Sunday, March 11, 2012

Benedict in Germany on the origin of European civilization

George Weigel quotes Pope Benedict on the origin of modern Europe and human rights.


Pope Benedict:

The conviction that there is a Creator God is what gave rise to the idea of human rights, the idea of the equality of all people before the law, the recognition of the inviolability of human dignity in every single person, and the awareness of people’s responsibility for their actions. Our cultural memory is shaped by these rational insights. To ignore it or dismiss it as a thing of the past would be to dismember our culture totally and rob it of its completeness. The culture of Europe arose from the encounter between Jerusalem, Athens and Rome – from the encounter between Israel’s monotheism, the philosophical reason of the Greeks, and Roman law. This three-way encounter has shaped the inner identity of Europe. In the awareness of man’s responsibility before God and in the acknowledgment of the inviolable dignity of every single human person, it has established criteria of law: It is these criteria that we are called upon to defend at this moment in our history.
Weigel:

Why don’t we get this today, the pope then asked? He might have said, rightly, that we don’t get this because Christophobia is a major defect of 21st-century European high culture — an irrational refusal to concede to Christianity any nurturing role in building a Europe of civility, tolerance, respect for human rights, and the rule of law. Rather, Professor Ratzinger took a more academic tack and noted that the 21st-century West is still paralyzed by what we assume to be “the unbridgeable gulf . . . between ‘is’ and ‘ought’” as defined by Immanuel Kant and, above all, David Hume. This bifurcation leads to a thoroughly positivistic notion of reason and to a thoroughly positivistic notion of law: The only reason that counts is scientific reason, and the only law that matters is black-letter law. But this amounts to an enormous impoverishment of human understanding, and a very brittle, indeed dangerous, notion of law, Benedict suggested. Against this self-demeaning positivism, “the windows must be flung open again,” so that “reason . . . can rediscover its true greatness” and human beings can learn once again that “man is not self-creating freedom.”

Reason, morality and human rights can only be grounded in God, not in man. Our modern abandonment of our civilization's Christian roots is a foolish and ultimately deadly mistake. Positivism-- the assertion that only what can be demonstrated empirically is worth our assent-- is a bizarre self-refuting philosophical error. Positivism itself is not demonstrable nor  empirically verifiable. It is a metaphysical presupposition. A coherent positivist would deny the coherence of positivism.

The Pope's conclusion is that our responsibility before God and the inviolable dignity of every person is what we are called upon to defend at this moment in our history. He understands, as few do, the stakes in  this battle.

9 comments:

  1. “…the inviolable dignity of every person is what we are called upon to defend at this moment in our history.”

    Yeah, tell that to Shirley Sherrod while you’re praising Andrew Breitbart and telling conservatives to use Saul Alinsky tactics.

    -KW

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  2. @KW:

    How about this, KW: you denounce abortion, and we'll talk about videos that show Shirley Sherrod in her own words. I'm sure we can reach some kind of consensus.

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  3. Excellent points made by the Pontiff. He connects the dots with purpose and grace. I like this Pope! His message could be the instrument of great change, for the better. Provided, that is, that people actually LISTEN. But either way, he hits on an undeniable truth.
    The alternative to a morally based legal system and culture (ie objective and thus Godly) is a Kafkaesque police state.
    Laws need to change on occasion. But so long as the morality at it's core remains, they will serve us well.
    Without the morality they become simply tools for control.
    Good post, Mike.
    A blessed Sabbath to you and yours.

    BTW do you fast or eat select foods for lent? We (our family) only do fish and eggs during daylight hours, and will have chicken after sunset.
    28 days (if my math is correct) from some roast beef :P
    Come on Easter!

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    Replies
    1. I don't fast (in the usual way) during lent.

      My lent started on January 1 2012 and the goal was to lose some weight. Since this time I am ALWAYS in lent. I have managed to shed 25 pounds up to now!

      Please pray God for me that I don't regain them!

      PS: I don't like fish but I like vegetables. I walk daily until I ache from all the bones in my body... No wander I long for the afterlife!

      Delete
    2. "My lent started on January 1 2012 and the goal was to lose some weight. Since this time I am ALWAYS in lent. I have managed to shed 25 pounds up to now!"
      Wow! Good stuff, Pépé.
      Keep it up, mate. Lots of walks etc. I try to hike at least 6km a day, and I literally feel your pain if I manage 10km or more.

      "I don't like fish but I like vegetables. I walk daily until I ache from all the bones in my body...
      That's how it's done. No pain - no gain.

      "No wander I long for the afterlife!"
      Hey, at least you'll fit through the gates :P

      Delete
    3. crusadeREX

      Hey, at least you'll fit through the gates

      LOL! That's what my wife keeps telling me...

      :P

      Delete
  4. Thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen it. I'm a big fan of Benedict. I'm glad he's making the effort to take a stand in Europe.

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  5. "Reason, morality and human rights can only be grounded in God, not in man."

    Why do you do that? Why do you so casually toss truth into the rubbish heap? Is it so very important that every positive thing that humanity ever conceived must be attributed to your particular mythological pantheon?

    Reason is grounded in God? Which God? The Judeo-Christian God? There was no reason before there were Jews? From what little I know of the history of Western rational thought, for about 1500 years it was firmly grounded in Aristotle. Remind me, Michael - was Aristotle a Christian or a Jew?

    The Chinese had no reason or morality before they met Christians? No ancient writers discussed morality before the authors of Leviticus and Deuteronomy spelled it out for us?

    Yes, human rights - the rights of the individual as we understand them today - grew in part out of Christian philosophy. But there is precisely zero difference between saying "our society values individual rights" and "our society values individual rights because we believe God ordained it." One has a mythical narrative, one doesn't, but the effect is precisely the same.

    Oh wait, I'm wrong. There is one difference - the version with the mythical narrative also comes with the invisible guy who will judge you when you die, and will in his infinite love, send you to eternal suffering if you don't follow the rules. So the mythical narrative version comes with an underlying, taught-from-the-cradle element of fear.

    So, you get one out of three.

    Too bad your narrative doesn't consider honesty to be grounded in God.

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    Replies
    1. From what little I know...

      I agree with you 100%!

      And since you are in such a good mood, I suggest you read this book .

      After reading it, you will be able to say From what little bit more I know...

      No need to thank me, my advice is GRATIS.

      Delete