An article in Der Spiegel forecasts strong gains for the NPD, Germany's marginalized far right political party. Reading the article and noticing the tactics used by this group to intimidate and indoctrinate remind you of the Nazi approach in the 1930's. Though this is a small group with no real power on the national level it still is disturbing to see that sixty years later these ideas can gain a toe hold in Europe's largest country.

Germany has done a great deal to atone for the mistakes of the Nazi era. I was struck by this last week while in Germany. In the heart of Berlin, not far from where Hitler's underground bunker lay, a memorial to the Holocaust has been built. A few blocks away a large outdoor display called "The Tunnel of Terror" tells the story of the Nazi war criminals who were tried after the war in Nuremburg. Walking along that memorial with many young Germans I heard several comments of disgust at the atrocities commited by men like Goebbels, Himmler and Gohring. At another memorial in the city to fallen Russian soldiers a display about the Nazi period calls it Germany's "break with civilization".

So you see that offically, Germany has done much to talk about and and atone for the past. But is this enough to prevent such ideas from once again  coming to the fore? It is not an easy qustion to answer for in the case of Germany. Today's Germany is prosperous, liberal and democratic. I get the feeling they don't want to return to the past and it will not be easy to turn people in that direction.

However there is a still a strain of xenophobia, anti-Semitism and prejudice throughout Europe and other parts of the world. These are problems of the spirit and not relagated to one national or ethnic group. The Bible shows us the "prince of the power of the air", Satan the Devil, will again stir the nations into a frenzied attack against the truth of God and those who teach it.

It is vital that you understand the true gospel of the kingdom of God. Living by it's laws and teachings today will help us prepare for the world to come.