Skip to content
Search
SUBSCRIBE
  • CURRENT
  • POLITICS
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • CULTURE & SOCIETY
  • REVIEW
  • OPINION
  • INTERVIEW
Menu
  • CURRENT
  • POLITICS
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • CULTURE & SOCIETY
  • REVIEW
  • OPINION
  • INTERVIEW
  • About
Menu
  • About
Search
SUBSCRIBE
  • CURRENT
  • POLITICS
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • CULTURE & SOCIETY
  • REVIEW
  • OPINION
  • INTERVIEW
Menu
  • CURRENT
  • POLITICS
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • CULTURE & SOCIETY
  • REVIEW
  • OPINION
  • INTERVIEW
  • About
Menu
  • About
  • CURRENT

Hungarian Conservative – Foreword to the Third Edition

  • CURRENT

Hungarian Conservative – Foreword to the Third Edition

HC 3
Hungarian Conservative - Volume 1, Number 3 - has been published!
  • István Kiss
  • — 09.09.2021

In September, for the first time in more than eighty years, Hungary will once again host the most important gathering of Catholics in the world, the Eucharistic Congress. This event gives us the opportunity to reflect on the current situation of Christianity in the West. Over the past couple of decades, with steep declines in church attendance all across the Western world, it has become common to speak of the end—or at least the rapid marginalization—of religion and especially Christian faith in our societies.

But is this really the case? An interesting study from the Pew Research Centre entitled ‘Being Christian in Western Europe’, published in May 2018, showed that despite relatively low church attendance rates in the fifteen Western European countries examined, on average 91 per cent of respondents had been baptized, and 71 per cent still identified as Christians. This clearly shows that—at least for the time being—most Europeans still feel culturally Christian, and even identify as such. What this means in practice is of course open to interpretation, and as you will see from the articles in this issue, even Christian authors will disagree on this point. For example, Chantal Delsol, perhaps the most important contemporary French Christian philosopher, is more sceptical, and sees alternatives such as the climate change movement as becoming a new form of religion for our societies. Others, such as the American conservative author Rod Dreher, with his call for a modern-day Benedict Option, seem more hopeful about at least the survival of Christian faith.

One thing seems certain, however: we human beings cannot live without religion, and a set of shared values and principles. We might think that we can successfully replace religion with other values or ideologies, but as history and our current cancel culture phenomenon show, these will ultimately always incorporate and emulate most aspects of organized religions. As such, the biggest question of the twenty-first century will be whether we should hold on to our familiar Christian faith or embrace alternative beliefs masquerading as political ideologies or movements. We conservatives would certainly prefer the former.

István Kiss, political scientist and international relations expert. He obtained his BA and MA degrees at Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, and at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Currently he is working on his PhD at his alma mater. From 2013 to 2018, he worked at the Századvég Foundation, first as a research fellow, then as a senior research fellow. Formerly, he held the position of political adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office of Hungary. He is the executive director of the Budapest-based think tank, the Danube Institute.
  • Tags: Featured

READ NEXT

15th National Marriage Week Begins in Hungary on Sunday

Ádám Bráder 08.02.2023

Szijjártó in Belgrade: Our Gas Transit is Secure

Ádám Bráder 08.02.2023

Russia–Ukraine Peace Was Blocked By Western Powers, Former Israeli Prime Minister Claims

Márton Losonczi 07.02.2023

CITATION

Hungarian Conservative is a bimonthly magazine on contemporary political, philosophical and cultural issues from a conservative perspective.

ABOUT

TERMS & CONDITIONS

PRIVACY POLICY

LOG IN

CONTACT

[email protected]

© Hungarian Conservative 2023

  • Privacy Policy
  • General Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Made by DIGITALHERO

  • CURRENT
  • POLITICS
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • CULTURE & SOCIETY
  • REVIEW
  • OPINION
  • INTERVIEW
  • CURRENT
  • POLITICS
  • PHILOSOPHY
  • CULTURE & SOCIETY
  • REVIEW
  • OPINION
  • INTERVIEW
Search

About

SUBSCRIBE