European governments want to make it harder for immigrants to attain citizenship—with Germany and the Netherlands leading the charge.

A set of proposed tests mandatory for incoming immigrants has been criticized as anti-Muslim. One test in Germany asks about a person’s views on forced marriage, homosexuality and women’s rights. In another state, a 100-question test will ask immigrants to name three German philosophers and also whether “the applicant believes in Israel’s right to exist and whether a woman should be allowed in public without the accompaniment of a male relative” (Deutsche Welle, March 16).

These culturally charged questions are considered mild compared with immigration procedures introduced in the Netherlands last week. Applicants should know “that nude bathing is legal in the Netherlands, and that ‘Pindakaas’ is not a kind of cheese, but rather peanut butter.” On top of that, any would-be immigrant must pay over €400 to receive the preparation packet and the test itself.

German politicians see the Netherlands’ moves as “a model for Germany” (ibid.). Deutsche Welle reports that “pressure is now growing for Germany to decide at the federal level on a unified approach toward citizenship procedures.”

The ambitious Edmund Stoiber “wants citizenship tests introduced across Germany by the end of April” (ibid., March 15). Throughout his tenure as Bavaria’s premier, Stoiber has been known for his strict views on immigration.

No question about it: Europeans are increasingly wary of the Muslim segments of their populations.

Given the legitimate threats Muslims pose—not just to the cultural identity of Europeans, but also to their very lives (as a steady drumbeat of high-profile cases of Islamist terrorism within EU nations illustrates)—it is hard to fault the predominantly Roman Catholic continental population for getting edgy. At the same time, the global political climate is putting these two cultures more at odds: Iran is consistently defying Europe’s three biggest nations, the United Nations and the United States; meanwhile radical Islamists are gaining significant political leverage in the Middle East.

That said, Europe doesn’t have the best track record of tolerating what it deems to be alien cultures living in its midst: the Serbs prior to World War i and the Jews before and during World War ii are two notable and uncomfortably recent examples.

But what is most interesting about this developing story is the fact that, without massive immigration, most European nations face a demographic nightmare: graying populations and economies buckling under the weight of welfare programs that lack enough workers to fund them. Europeans simply aren’t birthing anywhere near the 2.1 children per woman required to maintain a population. As Mark Steyn wrote in an OpinionJournal.com piece published January 4, “Germany and Austria are at 1.3, the brink of the death spiral; Russia and Italy are at 1.2; Spain 1.1, about half replacement rate. That’s to say, Spain’s population is halving every generation. By 2050, Italy’s population will have fallen by 22 percent, Bulgaria’s by 36 percent, Estonia’s by 52 percent.” Germany’s birthrate, in fact, was lower last year than in 1945. Islamists represent the most pressing threat, as they are quickly outpopulating Western nations.

And though population alone doesn’t define national strength, it is a far more significant factor than one would generally think. To grow its industry, stoke its economy and populate its military, a country simply must have a young, growing populace.

Berlin knows this. Germany and other low-birthrate European nations will soon have to rectify the situation. And apparently, they don’t consider unbridled immigration an acceptable answer.

But there is another, more sinister solution to this crisis—portended by history and suggested by Bible prophecy. Though it may seem unlikely in modern times, the Bible speaks of a European power that will rise up in the end and compensate for its lack of native manpower by trading in the “slaves, and souls of men” (Revelation 18:13)—a modern revival of a slave trade, destined to involve millions.

Watching the confluence of this particular collection of trends in Europe—declining birthrates and the resultant economic strain, increasing resistance to immigration and the inevitable population crunch this will create—the prospect of this frightening prophecy springing to life is becoming more real all the time.