There will never be a “European” nation; this should be at the cost of eliminating patriotism; it is a harmful utopia – says in an interview with PAP Prof. Marek Kornat – historian, Sovietologist of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
There will never be a “European” nation. This should be done at the cost of eliminating patriotism, i.e. ties to the land where one’s nation was located and to the human community that occupies that land. There is no other way
– emphasizes Prof. Kornat.
Utopian “European Nation”
The theory of creating a European nation, which many proponents dream of the process of creating the European Union as a superstate as opposed to nation-states, is utopian. A harmful utopia. As the late Professor Andrzej Walicki said, the nation is the widest and broadest community that offers identification and self-identification to people who might otherwise be very divided – for example, in faith, and not just in current political views or social attitudes. There is no abstract human being. It exists as a member of a specific human group – with nationality, religion, etc. A nation is the broadest community in which people can unite on earth. To forcibly deprive them of the possibility of this identification would end in catastrophe
– predicts the historian, adding that it is impossible to create a nation “from behind a desk”.
At the same time, he argues that there is nothing wrong with the so-called two-story consciousness, ie the identification of European nations with the heritage of European civilization. In the case of Europe, this civilization cannot be understood without Christianity, although an attempt is made to push through the proposition that Europe was created by the Enlightenment and before that there was either nothing or ignorance and slavery.
Two-storey consciousness is not a bad thing – as Catholics we are proud, for example, of the medieval church, the universalism of Christianity at the time, or the great popes; we refer to Shakespeare and Chateaubriand. There is a European consciousness and it won’t be a bad thing if a Maltese, a Pole, a Swede or an Italian refers to it. But this is not national consciousness, but a sense of a specific affinity with civilization
– points out Prof. Marek Kornat.
national history
He points out that the knowledge of history is the binding agent of national consciousness.
It is not good if a man does not know about his ancestors, about his family. Where did it come from, what did these people used to do. Sometimes it can be associated with an additional title for satisfaction or appreciation. In other cases it is also embarrassing. In any case, it is an obligation to either try to follow the paths of those ancestors who played a positive role in the history of their own nation, or to erase the mistakes of those who did not write it in the best way.
the historian postulates.
The same is true in the case of collective history. National history is knowledge that strengthens and enriches us, and it is impossible to imagine anyone functioning if a man knows nothing or almost nothing about the past of his own community. If that were the case, we would lose the sense of continuity. Alienation ensues. History should help and of course it does, but not everyone wants to draw on it skillfully
he concludes.
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Mon/PAP
Source: wPolityce