Madam, - There have been a number of letters in response to my letter of December 4th in which I said Europe was founded on the values that emanate from Christian culture.
The turmoil of European and Christian history has been cited as evidence that there is little or no connection between European values and the Christian tradition. It is also claimed that rights such as freedom of the individual are not in fact Christian principles in that either they are not in the fundamental texts of Christian tradition and/or have often been opposed by Christians in the course of history.
Firstly, I believe it is quite erroneous to use examples of mankind's failure to live up to Christian principles as a means to attack or ignore the source of those principles.
I would contend also that the Christian messages such as love for your neighbour, love for your enemy, love for the weakest in society, gave birth over time to all the essential European values such as freedom of the individual, freedom of conscience, free speech, gender equality, democracy etc . . . The Christian movement which began 2,000 years ago, being made up of men and women, was fraught with difficulties and set backs, but thankfully over history the original message, though revolutionary at the time, endured and stills bears fruit today.
The book by Christopher Dawson Religion and the Rise of Western Cultureexplains very well how during the Middle Ages Christian monasticism slowly transformed Europe, overrun by invading kings and armies, to a civilised society and it is worth noting, for example, that the first schools and hospitals are attributed to this Christian reality.
Furthermore, looking around the globe for cultures that hold similar values to ours, one will find directly or indirectly strong Judeo-Christian influences.
If we want, as one wrote, a "harmonious and respectful European future" I believe that the best chance of this is the faithful recognition of the values that we enjoy and the sharing of those same values with all those who wish to be part of this European tradition. - Yours, etc,
OWEN SORENSEN, Palmerston Road, Dublin 6.
Madam, - Claire Healy writes (December 5th) that the "liberal and democratic values . . . such as equality of the sexes,anti-racism etc . . . are nowhere to be found in the fundamental texts and tenets of the Christian tradition". I refer you to St Paul's letter to the Galatians (modern Turkey) which dates from the mid-first century.
"There is no longer any difference between Jew and Greek, or between slave or freed, or between male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28).
As we "look forward to the vision of a more respectful and harmonious European future" we can continue to draw inspiration from the words of Paul of Tarsus, a Middle Eastern Jew, writing in Greek 2,000 years ago, on the subject of the radical equality of mankind. - Yours, etc,
RAY McINTYRE, Mullingar, Co Westmeath.