In the Trenches of Western Civilization

Easter Monday, en route from Ljubljana to Strasbourg. On the radio, I hear that the death toll from Sunday’s bomb attacks in Sri Lanka has climbed to nearly 300. Most of the victims were locals, but there were also dozens of foreigners. The targets of the Islamist extremists—most likely responsible for the terrorist attacks—were Catholic churches, where Easter Mass was being celebrated, and luxury hotels packed with tourists. An attack on Western civilization? Perhaps. But certainly an attack on Sri Lanka, and a crime against humanity.

I’m not among those who seek reasons—or worse, justifications—for Islamist terrorism in the sins and injustices inflicted on Muslims around the world by a cruel, hypocritical, and greedy West. Those injustices undeniably exist. But nothing, absolutely nothing, can justify or excuse the murder of innocent people. Terrorism in any form, regardless of the ideological cloak it wears, is evil and must be stopped and punished—with force, not diplomacy.

At the same time, it is equally depraved when politicians attempt to extract political capital from such attacks—often before the dead have even been removed or the wounded treated. Already, we hear voices blaming all Muslims for the atrocities committed by a fanatical group of deranged extremists. This is highly effective—and extremely dangerous—misdirection. The Sri Lankan jihadists represent Islam no more than Hitler, Ratko Mladić, or the Christchurch mosque shooter represent Christianity. But that won’t stop the Sunday Crusaders and “guardians of Western civilization” from competing in generalizations, blanket accusations, insults, lies, and spreading social-media-fueled “truths” that “the mainstream media won’t show you.” What follows is a cultural war—deepening divisions based on religion, race, origin, and nationality—all in the pursuit of political power.

The biggest beneficiaries of extremist crimes on one side are always their mirror images on the other. The ideological spectrum is circular—extremists of all kinds end up rubbing shoulders with those they supposedly hate the most.

I’m also wary of the civilizational rhetoric that always resurfaces after tragedies like the one in Sri Lanka. After 9/11, much attention was paid to Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations” thesis, published years earlier as a rebuttal to Francis Fukuyama’s idea that liberal democracy marked the “end of history.” Huntington replied: “Hardly. What’s coming is a clash of civilizations and an assault by Islamist extremists on Western civilization.” I believe both Huntington and Fukuyama missed the mark. Liberal democracy is, at best, limping along today—far from having delivered a final knockout to authoritarian and illiberal alternatives. Huntington’s error was even more basic: Islamist radicalism is a threat—but it is not a civilization.

We can, of course, debate semantics—what counts as a civilization, and what doesn’t. When Gandhi was asked what he thought of Western civilization, he famously said: “It would be a good idea.” Given how the British Empire “civilized” the Indian subcontinent for nearly a century, who can blame him?

I personally see civilization and culture differently—not as an identity or a political flag, but as the best and most valuable contributions a particular community makes to the shared heritage of humanity. Viewed this way, it’s clear: civilizations do not clash with each other. If they did, they wouldn’t be civilizations. Civilization is a shelf, where we place the greatest human achievements for all to admire—the things we are justly proud of.

Europeans have a lot to place on that shelf: from Ancient Greece, the Enlightenment, and parts of the French Revolution, to the abolition of slavery, gender equality, and the liberal democracy that was built after WWII as a response to our darkest chapter—based on human rights, humanism, solidarity, and the rule of law.

An integral part of European civilization is Christianity, which, through its values and contributions to culture, is part of our cultural DNA. But today’s “defenders of Western civilization” care little for culture or values. They wear Christianity like a military uniform—a tool to divide “us” from “them” in a culture war against others. In doing so, they resemble their ideological opposites—because again, the ideological spectrum is circular.

Such a weaponized understanding of religion, race, culture, and identity has no place on the civilization shelf—even if it is part of our history. For the darker parts of our past, Europe has plenty of material—but that belongs in a different cabinet: pathologies preserved in formaldehyde, reminders of historical memory, so we don’t forget or repeat old mistakes.

Years ago, I had lunch with Dr. Ismail Serageldin, then director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina—a jewel of world civilization built in the time of Ptolemy II. At a time of rising tensions and misunderstandings across the Mediterranean, we didn’t discuss what divides us—but what has connected us for centuries. Dr. Serageldin believes this is where we can build an antidote to today’s conflicts, much as European integration overcame historical divisions.

Forget Arab numerals and Scheherazade—he told me, for example, about the Charter of Medina, in which the Prophet Muhammad, in the 7th century, granted religious freedom and minority protections, and gave women significant social rights, including property ownership. A thousand years later, women in Europe were still their husbands’ property—and if they were unlucky enough to be accused of witchcraft, their best chance of escaping execution by fire was to drown.

It’s true: in much of the modern Muslim world, women still lack rights worthy of admiration. But if anything, that only proves that misreading the Prophet’s message is not limited to Islamophobes. What’s more, opposition to gender equality unites conservatives on both sides. With not enough refugees left to sustain widespread fear and paranoia—the lifeblood of populist regimes—women’s rights have become the new target of Europe’s anti-liberal tribunes.

Civilizations may not clash—but they can be threatened. Islamist terrorism is a threat, and must not be taken lightly. But like other global challenges, it demands solidarity and cooperation among peoples and nations—not division.

European civilization is also under threat from those so obsessed with power that they’re willing to say and do anything—including claim that electrical faults can’t start fires. Such stupidity is not only an insult to fire safety and common sense, but to Europe’s Enlightenment heritage, which—before the resurgence of populism—valued science, logic, and facts. Today, for many, the only truth is whatever fuels their prejudice and hate.

A week ago, as I watched Notre-Dame’s wooden roof engulfed in flames, I felt a deep sadness—for this jewel of European civilization, part of our global cultural heritage. But when I read the reactions of some of the people we’ve entrusted with running our countries, I felt chilled. We are in trouble—because civilization can’t be proven by 800-year-old stones and beams, no matter how beautifully arranged.

In the end, the true proof of civilization is our civil behavior, here and now.

And on that front, my friends, we are increasingly coming up short.