Columnist Diane West pens that powerful phrase in a new column examining the spread of Sharia law in Europe.

She notes schools serving halal food to all students, regardless of their faith, and the absence of teaching Voltaire, Diderot and other authors whose works might offend Muslims. And in England, "Sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. According to press reports this week, the British government has quietly, cravenly elevated five Sharia courts to the level of tribunal hearings, thus making their rulings legally binding."

Those who try to slow the burgeoning tide, West says, are immediately cast as "extremists," "racists," "fascists" and "Nazis."

"Is advocating freedom of speech ‘extreme' or ‘fascist'? Is opposing Islam's law, which knows no race, ‘racist'? Is supporting Israel (which these parties do far more than other European parties) ‘Nazi'? The outrageously empty epithets of the Islamo-socialist left seem calculated to stop thought cold and trigger a massive rejection reflex. In this way, resistance becomes anathema, and Islamic law, unchecked, spreads across Europe."

The continent is not yet "lost," as she puts it. But the trends are ominous.