THE SECULAR INQUISITION
Por su interés y relevancia,
he seleccionado el artículo que sigue para incluirlo en este sitio web. (L.
B.-B.)
Christians are bad. Comrades are good. That is the lesson of the recently
concluded parallel process by which the European Union Commission and the
European Parliament accepted Laszlo Kovacs of Hungary as a European commissioner
while vociferously rejecting Italy's European affairs minister, Rocco
Buttiglione, for his views on marriage and homosexuality.
The media describe Laszlo Kovacs as a "socialist." In fact, he is a career
communist with decades of totalitarian experience. Mr. Kovacs worked closely
with the leadership of Janos Kadar's sinister regime, installed literally over
the dead bodies of the Hungarian democracy activists killed by Soviet tanks
after the 1956 popular uprising against the Communist Party's monopoly of power.
Years before glasnost, Mr. Kovacs was one of the dictator's henchmen with the
title of "Deputy Head of the Department of International Relations" of the
Hungarian Communist Party's Central Committee.
Given
that communist systems imprisoned, tortured and murdered millions of people, one
might think Euro parliamentarians would be slightly concerned about how deeply
Mr. Kovacs was involved in some of the darker aspects of Hungary's communist
dictatorship.
Just as searching questions were rightly asked of former Nazi Party members
seeking public office in postwar Germany, they might have queried speeches Mr.
Kovacs gave in the 1980s, attacking Western institutions such as NATO and
extolling the Soviet Union as the bedrock of Eastern Europe's "stability."
Instead, the Euro MPs confined themselves to grumbling about Mr. Kovacs'
somewhat scanty knowledge of energy policy. Mr. Kovacs passed his confirmation
hearings with flying colors and is now the EU taxation and customs commissioner.
Rocco Buttiglione never previously participated in a murderous regime. He is
a worldly, mild-mannered, philosophy professor who can be defined as a classical
liberal in the Acton-Tocqueville tradition. Yet Mr. Buttiglione was the focus of
a tempest in the European Parliament. The same MPs who calmly evaluated the
nomination of several ex-communists labeled Mr. Buttiglione a potential
inquisitor, an intolerant zealot, and a stain on the political landscape. His
views, they said, made him unfit for office.
All Professor Buttiglione did was articulate his beliefs and answer
questions. A full reading of the confirmation hearings transcripts reveal a man
with profound tolerance and a commitment to equality before the law and to the
equal dignity of every individual. The transcripts also reveal his religious
faith and his personal views on the family and homosexuality — views Mr.
Buttiglione stressed would not affect his official duties. His opponents,
however, began a public campaign and maliciously quoted the transcripts
selectively to caricature Mr. Buttiglione as a homophobe who believes women
should be in the home with children (ironically, Mr. Buttiglione's wife is a
successful working professional).
The transcripts (available online at www.acton.org/rb) show Mr. Buttiglione
blundered by assuming his questioners were open to a mature discussion of his
views, including his opinion — which, incidentally, is also taught by
Christianity — that not all sins should be treated as criminal offenses.
The Euro MPs were not interested in such a discussion. Mr. Buttiglione was a
target. He was "Borked" because he was not afraid to provide truthful answers
about his personal beliefs even though those beliefs would have no role in his
work. Mr. Buttiglione was Borked because faith in Europe is only acceptable if
it is politically correct. Believing Christians have no place in Europe's public
square.
The breathtaking double standard of the past six weeks results from the rise
of secularist fundamentalism. In the United States, secularist fundamentalism
dominates academe, where speech codes are regularly used to harass any religious
organization whose views on particular moral questions offend groups privileged
by secular fundamentalism.
Secularist fundamentalism also rears its head in the political realm. For
example, Attorney General John Ashcroft was the target of opposition for being a
religious believer. The American Civil Liberties Union and a chorus of other
opponents repeatedly told us Mr. Ashcroft would try to impose his religious
beliefs or even seek a theocracy.
The secular fundamentalists do not care if the religious believer swears to
uphold the law — all those with politically incorrect beliefs and faith must be
persecuted and punished.
An example is Judge Bill Pryor, whose offense was admitting he is a
practicing Catholic. Some religious views are not forbidden under secularist
fundamentalism — provided the practitioners have solid left-wing credentials.
Secular fundamentalists and their left-wing allies never complain about the
involvement in public life of the Rev. Jesse Jackson or the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Europe and America both are witnessing a curious phenomenon of those who
present themselves as guardians of tolerance committing terrible acts of
intolerance in the name of tolerance. One need not be religious to regard this
as a disturbing trend. The most effective way to combat the assault on religious
liberty is through consistent public exposure and by rejecting the double
standard. Anyone who desires genuine, open conversation in the public square
should be on notice that secularist fundamentalism is rapidly infecting public
life and that we sacrifice committed and worthy public servants if we allow
witch hunts and Borking in the confirmation process.
Samuel Gregg is director of research at the Acton Institute in Grand
Rapids, Mich.