Merecki, Jarosław (Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu, 2020)
In the first part, the author points out that every political community is based on so-called “foundational events.” In the case of European culture, such an event was an encounter with the message of Christianity. The second paragraph indicates that after the division of Christianity and after the religious wars, the political community in many European countries was based on a foundation independent of religion. It was recognized that since religion leads to conflicts, the political community should be based on reason itself. The age of totalitarianisms has shown that reason without reference to the transcendent truth also leads to conflict and war. In the third point, the author discusses J. Ratzinger’s proposal that the rights of every human being are better protected if members of the political community live “etsi Deus daretur.”
