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November 10, 2004
Europian Society's View Of The Proper Relationship Between Politics And Ethics
Topics: Political News and commentariesRocco Buttiglione's article today in the Opinion Journal of the WSJ online brings up some interesting perspectives:
"ROME--George W. Bush concluded his election victory speech with "God bless America." It's likely that in the European Parliament, the U.S. president would be considered unfit for his job on account of his religious beliefs. Even worse, for Europe's legislators, would be that he's not ashamed to express those beliefs so clearly and so publicly.
If you consider that Mr. Bush won re-election in part because of his firm stand on family values and other moral issues, it becomes apparent that Europe and United States are drifting apart not only on foreign policy but also on their vision of a democratic society and of the proper relationship between politics and ethics......."
In his article Mr Buttiglione appropriately points out that our world's resources are limited and that all of us (on both sides of the pond) have to work hard to have our share of them. He further calls to mind the fact that we do need the support of a family and we also need the old traditional "virtues" (we can say values too, it's not a bad word) that have been so easily dismissed.
While it is true that Americans have become aware of this state of affairs sooner than Europeans as Mr Buttiglione points out, it is also true that the dismissal of such virtues has not just occured in Europe but has also been easily and prejudicially dismissed by liberals and the Left in our own country. This awareness of the importance of virtues is as he says "another explanation of the difference between the two sides of the Atlantic." However whether or not his expectation that Europe will experience a change of attitudes within a comparatively short period of time is correct only time will tell. Presently, with much of Europe in the midst of having a politically correct tolerance for murder and hate by Islamists, it may be later rather than sooner. They may be later than even the U.S. Left to realize that our struggling economy and ageing society can "survive and be modernized only if we recover at least some of the values of the past--among them the ethics of hardworking and caring fathers and mothers." As he aptly points out, Europe's intellectuals were always convinced that modernity brings juxtapositionally the extinction of religious faith. Conversely in America and according to Mr Buttiglione, the most advanced country in the world may be realizing that "religion may be and indeed is a fundamental element of a free society and of a modern economy."
The realization that "religion" may be a fundamental element of a free society and of a modern economy is to many people of faith, a good thing. But religous freedom does not necessarily equate to the existance of virtues or a moral compass? During the election campaign and possibly more so afterwards, the issues of "moral values" and "faith" have been subjects of great interest in political round tables and news commentaries. What Mr Buttiglione refers to as "vitues" needs to be defined. By virtues we may mean the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong, any admirable quality or attribute, morality with respect to sexual relations, or a particular moral execellance. All of these are elements of "having virtues," but none of these elements necessarily equate with religion. If we attempt to blanket all religions into a common tent defined as virtuous, we no longer have a tent that contains only believes that are virtuous. Islamic fundamentalism and any faith that calls for the murder and hate of women and children is not virtuous! Ergo, all faith is not virtuous, and all beliefs are not necessarily faith. But religion IS a fundamental element of a free society and of a modern economy, IF and only if the faith and beliefs of a given religion reflect the existance of a true moral compasss.
The 2004 election was not about religion, it was about the majority of Americans voting on what they perceived to be the correct direction for the country based upon their collective reading of America's national moral compass! Radical Islamic fundamentalism does not reflect any morality or virtue whatsoever. The matter of virtues and moral compass exclude the tenents of fundamentalist Islamic beliefs.
Read the WSJ Opninion Journal article.....
Posted by Hyscience at November 10, 2004 9:45 AM
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