|
|
Europe's Left pushing a cultural revolution
|
The Left is driving ahead with a social and cultural revolution in Europe while Christian politicians and parties are going round in circles, with no idea what they stand for, according to a leading Spanish academic.
The Christian parties are stuck in the last century - "they think that the major differences between Right and Left still have to do with the way material production is organised," said Professor Francisco Contreras.
Meanwhile, with the collapse of the socialist project to re-make the economy, the Left has "replaced socio-economic revolution by sexual, moral and cultural revolution."
As a result, left-wing governments in Europe are "undermining and blurring the unique legal status that used to be accorded to the lifelong union of one man and one woman."
They do this through liberalising divorce, legalising same-sex 'marriage' and making cohabitation the legal equivalent of marriage.
In Ireland this left-wing agenda has been carried forward for decades principally by Fianna Fáil-led governments.
When it comes to cultural issues, according to Dr Contreras, Europe's centre right parties haven't developed "alternatives of their own, clearly distinguishable from those of the Left."
The Philosophy of Law professor at Seville University was speaking at a seminar sponsored on behalf of the European People's Party by Gay Mitchell MEP.
He argued that family structure, bioethics and the role of religion in society will be the major divisive issues in the U.S. and in Europe this century.
But while the U.S. has a vigorous family values movement, in Europe the Catholic Church often finds itself "pathetically alone" when it comes to defending fundamental values.
But those who defend natural marriage, he pointed out, have many strong arguments for their case: the evidence shows that, in general, children raised in marriage do better educationally, emotionally and economically.
"A society with less stable marriages is a society with less children, and with worse educated ones," said the professor.
He also rejected the view that the struggle between violent Islamism and the West was a religious clash. Rather, it is the very secularism of the West which hinders dialogue with other societies, which continue to be religious.
As Pope Benedict XVI said: "In the eyes of the world's cultures, the absolute secularism which has developed in the West appears as something profoundly odd. They are convinced that a godless world has no future."
Return to Homepage >>
|
|
|
