\u201cWithin every ideal is hidden the risk of idol worship,\u201d said Joseph H.H. Weiler, President of the European University Institute, at the opening of his event on the theme \u201cEurope: ideal or idol worship?\u201d held in the Aula Neri at 5 p.m. The speaker, a professor at Harvard University, along with Andrea Simoncini, Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Florence, discussed about Juli\u00e0n Carr\u00f2n\u2019s message on \u201cEurope 2014. Is a new beginning possible?\u201d, wrote in the occasion of the last European elections.
\nWeiler underlined that the main ideals of the E.U. are peace, prosperity and welcoming the other. These values, however, are subject to idolization. Peace can become a convention based on utility, without any authentic spirit of forgiveness; embracing success can be turned into prosperity without solidarity and acceptance, an integration without embracing the cultural identity of the other. The words of Jean Monnet, one of the E.U. founders, are significant here: \u201cDon\u2019t make States coalitions, but a unity of people.\u201d
\nIn the same way, another type of idol worship, according to Weiler, \u201cis emphasizing human rights, forgetting to interiorize their corresponding duties.\u201d The proliferation of new rights is another limitation to freedom. In paying attention only to our claims while leaving behind our neighbor\u2019s needs, even the value of the human being is at risk of becoming a self-serving idol.
\nWeiler, a practicing Jew (and co-director of the Tikvah Centre of Jewish Law and Civilization), doesn\u2019t have problem admitting that the value of solidarity, as it has been understood by the E.U. founders, is based on the social doctrine of the Catholic Church, which cultivates a concern for one\u2019s responsibility to others. Starting from this awareness, the American jurist criticized the current inclination of European citizens to shrink responsibility, designating social politics to the law and to the government. Essentially, said Weiler, \u201cwe wait too long, thinking that the E.U. is the savior of all or, when things go wrong, that it is responsible for all our miseries.\u201d
\nWith respect to the commitment of the religious believer in public life, Weiler underlined the importance of giving reasoned arguments in order to defend ethical values, and avoid reference to Revelation. At the same time, he highlighted the value of the testimony of one\u2019s faith in the particular social and political context, in which we are all called to operate. Both on the personal and collective level, whether in Europe or internationally, \u201cthe solution for everyday life problems,\u201d said Simoncini, citing don Giussani, \u201cdoesn\u2019t come from facing problems directly, but from a deeper awareness of the nature of the subject which faces them\u201d. <\/p>\n
(C.S., F.Pi.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWithin every ideal is hidden the risk of idol worship,\u201d said Joseph H.H. Weiler, President of the European University Institute, at the opening of his event on the theme \u201cEurope: … <\/p>\n