Dawson, 3; and Callan, 8 months—in the family basement in 2023.

• After 38 hours of deliberation over seven days, the jury told the court it could not reach a unanimous verdict. Defense attorney Kevin Reddington claimed 11 jurors leaned toward finding Clancy not criminally responsible due to postpartum psychosis.

One juror, a man, would not agree. The defense wanted him gone. Reddington asked Massachusetts’s highest court to remove the holdout and finish deliberations with an alternate. His filing accused the juror of bias against people with “debilitating mental illness.”

• The court refused. The district attorney now decides whether to retry her.

The verdict among those gathered outside the courthouse was never in doubt. Hundreds of supporters demonstrated there throughout the trial, some raising more than $800,000 for Clancy, chanting that they loved her.

• Clancy’s guilt is certain. She pled guilty to the murders. A psychologist testified to premeditation. Still, a visible and vocal slice of the country has decided a mother strangling her own children deserves not horror and punishment but sympathy and support.

This case puts on full display how morally lost we become when we, like Eve in the garden, replace God’s definition of good and evil with our own.

• Throughout the Bible, God says abortion is murder. People disagreed. First, they reasoned abortion was OK in rare cases like rape. Then they said anytime in the first trimester. Then right up to birth. They defended abortion as an unalienable right, a virtuous freedom.
• Bereft of natural affection, they then defended infanticide: Democrats unanimously blocked legal protections for babies who survive botched abortions.

Yes, postpartum depression is real. The notion that it erases guilt for murdering children—and that the mother is to be cheered rather than condemned—is morally bankrupt. It highlights a moral sickness—and intensifies it.

• Previous similar murder trials have ended with the mothers committed to state hospitals rather than prisons because of postpartum psychosis. But those cases drew horror—not crowds raising funds and publicly chanting their love.
• And a Durham, North Carolina, mother has since been charged with killing her son; her lawyer cited Clancy’s case in his defense.
• The Internet is flooded with emotionally disturbed mothers empathizing with deranged, homicidal sentiments.

Human life is sacred in God’s eyes. Reasoning our way through the knowledge of good and evil truly has nightmarish consequences. The moral disease it causes has metastasized in our society—destigmatizing a growing range of truly wicked acts.

The only solution is to get back to the perfect, just laws of God.

German Start-up Rocket Launch: ‘Beginning of a New Era’

From Norway’s Andøya Space Center, German start-up Isar Aerospace launched its Spectrum rocket on Saturday, the first privately built European rocket to reach orbit from Europe.

• The “Onward and Upward” mission carried and deployed five small satellites into orbit.

This is one giant leap toward European space independence. And that will be another step toward transforming Germany into a great military power.

• Isar stated that it currently has another five rockets in the works and is aiming to reach 40 launches per year.

The launch caught the attention of top German and European officials:

• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Saturday it marked the “beginning of a new era.”
• Andrius Kubilius, the EU’s Defense and Space commissioner, stated the Continent’s “independent access to space just got a major boost.”
• The German Ministry for Research, Technology and Space called it a “milestone” that shows Germany’s “innovative strength and technical expertise.”

This does mark the “beginning of a new era.” Germany has big plans for space, and its ability to execute those plans is increasing.

• Handelsblatt reported in July that the German Army has secret plans to launch between 1,000 and 1,200 spy satellites in the coming years.
• Last year, the German government budgeted $40 billion to militarize space through 2030.

Power in space means power over the surface of the Earth. Satellites provide missile warning and defense systems, the ability to analyze the military movements of enemies, and secure messaging systems. They are a big reason for American dominance.

• Matching this ability—or developing space capabilities for attacking this capability—can dramatically change the balance of power, especially with the United States heavily dependent on satellite and other information networks.

Germany wants to become a major military power again. That means it must develop strong, independent satellite systems. Saturday’s launch is a step in that direction.

To see how this will impact your life and why you should watch Germany’s ambitions in space, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches Europe’s Push Toward a Unified Military.”

Czech Defense Document Prepares Nation for Russian Attack

This fall, the Czech government is set to review a new defense strategy document aiming to prepare the nation for a potential Russian attack on the European Union, the Czech Republic’s iRozhlas reported last week.

• The document—authored by the Defense Ministry, titled “Long-Term Outlook for Defense 2045,” and approved by the State Security Council—is a nearly 20-year roadmap to prepare the Czech military and society for a sustained war against Russia without American help.

Bible prophecy warns that Russia will scare Europe into arming. It also warns that these armaments will be used against America and Britain.

The likelihood of “security crises including an attack on nato and EU countries without a warning period is increasing,” the strategy document stated.

• U.S. intelligence assessments reported by the Wall Street Journal on August 6 reach the same conclusion, suggesting Russia could launch a small-scale war on a nation within nato as early as this fall.

The Czech Republic must boost its military abilities to prepare for a “long-term high-intensity conflict with a technologically advanced opponent,” the document stated.

• The document advocates for increased space spying capabilities by 2032, a better system to prepare civilians for emergencies by 2030, and new military equipment by 2038. It also suggested the government consider forms of conscription if circumstances warrant it.

Fear of Russia is pushing European nations to transform their militaries.

• The Czech military’s role is transforming from providing support to “other components,” likely referring to domestic services such as the police, in peacetime to providing support by those “components” in “crisis and armed conflict,” the document said.

However, an empowered Europe with militaries designed for more than minor, peacetime conflicts will not just counter Russia’s imperialistic ambitions. Bible prophecy warns it will also attack several of its nato “allies” to the west.

IN OTHER NEWS

Russia targets Ukraine’s intelligence agency: A Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s intelligence service, the sbu, in Kyiv on Friday, injuring at least 12 people. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to retaliate.