%0 Journal Article
%T The Souls Of Europe
%A Govert J. Buijs
%J Limes. Cultural Regionalistics
%@ 2029-0209
%D 2009
%I 
%R 10.3846/2029-0187.2009.2.126-139
%X How should Europe deal politically with its legacy as a so-called "Christian civilization"? Should this imply an overt reference to God or to the Christian or Judeo-Christian tradition in European constitutional documents (as was debated when the so-called "Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe" was tabled)? This debate raised the old "politico-theological problem": does a political order need some kind of metaphysical or religious grounding, a "soul", or can it present itself as a purely rational order, the result of a utilitarian calculus? In this article it is argued that the secular idea of the state as an inherent element in the "Judeo-Christian tradition", for a "divine state" usurps a place that is only God's. So, this religious tradition itself calls for a secular state, and this inherent relationship between religion and secularity has become a key element for the interpretation of European civilization, most notably in the idea of a separation of the church and the state. But the very fact that this is a religious idea does imply that the European political order cannot be seen as a purely rational political order without a soul. The idea of a "plural soul" is proposed as a way out of the dilemma.
%K Europe
%K European civilization
%K Judeo-Christian tradition
%K political order
%K religion
%K secularity
%U http://versita.metapress.com/content/y7551334u35ux0g8/?p=067be42915544edd8a49efccd2216a38&pi=3