There is No Honorable Surrender

In 1988, Salman Rushdie published The Satanic Verses, his take on one of the most infamous episodes of the early history of Islam. For those unaware, according to the earliest biographies of Muhammad, he at one point was almost deceived by a demon to insert the worship of gods other than Allah into Islamic practice, specifically three Meccan goddesses popular in pre-Islamic Arabia. According to these sources, it was not until he was accosted by his companions that he turned away from this suggestion. For what it’s worth, the vast majority of non-Muslim scholars of Islam think this is true. After all, it does appear in the earliest biographies of Muhammad, and it would be implausible that Muslims would make up such a story about their own prophet. But because Muhammad is considered infallible by Muslims, Islam rejects this story and considers it to be an insult to him.

A year after Rushdie published his book, Ayatollah Khomeini, the now aging leader of Iran, issued a fatwa declaring that since Rushdie had insulted Muhammad, Muslims had a duty to kill him. The fatwa is still in effect, and Rushdie was even recently the target of an assassination attempt. During the international uproar that followed the fatwa, a lower-ranking Iranian cleric floated the proposal that the fatwa might be lifted if Rushdie repented. For his part, Khomeini explicitly and emphatically rejected such a notion, publicly declaring that it would not matter if Rushdie became the most pious Muslim on earth – he would still deserve to die. Reading this as a Christian struck me because it illustrated the stark differences between Islam and Christianity, especially since anyone who comes to Christ with a contrite heart may be forgiven. Remember, Saul of Tarsus was one of the fiercest enemies of the early Church, but he still became Saint Paul.

Dissidents must understand that the mentality of our enemies is like that of Ayatollah Khomeini. You have insulted their dearest beliefs through your thoughtcrimes, and no amount of “I’ve changed” will ever make them stop hating you. At best, you will be a useful idiot, helping to dox your former friends; however, as soon as they are finished with you, you are dead to them. As soon as you enter the world of the Dissident Right, you are now marked for life. Your choices are to stay and advocate for your people, thus keeping your honor, or give in and run to our enemies in the hope that it will all go away; in turn, you’ll lose your dignity and not get much in return. You will still be an enemy to the Left, you will only be allowed to live a normal life as long as you are useful to them, but your former friends will remember you as a traitor. And, a traitor is worse than an open enemy. It really is a lose-lose proposition.

It is quite literally impossible for dissidents to overestimate just how much their enemies hate them. One reason why World War II lasted for as long as it did is because the Allies insisted on an unconditional surrender. They wanted in no way for Germany to be able to rationalize their defeat as a matter of diplomatic betrayal, as they did after the Great War. Nothing but total capitulation would suffice; if Germany wanted peace, Germany would have to agree to let the Allies do whatever they wanted. It is easy to see here why demands for unconditional surrender clash with Christian just war theory – it prolongs war and human suffering. If faced with unconditional surrender (really destruction), one might as well keep on fighting, hoping for a miracle. And if that does not happen, at least there was death with honor.

Of course, some high-ranking Allied officials wanted to completely crush Germany. Henry Morgenthau, Rosevelt’s Secretary of the Treasury, wrote a plan that would completely obliterate Germany forever. Germany would not only lose land to its neighbors, it would also be partitioned and demilitarized. But most cruelly was the planned deindustrialization that would make it impossible for Germany to feed itself, resulting in millions of deaths. It was a vengeful plan that went against all understanding of the rules of war of Christian civilization.

Despite Morgenthau’s high stature and initial support from Rosevelt, the plan was never implemented for a number of reasons. First, in the 1940s, Morgenthau was something of an outlier. The Anglo-American establishment was still heavily WASP and viewed Germany as a kindred nation. The Anglo-Saxons were themselves Germanics, and English is very similar to German. Moreover, the real driving force of the United States’ economy was the heavily German Midwest. Additionally, Old America had no desire to punish their countrymen so severely, especially when so many of them had themselves embraced Hitler, at least initially, as the man who saved Germany from communism. Finally, with the Cold War rapidly developing, the United States and the United Kingdom understood that a free, stable, and prosperous Germany was in the West’s best interest as a bulwark against the Soviets. Needless to say, there was just no will to enact such a cruel Morgenthau plan.

Today’s dissidents do not have even the luxury that Germany had in the aftermath of World War II. There may have been a time when today’s Far Right might have viewed by the ruling class as people who were basically correct on the issues, but just a little too radical. The Southern ruling class largely rejected another attempt at secession in the 1940s; however, there is no doubt they would have largely agreed with the heart of this publication – a love for Dixie and a desire to keep her venerable traditions. Today, this is no longer the case – the “Southern” ruling class, be they carpetbaggers or scallywags, hate us. Nothing we can do will ever appease them. That means there is no way forward, but to keep moving forward.

Our enemies are completely unmoored to the traditions of just war theory. They will continue fighting us, no matter the costs, until we completely surrender. Just to use one example, a significant number of Republicans now sound more liberal than 2008 Obama on gay “marriage,” but that has not brought them one iota of credibility with the Left. There really is no path forward but to keep pushing for our people and values.

As Padraig Pearse said, “to fight is to win.” And even if we do fail, others will take up our baton. But at least then we died on our feet and kept our honor. There really is no other alternative. There is no honorable surrender.