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European civilization is Christian and it is our duty to preserve it

Atheism is a choice for lack of freedom. It is no coincidence that godless regimes, such as the Soviet Union then and China today, are totalitarian states. Western democracy is fast moving in the same direction. In this article I ask the reader for some patience because first of all some possible misunderstandings have to be cleared up. Then I want to discuss the political consequences of the assumption that God reveals himself to mankind. For Europe, preferably in the form of a European Confederation of Sovereign States, here lies the opportunity to become an unparalleled global power and to make the 21st century the best century ever, despite all the catastrophic developments now occurring. 

My argument is mainly based on the philosophy of the Jewish-French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. The interpretation of this difficult philosophy is entirely my own responsibility. Levinas often talks about God, so that his philosophy is more like theology. However, this is not the case. There is no proof of God to be found in Levinas and he also rejects the idea of being able to prove the existence of God. The first misunderstanding concerns what we mean by believing in God. God does not 'exist'; that is, he is not in Being (the world, the cosmos, the objective reality). So he is not perceptible. Hence, proof of God is impossible. In the words of Levinas, God is beyond Being, a territory completely unknown and unreachable for us.

The second misunderstanding concerns religion. Here it is possible to have a 'human' idea of God. That God is an idol. He is all-powerful, sees all, and will punish us if we do not obey His commandments. With this belief in God, man is also unfree. A religion that misuses god to gain power and wealth, also creates a totalitarian state. For that reason, the Catholic Church was a criminal organization for centuries. Hence the gigantic ecclesiastical possessions and the enormous treasures piled up in the Vatican. Only in the second half of the 20th century did Christianity recover, unfortunately resulting in secularisation (a mature faith is very unattractive in a consumer society, which also started with a sexual revolution).

Today, Islam is still the religion of lack of freedom and coercion. Islamists prefer to establish a terror regime all over the world. Allah is the Almighty to whom we must obey absolutely. It eludes the Muslims that this means that Allah enslaves man. This is sufficient reason to reject the faith in order to become a mature, autonomous and self-responsible person.

We cannot study a human being as an object. There is something infinitely more.

What is the alternative to atheism? Levinas argues for 'thinking of a God uncontaminated by Being; which cannot be reduced to the categories of knowledge' and 'The idea of God cannot be thought of, it manifests itself'. In order to grasp the meaning of this, it is best to take a closer look at the relationship between the ego and the neighbor. It is impossible to acquire complete knowledge of another person. The more I get to know the Other, the more I enter into a movement that is infinite. We cannot study a human being as an object; there is infinitely more in every person. Therefore, psychology is a perilous business that can never be certain about predictions of behavior. An infinity of factors determines human behavior. Every psychological theory is therefore an irresponsible reduction of reality. Brain research that is now very popular among psychologists is one of the dumbest examples of this (but attracts a lot of subsidies).

In the encounter with another human being, the Infinite speaks to me, as it were. For example, I can never say, "Now I've been good enough”. The love relationship has no limitations either: I cannot place any conditions on the love for another. Once I set a condition, it's selfishness. So I can free myself from my (limited) knowledge of the Other and from my egoism by being open to the infinity and the infinite value of the neighbor. This is where the idea of God, the Infinite, comes to mind. Descartes pointed out that there is something in our thinking that comes from outside of us. We cannot conceive the idea of God ourselves.

In the encounter with the Other there is also something that comes from outside us. The Other is simply absolutely different. An appeal comes to me from the Other to be good, to love him without conditions. That appeal cannot be explained and is not the consequence of logical decision-making. This is a revealed truth. God reveals himself through the neighbor and I cannot ignore it. For example, I cannot ignore the neighbor without having seen him first. Levinas calls ignoring the neighbor to let him die a little. He shouldn't be there in my life, as it were.

Jews and Christians use the Bible as the revealed truth. Jews have been searching for new meanings in the Bible for thousands of years. This stimulated critical and creative thinking, hence the unparalleled achievements of the Jews in the cultural and scientific fields. Christians have combined the wisdom of the Bible with Reason of Greek civilization, ultimately creating democracy and a superior civilization. Critical thinking is by definition banned in Islamic countries, rendering their cultural and scientific contribution to humanity virtually nil. Terrorism is an important export item.

The ethical obligation to dismantle the EU

If we want to preserve our European civilization, we must defend the two pillars, faith and reason, with all our strength. Not so long ago, our civilization almost perished with the rise of National Socialism. National Socialism was godless and had an inexorable logic that left no room for sovereignty. The Allies have been fighting to return the countries their sovereignty. The European Union is also godless and is doing everything it can to dismantle the sovereignty of the countries. The result of this can only be a totalitarian European state, which we must fight with all our might. It is our ethical duty to dismantle the European Union so that our civilization can be saved.

Applied to contemporary politics, this struggle means that policies must, on the one hand, be based on biblical ethical standards and, on the other, use reason for a just distribution of duties and rights. I will not go into these standards, duties and rights in more detail here, but I will limit myself to three proposals by way of illustration.

1. Bible study must be given an important place in confessional and public education. Our youth should know from an early age how to interact with each other. The Bible is full of examples of loyalty, respect, tolerance, selflessness, self-sacrifice, and charity. Christian schools should only be open to children from Christian families, because this is where the elite are formed that will make possible a revival of European civilization.
2. We need politicians in Europe who, in the face of all the catastrophic developments that come our way, act as the defenders of the foundations of our civilization instead of collaborating with supposedly neutral but godless power politicians and increasingly giving space to a religion that aim at completely eradicate Christianity.
3. Mass immigration must be contained because the Third World can never flourish that way. Immigrants have a duty to build up the countries of origin. They are entitled to solidarity support from Western countries.

Finally, a consideration that can upset many in the current woke culture. During the colonial period, tens of thousands of whites devoted themselves to education, the care of the sick and the administration of justice in the colonies. For example, if Congo were still a Belgian colony, the Congolese people would be among the most prosperous in the world and millions of Congolese would have escaped a brutal death. The colonial system might have evolved into an alliance between brother countries that regard each other as equal. The current bitter misery in African and Islamic countries is the result of a godless international policy whereby the individuals no longer hear the appeal to show solidarity with other peoples. Can't we conclude from this that Bible ethics can make the 21st century the best century ever? Isn't it high time that international organizations such as the UN were abolished, so that sovereign countries take up their (Christian) responsibility themselves? Wouldn't a European Confederation of Sovereign States with a constitutional reference to God and the Bible best prevent this century from repeating the horrors of the previous one?

Your comments (send to juliaan.vanacker@gmail.com): if you submit a comment or a short essay. All reactions will be included except insults and what incites racism or violence:

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