A peaceful religion is being erased by a democratic government. This isn’t fiction. It’s Japan, 2025. For the first time in Japan’s postwar history, the state is dismantling a peaceful religion ― without a single criminal conviction. On March 25, the Tokyo District Court ruled in favor of Japan’s Ministry of Education (MEXT) to dissolve the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU, also known as the Unification Church) Japan. No law broken. It was a political takedown. This is lawfare ― the use of legal machinery to eliminate a disfavored group. And if Japan can do it, so can anyone else. The setup for this assault began in a moment of national mourning. In July 2022, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated. The killer wasn’t a member. His decades-old family grievance was sensationalized into a media frenzy. Within days, radical lawyers and anti-religious activists ― many tied to the Japanese Communist Party ― launched a coordinated campaign. In 2022, Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii proudly declared this campaign “the final war against the Unification Church.” This is a coordinated political assault ― driven by ideology, not justice ― executed through a court ruling that ignored facts, and rewrote the rules of democracy. Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, said, “This order to dissolve the Unification Church is a terrible assault on religious freedom and liberty in Japan. It is an unprecedented attack on a faith organization which has broken no laws and caused no harm.” If a government can outlaw belief without a crime, then no faith is safe ― and no democracy is either.

This seismic shift has led to isolation, plummeting birth rates, and children set adrift. Gallup says over one-third of women and 20% of men report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives. One in four children (17.6 million) grow up in homes without their biological fathers. Soaring rates of juvenile crime, addiction and homelessness are a result. The birth rate took a nosedive. The total fertility rate, the number of children the average woman will have in her lifetime, fell from 2.54 in 1970 to 1.66 today, well below the replacement rate of 2.1. Our population will begin to decline sometime in the next decade, with a devastating impact on the economy and society. Elon Musk warns, “Population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger threat to civilization than global warming.” The Democratic governor of Oregon, Tina Kotek, designated March 10 as Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. What’s next, Poison Apple Provider Appreciation Day? Movies reflect the culture. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, we had uplifting dramas (like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “Meet John Doe”) and movies that extolled true love, home and family. Recall the last line of “The Wizard of Oz,” ? “There’s no place like home.” Today, we have movies dripping with nihilism, cynicism and despair ? films with all the charm of an open sewer on a humid day. What would you expect? Now, at the bottom of Hollywood are the maniacs with cameras who make horror movies and action flicks. Little wonder that the Disney Corporation could take a jewel like the original Snow White and turn it into dross.

Disney had a Hollywood “premiere” for its new live-action “Snow White” that did not have the usual excitement ? no guests were on hand; only Disney’s employees were present. The red carpet remained rolled up. The House of Mouse took the charming 1937 classic “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” ? beloved by millions ? and turned it into a feminist rant. Its star, Rachel Zegler, spouts the most awful drivel. Ms. Zegler slammed the original version, saying Prince Charming “literally stalks” Snow White. Her princess is “not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love,” Ms. Zegler declared. All that’s missing is a couple of transgendered dwarfs. Naturally, Ms. Zegler also hates President Trump (“a man who threatens our democracy”) and supports the Palestinian cause. Unsurprisingly, showings of “Snow White” ? which opened nationally on March 21 ? aren’t exactly sold out. Why should moviegoers pay $12 for indoctrination when they can get the same thing for free on CNN? Feminists told us that women don’t need men, marriage is obsolete, and children are a threat to the planet. Far too many swallowed the toxic dogma, especially the young. Now, by embracing transgenderism, feminists are at the forefront of the movement to abolish women. They want to see males who think they’re females invading women’s sports and private spaces. In 1970, married couples were 71% of all U.S. households. Today, they’re less than half. Two in five young adults say marriage is an outdated institution.

