A good Moslem king was one who was strict in religion, valiant in battle, just in giving judgment among his people, but not one who had the slightest objection in international matters to removing his neighbour’s landmark.

–G.K. Chesterton, 1911

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I awoke this morning wondering if Islam has already won.

Does the fact that Americans are spending the day in solemn observation of this date, September 11^th, mourning the more than 3,000 deaths by Muslim aggression, stand as proof that those who profess to be carrying out the commands of their Prophet Mohammad, presently have the upper-hand and distinct strategic advantage over the entirety of Western Civilization?

Why are we not, instead, celebrating that on this date, September 11, 1683, the Christian defenders of Western Civilization fought successfully against an effort by Islam to rampage across Europe and turn Saint Peter’s Basilica into a mosque?

When was the last time anyone in America celebrated, or even learned about the Christian victory over the Ottoman Turks, who, led by Kara Mustafa, had held Europe under siege at the Gates of Vienna throughout the summer of 1683? Why is the name of John III Sobieski not known in households throughout the free world?

To put today’s solemn observation in some historical context, one would do well to watch the 2012 film, The Day of the Siege: September Eleven 1683. A collaborative effort between Polish, Austrian and Italian filmmakers, the two-hour long film depicts the events leading up to the decisive battle of this 2^nd siege of Vienna by Turkish Islam.

Early in the film, Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha receives his directive to lead the largest assembly of Muslim soldiers in history to plant the flag of Mohammad in the very heart of Vienna, “The Golden Apple.” From there, a quick march to Rome to conquer, once and for all, The Holy Roman Empire. By some accounts 300,000 Ottomans made up the assault, while Vienna was able to cobble together a defense of fewer than 90,000.

The Supreme Commander of the Christian Coalition was John III Sobieski, King of Poland. While the actual history is much more complicated, the film depicts Emperor Leopold I as a rather effete coward who, when faced with the harsh realities of ruling a city under siege and the need to form an alliance with the Polish king, nearly faints with anxiety.

“I will never form an alliance with that beast. He is so mean, and besides, he doesn’t like me!” cries a trembling Leopold, referencing the contrasting style of John III Sobieski, a true warrior in his own right. That scene in the film can easily be a reenactment of the hand wringing that must go on behind the scenes in the offices of today’s Republican Party elite, when considering the need to call on candidate Donald Trump to break the siege of America by the odd, modern coalition of the political Left and Islam.

The underlying theme of the film is the distinct difference between the God of Christianity and the God of Islam. Best articulated by the spiritual advisor to Leopold, Blessed Marco d’Aviano says to a Muslim friend, “Why, Abdul, would God allow so many people to believe in a God who is not Himself? It was so His sons could carry His light wherever it is needed.”

Contrastingly, toward the end of the siege and immediately before the battle for Vienna and all of Western Civilization breaks out in full, Kara Mustafah sends a now enslaved Abdul to the gate of Vienna with a warning, “Recognize the true faith, and pay the tribute! You will save your bodies and your souls.” A scene at the film’s conclusion involving Abdul provides an even more striking contrast between the heart and soul of the two faiths, and their respective visions of humanity, of life and death.

Fortunately for the world and all its inhabitants, just as the cavalry would ride in to save the day in an American Western film, King John III Sobieski and his mounted Polish Hussars dragged their cannons up the Kahlenberg, a hill overlooking Vienna, where Fr. Marco d’Aviano celebrated Catholic Mass prior to Sobieski and his Hussars raining hellfire down upon the invading Turks. The siege was broken, the Islamic army was scattered and largely decimated.

Now, fast-forward 333 years… We spend September 11^th mourning the death on American soil, the new “Golden Apple” of Western Civilization, of thousands of innocents at the hands of the descendants of Mohammad, who have very long memories and did not select the date at random. No longer needing to set siege to their targets, they are here now, well inside the Gates of Vienna. The flag of their Prophet Mohammad is planted abundantly across the land. They need now only topple the occasional landmark, and commit the occasional mass murder, to keep the West in a state of obeisance, recognizing theirs as the true faith, the religion of peace, paying tribute upon planeload of money-laundered tribute, in hopes of saving our bodies and our souls.

The film opens with this quote from French historian Marc Bloch:

Misunderstanding of the present grows fatally from the ignorance of the past.

America needs to form an alliance with a modern John III Sobieski if we are to survive the current siege.