IS GOD A POPULIST?
contested in fostering their sense of Christian belonging and moral leadership? Have Europe’s churches stopped creating a space where people can truly belong? What does this mean for the future of Europe? Having worked in the European parliament and later on sensitive issues where declining democracy in countries with strong populists had serious implications for peoples’ human rights, these questions concern me. In my view, the Christian message is ultimately geared towards emancipation and greater human flourishing. As the late philosopher Roy Bhaskar outlines in his work on meta-Reality, recognising the humanity of the other implies a capacity to shed our egos and preconceptions, to identify with them and reconcile with them; this involves work and commitment.10 For Christians, of course, this resonates with Jesus’ comments on the greatest commandment: love God and love your neighbour as yourself. In the political arena, love as a response sounds nonstrategic, weak and, perhaps worse, naïve. Christians are also instructed to use reason. Europe’s past cannot be changed, but Europeans have the power to shape its future and this book and its contributors want to empower you to do that!
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