Nationalist, not civilizationist

Submitted by G. Lobe (Canada), Oct 25, 2018 at 16:01

I agree wit Dr. Pipes that "far-right" is the wrong term to describe these parties, but "Civilizationist" is also misleading. How can a party defend Western civilization by suppressing its main achievements; e.g. freedom of press and independence of Judiciary, as has been done in Poland and Hungary? These parties are nationalists, but their protection of western civilization does not go beyond European ethnicity and Christianity. They neither value nor respect the western achievements that brought Europe out of dark ages and ushered the modern age.

Dr. Pipes attributes the misbehaviour of these parties to inexperience or mistakes. On the other hand, it can be argued that these actions are inherent to their ideology. Western civilization cannot be saved by violating its most sacred values.

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