Homepage of Professor Botond Gaál
ETHNICITY, CHURCH AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
by
Dr Botond Gaal
Professor of Christian Dogmatics
University of Reformed Theology
Debrecen/Hungary
IRTI
Princeton, July 11-15, 2001
Christianity has had a major influence upon the culture, social views and mutual relationships of the nations of Europe, including their basic understandings of history, philosophy and, to some degree, even their scientific way of thinking. Christianity has had a decisive role in European development. So now let us pose the question: To what extent is the idea of the European Union of Christian origin? Or, we might ask: Is it the result of societal development and worth examining from a Christian perspective? Still another inquiry can be raised more pointedly: Should this process of creating the Union be ratified or rejected by the Christian community? Let us leave these questions open for the moment and examine first of all what role the churches play in a nation's life. Then let us move along to ascertain what in the catholic character of Christianity would have an impact on the relationships between diverse peoples.
If one pays attention to the approach of the average person in several European nations, it becomes apparent that the typical person thinks in terms of two main categories insofar as any inquiry into international relations and the particular relationship of his own people is concerned. The two categories are internationalism and nationalism, and both in political domain. Generally speaking, from the religious domain, the ecumenical imperatives and historical responses of Christianity is less familiar.
I.
An individual with an international way of thinking is basically aware of the separation, division and partition of nations. This knowledge, however, is tempered and modified by particular experiences and meaningful to him, and stress being put on the differences separating nations from each other. This kind of approach was evident in Marxist internationalism, in which certain nations regarded themselves as preferentially different, even superior to those other European peoples living in a capitalist society. Firmly believing that they lived on a higher plane of social ethics, they projected the future of individual nations according to their place along this line of separation and division. They believed that the superiority of their Communist ideas, upon achieving a certain level of social development, would be eagerly followed by all of the nations, and they hoped to find their utopian happiness in this worldwide Communist community. Their anthem, ‘The Internationale’, among others, reflects their sentiments:
‘So comrades, come rally / And the last fight let us face / The Internationale / Unites the human race.’
Its Hungarian version particularly and definitely expresses the view that ‘the world will become international by tomorrow.’
The individual’s other option is nationalism. It is a way of thinking for people who regard their own nation as the absolute of primary trustee of true values, this comparing all others to those of only their nation. This approach leads directly to the blindness of a closed mind, some form of national prejudice, or even groundless and undeserved hatred, which always breed alienation and leads fiasco. This was also evident in the ideology of the other kind of totalitarian political systems of the 20th century, the Third Reich and the political groups attached to it. – At this point, we need immediately to recognize the interdependence of purely international and national thinking. Those nations, where individuals are reared with the spirit and clinches of nationalism, are the loudest to cry slogans of internationalism. The opposite is also true.
The closest example of particular concern for Hungarians, is Romania. On the one hand, they are aggressively and selfishly nationalistic, want to make progress by confiscation other people's wealth, yet they give voice to their desire at all costs to join the European Union. It gives the appearance of Romanians as a people with a split personality with a bad collective subconscious feeling who are attracted to places where they can gain as much as possible for themselves, but without giving anything to anyone else. A similar predisposition characterizes many of the Romanian clergy, vis a vis other churches. Unfortunately, as a result, the Orthodox churches have been a hotbed of nurturing Romanian nationalism. On the other hand, the ascendancy of internationalism was so impressed upon people’s minds that they do not notice that they have been left on their own, because of their persistence in holding onto an ideology which has driven them to grave financial and intellectual poverty, and a consequent state of existential insecurity. Striking signs of the latter are clearly identified among the Russian and the Ukrainian people. While the Romanians have been isolated and left to their own devices because of their nationalism, a similar situation has arisen the Russia and Ukraine because of their overwhelming and pervasive internationalism. In Hungary this problem is not nearly manifest, since more and more people turn away from the ethos of either exclusive internationalism and stubborn nationalism. Due to historic memories, especially those of the recent past, not everyone has found a balance and there is still a lot to be done in this field. We have not been able to learn yet to reflect upon the drawbacks of these categories, and not yet able to remember and pass along all those worthwhile experiences which can shape our nation’s future and also can be offered as universally sound values for other peoples and nations too.
