European values.pdf

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European values
by Maciej Giertych
Member of the European Parliament
Opinions presented in this publication are the private Author’s opinions and do not
represent the official European Parliament position.
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Skład i opracowanie graficzne:PiotrWalerowicz
© Maciej Giertych
April 2007-04-15
Publisher:
Maciej Giertych
60 rue Wiertz
1047 Bruxells
Opinions presented in this publication are the private Author’s opinions and do not
represent the officialEuropeanParliamentposition.
European values
European values
What are European values? Our continent does have its specific
identity. Christianity started in Palestine. It spread to North Africa where
there still linger some remnants of it, primarily Monophysitic. It spread
to Eurasia first in its Nestorian and later Orthodox form. However it is in
Europe, primarily under the influence of Rome, the seat of the Vicar of
Christ, where it developed in a manner that not only shaped the nature
of the continent, but also spread from it to all corners of the world.
It is evident not only in the architecture of every European town and
village, not only in the magnificent literature in European languages, not
only in the faith of the majority of Europeans, but primarily in the way
communal life is organised in Europe, in the values on which European
life is built.
If today clarity of these values is in doubt, as a consequence of atheistic,
socialist and other anti-Christian forces questioning them, it is time we sat
back and took the effort to discuss what we really mean by European values.
What should we adhere to and what should we reject.
As I see it the primary values are:
- Defence of life in all circumstances, from conception to natural death.
- Defence of the monogamous, autonomous, nuclear family composed of a
husband and wife and any children their union will be blessed with.
- Defence of personal dignity of each human being.
- Special respect for women as being of unique value to the society.
- Respect for diversity.
- Acceptance of inequality arising from differential effort.
- Defence of religious freedom and tolerance of minority religions.
- Defence of national identities, the right to remain different and tolerance of
national or ethnic minorities.
- Laws and jurisprudence based on justice derived from natural law and
Christian ethic.
- Justice to be meted out by courts independent of the state and not by private
vendettas.
- State is endowed with physical force to defend citizens from harm and not
to defend the rulers from the citizens.
- Democracy, understood as representative government and responsibility of
the rulers to the ruled.
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Prof. Maciej Giertych
- Freedom of speech. he right to express different opinions and criticise
those in power without being penalized for this.
- Readiness to help others, accept asylum seekers, mediate in crisis areas.
- Promotion of dialogue and compromises, without ever conceding on the
values mentioned above.
he list can be extended. I would welcome corrections, additions and debate
on what should be included here.
The Berlin Declaration
On what values and principles is the European Union founded?
The Berlin Declaration of March 25 th 2007 states that: “… [F]or us,
the individual is paramount. His dignity is inviolable. His rights are
inalienable. Women and men enjoy equal rights.” The first sentence here
sounds personalist. It is not. In German this reads: “bei uns steht der
Mensch im Mittelpunkt”. It was signed in Berlin by two Germans and a
Portuguese (Hans-Gert Pöttering, Angela Merkel, José Manuel Barroso)
and not by all the heads of state that met there for the 50 th anniversary of
the European Union as the media seemed to suggest, and it was drafted
by the German presidency in the European Union, thus, it is the German
text that should be considered as obligatory. A correct translation should
read “for us man stands at the centre point”. Lacking any reference to
God, to religion, or to the soul in the Declaration simply means that there
are no transcendent values, no measure that is independent of Man. The
following statements about inviolable dignity and inalienable rights of
men and women should be understood as excluding God, His dignity,
His rights and His laws.
It is in this context that the Berlin Declaration should be read. here is
a sentence that pertains to “common values”. It reads: “We are striving for
peace and freedom, for democracy and the rule of law, for mutual respect
and shared responsibility, for prosperity and security, for tolerance and
participation, for justice and solidarity”. Since “we are striving” it means
we still do not have them. Peace, freedom, prosperity and security are
conditions, not values. hey are in the same category as health. We either
have these or we do not have them, depending on the current situation.
Values are something we recognize regardless of the political situation.
Everyone wants peace, freedom, prosperity, security and health. We may be
prepared to defend them or strive to achieve them, but we shall not always
have them – that depends not only on us but also on the activity of others
(e.g. terrorists, foreign invaders, embezzlers, stock exchange etc.) and on
accidental occurrences (crop failures, earthquakes, plagues, fires etc.).
Mutual respect, tolerance, solidarity, shared responsibility and
participation are dependent not only on us but also on others. On those
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European values
whom we respect and expect reciprocity, those we tolerate and expect
reciprocity, those we support and expect reciprocity, those with whom we
wish to share responsibility provided they also so wish, those whom we
invite to participate provided they wish to do so. If we cannot assure the
consent of the “others”, these propositions are no more than hopes or desires,
and they need further defining. What about a smoking habit? Are we to
respect it, tolerate it, be in solidarity with the smoker, share responsibility for
it, participate? What about drug abuse? What about abortion? What about
defence of life from conception? What about homosexual practices? What
about divorce? he list is endless. he call for these “values” is empty without
further specifications.
his leaves us with democracy and justice, rule of law being, at least for
me, synonymous with justice. Indeed we can believe in democracy regardless
of what others think about it. he same is for justice. We may be deprived of
both, but still adhere to these values. We can act democratically ourselves.
We can act justly ourselves. hus the values we adhere to are only sensible
when we apply them to ourselves, when we restrict ourselves, showing our
willingness to conform to a certain way of acting.
Democracy by its very nature places Man at the centre. It limits the power
of the rulers by the will of other men. If we adhere to democratic values
we shall involve those who will be affected by our decisions in the decision
making process. If we act arbitrarily, ignoring the wishes of those whom our
decisions will affect, we show ourselves to be non-democratic.
I consider justice and the rule of law as the same because I believe
that the law should be just. If it is not, rule of law is not a value but its
opposite, an oppression. hose, including authoritarian rulers, who write
and enforce just laws are no problem. However when lawmakers write
laws that suit themselves (in the Turanian civilisation) or their countries
(in the Byzantine) rather than justice, the enforcement of such laws, such
rule of law, is in fact an injustice and therefore cannot be included among
values.
And what is justice? By whose measure is a law just or unjust, a court
decision just or unjust? It is not enough to say it must have Man at its centre
point. Which man? Men are oten in conflict and it is the role of the judiciary
to impose a just settlement. Just meaning in agreement with what? Reference
to natural law and transcendental values is unavoidable.
Europe is a continent built on Greek culture, Roman law and Christian
ethic. Excluding the latter from the consideration of European values not
only impoverishes them, but it also makes them meaningless. he whole
European concept of justice is based on adherence to a set of God given
rules, the Decalogue and its extension in the Beatitudes. A human measure
is not enough.
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