L’Europe est en crise, sociale, économique, politique, démographique. Peu nombreux sont les intellectuels qui s’interrogent sur le vide spirituel et moral qui en est peut-être la cause profonde, et qui tentent de l’empêcher de produire ses effets destructeurs. Unir leurs travaux dans le cadre d’un Observatoire de la dignité de la personne humaine en Europe est la mission que s’est donnée la plateforme culturelle européenne One of Us, qui se réunit à Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle le 19 octobre prochain.
The media has retained a phrase from the recently buried French president Chirac: “Our house is burning!” And this is probably true for the whole planet, it is, without a doubt, true for the “common European house”. It certainly is, when considering the different aspects of the crisis that it is currently suffering, there is no need to state the obvious. Except perhaps, for the fact that the most dramatic symptoms can often conceal deeper realities.
From the left, everyone is pointing the finger at “populism”, from the right at the “invasion of migrants”, and even “islamisation”. Fewer are those who remember that it is the divorce between the deaf elite and the “small” abandoned people which actually causes the exploitation of the discontent among the “bon populo” by the demagogues; nor is it the demographic collapse of the old continent which attracts the Moroccan and African youth; or, lastly, is it the spiritual and moral void bred from forgetting or rejecting Christianity and its biblical base that which provides opportunity for Islamic preachers.
Yet fewer still are those who question the most recent causes of this trend long-term, and who attempt to impede them from wreaking their destruction. These thinkers and men of action do exist. In Europe, they are dispersed throughout all the countries and are very often ignored, voluntarily or otherwise, by public discourse. Their arguments, despite being founded solidly on reason, are waved away by the powerful. Thus, they believe they are isolated, a minority left behind by the irresistible passing of history.
The international meeting organised by the One of Us federation in Santiago de Compostela on 19th October, aims to bring these people together and introduce them to each other. Let us here remember that One of Us came into being, five years ago, launching a European initiative on a European scale. This initiative called for respect to be shown to human embryos which were to be abandoned, supposedly to “science”, but rather to a technology which is subject to following the orders of the commercial market. This initiative collected almost two million signatures. Disregarding the community rules which demand that mass petitions must be considered, Brussels instead ignored it. This proves how poor politicians are, as well as highlighting the inadequacy of any action taken exclusively at this level.
Now, and after two meetings, firstly in Valencia and later in Paris, One of Us must create a cultural European platform.
The adjective “European” is not narrowly restrictive. All that which originates from Europe, such as rigorous science, high performance technology, a democracy which is not always just one word, but rather includes a certain secularity, the elimination of moral references… has invaded the whole planet, both for good and bad. There are “European” things everywhere. And as such a greater responsibility falls on the Europeans although economic and political influence tends to decrease in the face of the giants, America today, Asia and Africa in the future. Being mindful that “loose lips sink ships” is a collective duty and one which is our principal concern.
“Cultural” is an important word. It requires taking a determined stand at a pre-political level. In fact, politics is taking greater and greater responsibility for giving shape to those petitions which transmit culture. This is legitimate when it concerns turning popular will which is well informed and thought out with maturity into laws. However, it slews when pressure groups, reinforced by media bombardment, lead to the belief that the wishes of minor minorities must be satisfied at any cost, even when this implies that human beings who are still not able to defend themselves can be bought and sold on demand.
Culture, on the other hand, helps to observe from a different perspective, one with a touch of colour, both the world which surrounds us and ourselves, what we are living through. Thus, it guides our actions, including in the field of politics. When it comes to a real culture of life, it helps us to take stock of the beauty of the world, the dignity of what we are, and the beauty of the task we must fulfil. Is the current “culture” a true “culture”? We have reason to doubt this.
It is therefore important to carry out a critical analysis without bemoaning what has been lost, and without rushing towards promises which we are in any case, unable to fulfil. We do not wish to regret a past which was not so rosy as our reactionary nostalgia would like to paint it, nor wait for the hazardous manipulations of nature, both that which is found in our interior and that which surrounds us, to bring us “wonderful futures”.
That which threatens us is a culture (if it deserves to be so called) which wishes to reduce everything to that which can be bought and sold. It is not only the strength of man’s labour which is becoming a commodity, it is his very body, one which would not deserve greater respect than that shown to a machine. Hence, a child would be nothing more than a convenience which could be commissioned to a surrogate womb and which could be returned in the case of insurmountable defects. As for those which were incapable of producing or being bought, they would merely end up on the rubbish heap.
In the face of this “culture” which they wish to impose upon us, we will ask ourselves what kind of culture (a real one) we wish to have, and what we must do to make it happen. This will be the first task of the Observatory of values.
In the same fashion, our “platform” will be like those which are erected out at sea to drill for oil. Like these, it will attempt to drill as deeply as possible, reaching down to the less visible, yet more fundamental, layers of our culture. Like these platforms, it wishes to extract that which, once refined, will help us to continue advancing, not only to make our motors work, but also to provide us with the strength and the desire to progress towards a greater humanity.
