In the Shadow of the Empire
The US State Department’s Ongoing Unholy War Against Christian Government in Hungary
Does the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness include the ability to do so in a way that honors the God of the Bible? Do we, as citizens of a country founded upon such values, see those rights as ones to be upheld in the international world, especially ones we have tied our fortunes to via NATO membership? “For the Founders, the pursuit of happiness was the individual and unalienable right to pursue a life lived in harmony with the ‘law of nature and of nature’s God’ and the obligation of government to protect man’s right to engage in that pursuit.”
What is the role of foreign policy with regard to protecting man’s collective right to living in harmony with this Law of Nature and Nature’s God? Perhaps it is duty enough to see to this pursuit in the activities of the people of our own country, however, our representatives have seen to direct the efforts of the Executive Branch to be quite involved in the affairs of other nations beyond their machinations directed at us. Perhaps these involvements have been for the promotion of the morality and ethics of “Nature and Nature’s God” as revealed in Christian Scripture. Then again, perhaps not.
The stance of the United States government has shown a distinctly anti-Christian bias in recent history, and this continues specifically in the actions taken to disrupt the current government of Hungary. The Prime Minister of Hungary is Viktor Orban, a member of the Calvinist Hungarian Reformed Church, and as a result of a serious faith he has sought to govern in a distinctly Hungarian Christian way. He sees the continuation of the Christian and uniquely Hungarian way of life of massive import. This boldness to work specifically for the benefit of the Hungarian citizens in a way that reflects a Christian morality and ethic has put him in the crosshairs of the world’s liberal elite. Orban is self-admittedly not a liberal, and so the world’s biggest champion of liberalism, the United States, seems ever-ready to battle him.
Orban, who has served in two distinct periods — from 1998 to 2002, and then from 2010 to the present — has been a vocal critic of both the Obama and Biden administrations. He has also shrunk Hungarian inflation, the domestic fiscal deficit, and overseen the joining of NATO. He has vehemently opposed Hungary being a destination for migrants in the “European Migrant Crisis”, writing “Europe is not being pressured by a ‘refugee problem’ or a ‘refugee situation,’” he wrote in an op-ed for Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. “Rather, the continent is under threat of an ever-growing modern exodus.” He continued, “The protection of our borders is the first and most important question,” Orbán said in his piece for the conservative daily. “There is no point in discussing any other issue until the flood has been halted.” Then, his argument reaches its climax, “We shouldn’t forget that the people who are coming here grew up in a different religion and represent a completely different culture. Most are not Christian, but Muslim…Or is it not worrying that Europe’s Christian culture is already barely able to maintain its own set of Christian values?”
These values Orban relates are those that informed the founding of the United States. Life lived in harmony with God…a harmony which has necessary distinctions based upon peoples and geography. In support of such, and for the continuation of such, Orban has argued for many things that are in contrast to the modern liberal point of view.
He has voiced a robust critique of Liberal Democracy — openly lambasting this model of governance, particularly for what he perceives as its inability to maintain stability and ensure the prosperity of the specific nation. In a seminal speech in 2014, he argued that the era of liberal democracies is over, asserting that they cannot remain globally competitive. Perhaps his most direct admission came during a speech in 2014, when Orban explicitly advocated for an “illiberal state” model. He cited Singapore, China, India, Turkey, and Russia as examples of successful nations that are not liberal democracies, suggesting that this model could better serve Hungary’s interests in remaining uniquely Christian and Hungarian, and consequently Orban’s speeches and policies often prioritize nationalist values and are anti-globalist.
A central tenet of Orban’s political philosophy is a strong stance against immigration, particularly from Muslim-majority countries. He has framed this stance as a defense of Europe’s Christian culture and Hungarian national identity, rejecting the multiculturalism often associated with liberal political philosophies.
Orban’s government has taken steps to exert control over the judiciary and media, actions typically at odds with liberal democratic principles that emphasize the separation of powers and a free press. These measures have been criticized by various international observers as undermining democratic institutions and freedoms in Hungary, though the people don’t seem to mind the order and prosperity. While not strictly a measure of liberal vs. illiberal philosophy, Orban’s economic policies have also veered towards state intervention and protectionism, at times conflicting with the free-market principles championed by many liberal democracies.
All of this shows a desire for Orban to prioritize both the people of Hungary over the interest of non-Hungarians, and their way of life so as to not become part of the endless global suburb of liberal America.
Read the rest at American Reformer:
https://americanreformer.org/2024/04/in-the-shadow-of-the-empire/
Thank you for your essay. I forwarded it to a longtime friend whose family left Hungary (for the US) in 1956. We each derive from people groups who survived the onslaughts of the Counter Reformation: Lutheran Slovaks and Calvinist Hungarians. Christian thought and freedoms have deep roots in Hungary. 🙏🏻 May God bless and sustain Hungary in Spirit & Truth.