China is focusing on taking Taiwan and expanding its influence in the South China Sea, not contending with conflict on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea’s allied relationship with Russia should concern all nations, especially those in Northeast Asia. It should also encourage the U.S. to double down on its mutual defense commitments to South Korea and Japan and ensure a continued U.S. military presence in both countries. Given China’s focus on unification with Taiwan, either peacefully or through kinetic means, indicates that a continued U.S. military presence in the region, which could be used to counter a Chinese military action on Taiwan, is not in China’s interest. Strong sentiment in South Korea is that it needs its own nuclear deterrent. The dominant view is that relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella is problematic, especially now, given North Korea’s military buildup and alliance with Russia. It is not only South Korea that may consider nuclear options; Japan also perceives a potential threat from North Korea. This could prompt Japan to pursue its own nuclear deterrent. For 25 years, North Korea negotiated with the U.S., hoping to have a normal relationship. In 2024, Mr. Kim pivoted to Russia and gave up on the U.S. Indeed, Mr. Kim should be pleased with accomplishing a peace and friendship treaty with China and a mutual defense treaty with Russia. As an active member of the axis of authoritarian states with China, Russia and Iran, North Korea now, in a perverse way, has the international legitimacy it has pursued for decades as a nuclear weapons state. These unfortunate developments are not in the interest of the U.S. and its allies and partners.

In 2021, at the eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party, Kim Jong-un announced that North Korea was in the final stages of developing a nuclear submarine and military reconnaissance satellites. A few weeks ago, North Korea released photos of Mr. Kim inspecting a nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine under construction. Indeed, a nuclear-powered submarine will give North Korea the capability of reaching targets in South Korea, Japan, Guam and eventually the U.S. It was this latest development that got the international community’s attention, with South Korea announcing that North Korea’s nuclear-powered submarines could launch as many as 10 ballistic missiles. North Korea’s new allied relationship with Russia and their mutual defense treaty obviously contributed to its recent progress with reconnaissance satellites and nuclear-powered submarines. Russia is likely aiding North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, including equipping missiles with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles. Much of North Korea’s military buildup with Russian assistance must be concerning to China. President Xi Jinping is probably receiving updates from Moscow and Pyongyang about their strengthened alliance, but he is likely unaware of the details and extent of this close relationship. Indeed, the relationship emboldens Mr. Kim and could encourage him to be even more provocative with South Korea. This could escalate into conflict between the two Koreas. Any conflict on the Korean Peninsula would concern China, knowing the U.S. and its allies would also be involved.

Instead of focusing its investigative efforts against the assassination of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Japanese government has stunned political and religious leaders worldwide by targeting the Unification Church. This innocent third party had nothing to do with the shocking, public murder. The church and the concept of religious freedom are now battling for survival in Japan’s legal system. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said “I warned back in November 2022, it’s clear that the attack on the Family Federation is actually an attack on the Liberal Democratic Party.” “That was an effort by the communists, to create an environment where there could be a closer relationship with China and a more distant relationship the United States. The government now is in a mess, and the election results were very damaging.” “So what’s happened is that the government has been trying to destroy the Unification Church. It’s gone so far beyond the Japanese Constitution, it’s found no crimes and has no basis for what it’s doing,” he said. “The Biden administration has already condemned this activity. The United Nations has already condemned this activity. And now, with President Trump, we have somebody who is deeply, passionately committed to religious liberty,” Mr. Gingrich said. “This is going to have grave consequences for the United States’ relationship with Japan and our view of what is happening with Japanese politics,” he added. Earlier, Mr. Gingrich stated, “The current attack on the Unification Church is an effort to weaken the Japanese-United States alliance and create an opening for a Chinese Communist-Japanese rapprochement.”

There are now more than 2,500 mosques in Charles Martel’s land. Mr. Murray notes that from 2001 to 2011, the number of Britons identifying as Christians fell from 72% to 59%. The official number of Muslims in England and Wales rose from 1.5 million to 2.7 million in that period. Illegal immigration puts the number much higher, and London has had a Muslim mayor since 2016. If immigration isn’t enough, Europe is committing demographic suicide. The German fertility rate is 1.35 children per woman, well below the replacement level of 2.1. It’s 1.2 in Italy and 1.62 in France. In 2017, the fertility rate for Muslim women in Britain and France was 2.9. The cradle is as much a symbol of jihad as the sword. In a 2024 article for the Jewish News Syndicate, Joseph Puder charges: “The streets of major Western European cities are occupied territories” run by “radical Muslim gangs who harbor a hatred for Western culture and believe Islam is the answer for all and bear a visceral and violent hatred for Israel and Jews.” The type of antisemitic outrages symbolized by Kristallnacht during the Third Reich are now regular occurrences from London to Berlin. This summer, thousands of Muslims marched through London shouting, “Jews, the Army of Muhammed is coming to kill you too.” The British government, which arrests Christians for witnessing in public, ignored this. Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, who is also called far right, has said: “As Western people, we have a duty to seek the answer to the problems of the future by having faith in our values: a synthesis born out of the meeting of Greek philosophy, Roman law and Christian humanism.”

