Book Review: The Cube and the Cathedral

The Cube and the Cathedral, written by George Weigl, is an extended essay rather than a book dealing with the current troubles of Europe. The Cathedral from the title is Notre Dame, while the Cube is the modernist monument the La Grande Arche de la Defense, in which Notre Dame could physically fit. The analogy is simple enough.

Weigl spends a great deal of time on the squabbles over the prologue of the European Constitution, which constitution has since been voted down. What he objects to is not a lack of invocation of God but rather a lack of any acknowledgement of Christianity's contribution to European civilization, since the accomplishments of the Ancient World and the Enlightenment are specifically cited. Weigl's most effective chapter is a simple list of names including everyone from Gustavus Adolphus to Ambrose of Milan. All those listed were practicing Christians. Europe as we know it would not exist without them.

The cure that Weigl sees for Europe's problem (suicidal birthrates and an inability to defend itself) is a return to Christianity. I don't really see any problem with his thinking. He lists some possible alternatives if Europe continues on its current course (the EU succeeding in its current secularist project, a fundamentalist Muslim takeover via birthrates, or a patchwork Europe of secularist, Christian and Muslim civilization). He thinks the third option most likely. I also agree with that estimate but would posit a fourth that he missed. That alternative would be a Europe united under a transcendent ideal that is not Christian. Needless to say, this ideal would probably be promulgated by a Le Penn type figure and would not do well by anyone on the continent, unless you are into that fascist kind of thing.

What I think Weigl's (sound) argument comes down to is that a civilization needs a goal to strive for if it is to continue. Europe currently doesn't have a goal and is thus foundering. If we leave the truths of the religions aside for the moment, based on utility alone a neo-Christian Europe would be far more conducive to human rights than a fundamentalist Muslim Europe.

Weigl does a little too much quoting in Cube and I don't like him using the Peter Brown theory of the end of Rome, but these are small nits to pick. Also of interest is Phillip Longman's article in yesterday's USA Today.