II.
The history of the European Union, in making for half a century now, reveals that the emphasis has been on economic cooperation. Its success has laid the foundation for the integration in intellectual fields as well, such as bringing about a harmonization among the systems of legislation, institutions, education, universities and scientific research. Importantly, the EU is not just an economic matter, as the Romanians or Russians have visualized it. The applicants for membership have to meet quite a number of high standards and varied ethical requirements. These include foremost personal morality and behavior in individual life, right relationship to property, respect for people of different nationalities, renouncing hatred against other nations, protection of the environment, stopping piling up wealth without laboring for it, respect for work, etc. Meeting these requirements pose a great problem for those countries where even the leaders lack these positive insights. That is why the farther one goes toward the East in Europe the more corruption seems to prevail. As a rule, countries or peoples like this cannot count on the good will and benevolence of other nations which are going to receive them in their community. The announcement by President Clinton in 1997, confirming that only the three countries of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary could join NATO, took many by surprise, if not outright shock. Still, this announcement has not taught a lesson, and several countries expect and insist upon a welcome into the EU without the necessary merits. Even sadder is their failure to recognize that just changing their economic system alone will be enough to assure admission to the European Union, without their having to address their spiritual, intellectual and moral situations to some significant extent.
III.
Well, what has Christianity got to do with all this? What role could the church play in joining the EU and, then, in the EU? How can the church contribute to changing the approach of a nation? Why and how should it contribute to the above? Let us try and think it over in an orderly manner.
The church has been a special establishment in European societies to which no other organization can be compared. Its origins go back to times of the Old Testament. It is associated with God's orders of creation. It was a typical feature of the prehistoric period, that God divided and integrated the human race into nations and in nations, respectively (Gen. 4-6). The order of creation was made manifest by God choosing a people from among the many, thus including the order of salvation in history. They were the people of Israel and that was why they became the chosen people. The order of atonement/redemption should be given special emphasis because it is in the life of the people of Israel that God's love for the created world was made manifest. It means that all of the other people have something and someone to whom to relate and conform. (Exod. 19:5). The covenant on Mount Sinai is with Israel but it applies to all peoples who obey the call of the Lord. He promises, ‘in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed’ (Gen. 22:18; 26:4; 28:14) to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob alike, while Moses is told, ‘for all the earth is mine’ (Exod. 19:5). Christianity believes that all the work by the Lord was done out of mercy in the life of Israel so that his redemption can be better accomplished later in Jesus Christ. It is the New Testament which follows up the process of ‘corporal Israel’ becoming a ‘spiritual Israel’ through the salvation of Christ. This is the church. God's order of salvation becomes even wider by means of the church. The gospel is spread all over the world, and the church becomes part of people's lives. The church brings with it everything that God has presented the peoples with. In other words, from all of the peoples, God invites a ‘spiritual people’ to himself so that the whole of the people have someone and something to conform to. This "spiritual people" are the representatives of God's love everywhere, thus the church has the power to communicate divine values and represent divine order and thus can provide a happy future for that people. The peoples of Europe were raised in that spirit and as they have invested Christian values it makes sense to examine what Christian ideas have made their way in the life of this continent. Or, we might ask: What Christian principles join and keep the European peoples in one community?