In Germany, the party usually described as far-right - Alternative for Germany (AfD) - doubled its share of the vote in the recent elections, from 9% in 2021 to 20.2%. It’s now the nation’s second-largest party. The ruling socialist party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz came in third with just 16%, its worst showing since the end of World War II. Germany’s principal problems are immigration and Islam. The tragedy was set into motion by Conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel. In 2015, Ms. Merkel took in 1.2 million refugees from Syria to satisfy a misguided humanitarian impulse and bolster an economy short of workers. Today, Germany accepts half of all European asylum-seekers ? 300,000 in 2023. Last year, the number of migrants seeking government benefits increased by 169%. Although they didn’t aid Germany’s sagging economy, migrants have made jihad a part of daily life in the Federal Republic. The past few months have brought high-profile migrant attacks in Munich, Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg. Knife attacks have become daily occurrences in Germany, with 14,000 reported from 2021 through 2023. Though they represent 2.5% of the population, migrants committed 13.1% of all sexual assaults in 2021. As author Douglas Murray pointed out in “The Strange Death of Europe,” the continent is committing suicide by a combination of unchecked immigration and abandonment of its Judeo-Christian heritage. The 2004 European Union Constitution does not mention Christianity for a continent known as Christendom for more than 1,000 years. Nature abhors a vacuum, whether political or religious. Every two weeks, another church closes in France and another mosque opens.

On Jan. 2, 2020, almost the same day that the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan began its terrifying grip on the world, a court in China sentenced Dr. Li Ning, one of China’s foremost animal geneticists, to 12 years in prison. His crime? Embezzling roughly $5 million in research funds. Yet, the far graver offense ― for which he was never charged ― was emblematic of a deeper, more insidious malpractice: the disturbingly common practice of selling laboratory animals for human consumption. According to court documents, nearly a third of the embezzled funds ― $1.4 million ― had been generated through the sale of certainly genetically modified pigs, cows and cow’s milk used in his laboratory’s experiments in a span of four years. This revelation was not an anomaly but a symptom of a systemic crisis. Weeks earlier, outbreaks of a deadly infectious disease, brucellosis, erupted in China’s two premier animal research institutes. Brucellosis, transmitted from animals to humans through human consumption of infected meat or unpasteurized dairy products, spread rapidly. Against this grim backdrop, it is hardly surprising that days later, when reports of a novel coronavirus began emerging from Wuhan, public fury immediately turned to the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Accusations surfaced that WIV had engaged in reckless and illicit practices: selling laboratory animals as pets, mishandling and improperly disposing of dead lab specimens, and even consuming lab-used eggs. The uproar forced WIV’s most infamous scientist, Dr. Shi Zhengli, the head of WIV’s extensive coronavirus research project, to issue a defensive public statement.

Of course, North Korea continues to have China as its principal ally ? an ally that supplies North Korea with crude oil, petroleum products and 90% of its trade, which are essential for sustaining a weak and vulnerable economy. We should not give up on North Korea. Indeed, we should stop ceding the playing field to Russia and China and constructively engage with it. President Trump has a personal relationship with Mr. Kim, permitting the U.S. to have at least a few senior-level meetings, not necessarily with Messrs. Trump and Kim, to determine whether there is value in continuing the dialogue. North Korea will see value in having a meaningful dialogue with the U.S. if it realizes it is dealing with a Trump administration that is bold and flexible. Negotiating with North Korea using the same playbook we’ve used for the past 30 years won’t work. We saw this at the Hanoi summit. Mr. Kim is interested in a peace treaty to end the Korean War, security assurances, economic development assistance, the provision of light water reactors, the lifting of sanctions and a path to normal diplomatic relations with the U.S. He knows what we want: complete and verifiable denuclearization. Indeed, we should state that this is our goal but pivot to the reality that North Korea may be willing to halt its nuclear weapons program but clearly will not agree to complete and verifiable denuclearization at this time. Engaging boldly and flexibly now with North Korea would get the attention of Russia and China, both concerned that North Korea would prefer a normal relationship with the U.S. over an alliance with the North’s two neighbors.