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In Defense of Christendom
Having ignored its inheritance, Europe wonders why its house is falling apart.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in
Istanbul, Oct. 18. PHOTO: TURKISH PRESIDENT

By BRET STEPHENS

1090 COMMENTS

Oct. 19, 2015 7:19 p.m. ET

The death of Europe is in sight. Still hazy and not yet inevitable, but nevertheless visible
anddrawingnearerlikeadistantplanetinthelensofanapproachingsatellite.Europeis
reaching its end not because of its sclerotic economy, or stagnant demography, or the
dysfunctions of the superstate. Nor is the real cause the massive influx of Middle Eastern
and African migrants. Those desperate people are just the latest stiff breeze against the
timber of a desiccated civilization.

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Europeisdyingbecauseithasbecomemorallyincompetent.ItisntthatEuropestands
fornothing.Itsthatitstandsforshallowthings,shallowly.Europeansbelieveinhuman
rights, tolerance, openness, peace, progress, the environment, pleasure. These beliefs are
all very nice, but they are also secondary.

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What Europeans no longer believe

in are the things from which their

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beliefs spring: Judaism and

Christianity; liberalism and the
Enlightenment; martial pride and

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capability; capitalism and wealth. Still less do they believe in fighting or sacrificing or
paying or even arguing for these things. Having ignored and undermined their own

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Christianity; liberalism and the

Enlightenment; martial pride and
capability; capitalism and wealth. Still less do they believe in fighting or sacrificing or

5.

Trump Skids for First

Time in Race

paying or even arguing for these things. Having ignored and undermined their own
foundations, they wonder why their house is coming apart.
What is Europe? It is Greece not Persia; Rome not Carthage; Christendom not the
caliphate. These distinctions are fundamental. To say that Europe is a civilization apart is

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not to say it is better or worse. It is merely to say: This is us and that is you. Nor is it to
saythatEuropeoughttobeaclosedcivilization.Itmerelyneedstobeonethatdoesnt
dissolve on contact with the strangers it takes into its midst.
ThatswhatmakesthediplomacyofAngela Merkel, undisputed regent of European
foreign policy, so odd and disconcerting. The German chancellor leads a party called the
Christian Democratic Union, one of the chief purposes of which is to rally the German
right to a reasonable conservatism.
Yet there she was in Istanbul on Sunday, offering a deal in which Europe would agree to
visa-free travel for Turks in Europe starting next year, along with quicker movement on
Turkish membership in the European Union, if only Ankara will do more to resettle Syrian
and other refugees in their own country. Europe would also foot the bill.
This is machtpolitik in reverse, in which the chancellor is begging small favors from
weaker powers on temporary matters in exchange for broad concessions with farreachingramifications.Thereare75millionTurks,whosepercapitaincomedoesnt
match that of Panamanians. The country is led by an elected Islamist with an autocratic
streak, prone to anti-Semitic outbursts, who openly supports Hamas, denies the Armenian
genocide, jails journalists in record numbers, and orchestrates Soviet-style show trials
against his political opponents. Turkey also has borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran. These
wouldbecomeEuropesbordersintheeventofTurkishmembership.
This is the country Ms. Merkel proposes to bring into the bosom of Europe. Her
apologistswillsayshesbeingdisingenuous,butthatonlycompoundsthedisgraceofher
overture.
Italsocompoundsthedanger.CouldEuropesliberalpoliticaltraditions,itsreligiousand
cultural heritage, long survive a massive influx of Muslim immigrants, in the order of tens of
millionsofpeople?No.NotgivenEuropesfrequentlyunhappyexperiencewithmuchof
its Muslim population. Not when you have immigrant groups that resist assimilation and
host countries that make only tentative civic demands.
And not when a heedless immigration policy, conducted in fits of moral selfcongratulation, leads to the inevitable reaction. In Switzerland on Sunday, a plurality of
voterscastballotsfortheSwissPeoplesParty,knownmainlyforitsantiimmigrant
stance. Its sister parties throughout Europe are also the political beneficiaries of the
migrant influx, trafficking on legitimate grievances against the postmodern state to peddle
illiberal cures. Few things are as dangerous to democracy as a populist with half a case.
It says something about the politics of our day that this column will be condemned as
beyond the moral pale. Such is the tenor of the times that it is no longer possible to assert
without angry contradiction that Europe cannot be Europe if it is not true to its core
inheritance. This is the marriage of reason and revelation that produced a civilization of
technological mastery tempered by human decency.
ItiscommendablethattheWestistryingtobemoreopen,tobemoreunderstandingof

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thevaluesofoutsiders,butithaslostthecapacityforselflove,aprominentGerman

Page 2 / 4

ItiscommendablethattheWestistryingtobemoreopen,tobemoreunderstandingof
thevaluesofoutsiders,butithaslostthecapacityforselflove,aprominentGerman
theologiannotedaboutadecadeago.Allthatitseesinitsownhistoryisthedespicable
and the destructive; it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure. What Europe
needs is a new self-acceptance, a self acceptance that is critical and humble, if it truly
wishestosurvive.
ThatsJoseph Ratzinger, better known as Benedict XVI.Hesoutoffashion,which
makes him that much more worth hearing.
Write bstephens@wsj.com.

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