The prophet Isaiah says when he teaches about the order of the people: ‘All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.’ (Isa. 40:6-8) Apostle Peter also cites these verses in his First Letter chapter 1 verses 24-25. The New Testament goes even further when it wipes away the borders between the peoples. ‘For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek there is neither bond nor free , there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.’ (Gal. 3:27-29) The order of the people therefore is quite contingent, a historic one, which means that being a nation is not eternal but a temporal existence. God ‘hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their [the nations'] habitation’ (Acts. 17:26). In addition to it, Christianity proclaims the teaching that the dividing lines have been eliminated in Christ. Therefore, no nation lives forever, no matter how hard it tries to develop a nation-state based on selfish interests. In modern terms, this idea can be understood as follows: Finally, European nations, which have been raised in the spirit of European Christian culture in the literal sense of the word, can no longer regard geographical boundaries as dividing lines. Neither Christian behavior based on love, nor science, culture or morals recognize the division of boundaries. Now it is evident that one cannot speak about Christian peoples in the way once Constantine the Great thought. Christian heritage, however, is omnipresent in almost all of the European nations' lives. It is often a hidden treasure, yet the church is also present virtually everywhere, interfering sometimes more and sometimes less explicitly. However, the people who confess themselves Christian, but refuse to follow the Christian traditions, will bring about a negative verdict upon themselves. Quite frankly, such nations will not be embraced wholeheartedly by the rest of the EU. Until they revise their Christianity and eliminate unworthiness from among their own people across the generations. The church should set an overall positive example in the process. The church cannot afford to superimpose national values at on the Christian ones, because if it did so it would immediately cease to be the church. Such people or the people misled by the church in such a way cannot say they are the heirs of Abraham according to the promise as they have not actually ‘put on Christ’ (Gal. 3:27). It equally applies to Hungarian and the host western Christianity, as well as the Christian churches of the east European countries. The latter are presently invoking a curse upon themselves just because they have not discovered for themselves the openness of western biblically based Christianity nor noticed the west-east shift of this kind of mentality. These people, in full agreement with their political and church leaders, keep saying that they wish to join Europe and make serious efforts to restructure their economy. But that is not enough. It is time they noticed that, although unwillingly, they have become part of a huge historic movement whose intellectual driving forces originate from Christian thinking. For these people the question is no longer about how they can move towards union with Europe. Actually, Europe is going eastward and they are being approached by Europe with its Christian heritage, offering them all its values. The peoples of east Europe should recognize it and meet the requirements set for them. Unfortunately, they imagine that living in the community of European nations would mean enjoying all the benefits of it while they go on living in their own nation-states according to the old moral norms. The church should frankly reveal this two-faced behavior and lead the people out of this blind alley.
IV.
All nations have their own traditions, customs, culture, those inherited norms which constitute the basis for the organization of their nation or state. We have basic mundane value system in mind at this elementary level. If a nation elects to elevate their particular heritage to an absolute rank, as the sole standard by which to qualitatively judge all others, and compares everybody else to it, it is still at an unsophisticated lower level of social development. This is but the level of instinctive ‘autonomy’ to which no one should object. But if a nation claims to be Christian, yet also accepts ‘heteronomy’ and mixing of a Christianity modified by the laws of its own nationhood, the problem is really significant. Recent examples of it have been seen not only in Romania, but also in Serbia and Slovakia. A great number of nationalist Romanians wish that the more than two million Hungarians living in Transylvania would give up their ancient identity, slowly assimilate and finally just call themselves Romanian. They propagandize their ideas in more aggressive ways also. The “Party of Great Romania,” for example, have put up maps all over the land to show that it is their aim to occupy the whole of the Trans-Tisza area, East-Hungary whose population is 99% Hungarian. Most of these people are Reformed, but a significant number belonging to the Roman catholic, and somewhat less to the Lutheran and Greek catholic denominations. This party is not at all interested in the fact that the Hungarians of Transylvania, whether Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Unitarian, Baptist or Reformed, have all been raised in the spirit of the western Christian culture, as the Party itself is a manifestation of the ideas of eastern style Christianity. This is why they would not allow Transylvania’s Hungarians to found their own university, where students could learn in their mother tongue - Hungarian. Essentially, they want everyone to meld into the Romanian nation, which can be shaped into a homogeneous nation later on. The crux of the matter is: If we lose the Hungarians in Romania we will also lose a very essential part of the western Christianity and western culture.
