Debate around the meaning of Christmas

A conservative commentator contends that Europe’s Christian heritage is imperiled by consumerism and multiculturalism. His anti-government counterpart finds all this tasteless and politically motivated fear-mongering.

Magyar Hírlap’s Pál Dippold claims that Europe’s Christian heritage is in danger. The pro-government commentator identifies the consumerist culture and multiculturalism promoted by western European countries as the main threats to ‘Christian values’. As a result, Western civilization is being destroyed by its own inability to reproduce itself demographically, Dippold concludes.

In Magyar Nemzet, Albert Gazda dismisses allegations that Christian traditions are under attack in Europe. He accuses Prime Minister Orbán of using his Christmas address to create moral panic. In his address, published in Magyar Idők, PM Orbán wrote that it was the duty of Europeans to defend Christian values, which are the cornerstones of European culture, along with national identity and human rights. PM Orbán identified mass migration as the main threat to Hungary and Europe. Gazda dismisses such arguments as a politically motivated fiction.

Tags: Christianity, Europe, migration, Orbán