The above is a typical example of thought that is completely alien to the Christian way of thinking. Jesus Christ disregarded the laws of nationhood and, instead, offered the law based on the freedom of love. It is completely free from autocracy, violence, racism, superiority, humiliation of minorities or their aggressive oppression. This brand new love-order is not a code to replace the rules of nationhood, but it is the manifestation of the freedom of the gospel. This Christian norm is not just a regulation at the same level as the laws of a nation but is superior to them. Christian norms are not the inductive consequences resulting from the experience of being a nation, nor even the results of deductive intellectual inquiry. On the contrary, they are something never before imagined by the human mind, something that is beyond mere human intellect. Indeed, they are something so different that the validity of the norms of nation themselves must be judged by Christian standards, but never the other way around. Therefore, a people who do not like – or occasionally even hate – minorities living among them, have strayed away from Christian teaching. If a church supports this narrow absolutist way of thinking based instead on the laws of its nation as derived from its people, it cannot be regarded as a true church anymore.
This is so because an order grounded on such a limited concept of nationhood is the product of the human minds, and is shaped on the basis of one people’s limited historical experience. That is why it cannot tolerate any other approach. That kind of notion can only be measured by the intellect. It is exclusive autonomous thinking which serves as the root and headspring of both nationalism and internationalism. It lacks the humility of the heteronomous approach as well as its proper understanding, lacking the basic norms of Christian mentality. If this is so, or if a nation gets into a situation like this, its approach and thinking form a closed system. And this is precisely how it will become differentiated from an order rooted in Christian thought and the openness of a Christian mindset based on love. Yet this is what the western nations of Christian Europe offer. No matter what western European Christianity manifests itself, no matter how powerless it appears, and no matter how high the rates of secularization are among the nations of the continent, Christianity is the sole intellectual factor and spiritual force binding these peoples together and the underlying determinant in their thinking. It is because the spirit of the gospel has become ingrained in their lives, having influenced their common histories and determined their development. Sometimes perceptibly and sometimes imperceptibly, Christianity remains always present in the background of public thought.
The European Union, which has existed for quite some time now, has not attained its final organizational structure as yet. It is in constant change. Politicians are discussing two different approaches. The French think the EU should be a federal community of nation-states, while the Germans are for a ‘centralized’ kind of federal state. Both ideas are based on openness and the reception of other peoples. They do not want to lose the importance of national values, but all of the member nations could become richer through sharing in the valued insights offered by the other peoples. It does not mean that someone else will work for them but, on the contrary, having enriched their identity they can save and preserve it. At the same time, they can also develop a new identity through work, morals, their relationship with other people, public thinking, relationship to property, esteem for the values of human life, preservation of health and protection of the environment, and accept their new identity readily. The church has a principal role in this very process by exerting positive influence on the people. The reason why the church must exist as a ‘spiritual Israel’ is clear at this point. Being the congregation of Christ, the church has its mission in proving to the world with whom they can and should align themselves. That is how Jesus Christ becomes the basis of the order of creation and, as it contributes to a people remaining faithful to their alliance with God, that people can also rely on a happier future. Thus the church does not act in the spirit of the revelation of Christ for itself, but for the world, i.e. the people, the nation in its care. If the church is the congregation of people having found their new identity in Jesus Christ, its members relate to other people with unconditional love. ‘I have declared unto them thy name ..., that the love thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them’ (John. 17:26), the prayer of Jesus about his disciples becomes reality among the people through the proofs of this love.
The Roman Catholic church has already brought about a certain kind of "church federation" through its comprehensive organization. One question to be resolved is: how does this idea of federation match up with other political aspirations? In principle, joining the EU does not pose problems for the Protestant churches. However, they should make sure, that quality congregational life is assured through a membership personally committed and involved in its mission, including its funding. Without dependency upon the almost exclusive financial support by the state, the Reformed church could independently, freely and unfettered better serve the people to whom it preaches the gospel about Christ. That is how the truth of the word of God will become reality for the whole of the people: ‘The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.’ (Prov. 14:27)
