Agreed. But still (even for a candidate whose chances of actually being elected is negligible), it is refreshing to hear somebody on the political stage saying what he believes, without filtering every word based upon how it may affect his electoral prospects. While such words may offend, there is also a thirst for authenticity among a populace tired of focus-grouped messages and interchangeable, personality-free politicians delivering them.
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It costs votes to be religious. It doesn’t cost votes to be a nonbeliever. I believe that is true and it is frightening because of the obvious intolerance of one side.
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Yes it does, it costs you the votes believers won’t give you.
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Regardless of the retail political calculations of Zemmour’s statement, it is an eloquent and timely (overdue, actually) defense of Western Civilization. Unlike those who oppose and undermine it, the modern Judeo-Christian worldview has evolved to become fundamentally tolerant. Its prior intolerance - long gone - is used to justify the intolerance of the illiberal, anti-democratic, neo-fascist, totalitarian secular religion which has superseded Judeo-Christianity in much of the effete West.
Whether it was Chesterton who said it or not, it remains true that “people who no longer believe in God (or some eternal power greater than momentary human intellect) do not believe in nothing; they are capable of believing anything”. If, like me, you believe politics is downstream from culture, this brand of modern liberalism (combining all the worst features of Marxism and fascism) is a recipe for chaos - continuous purges/warfare and ideological cleansing. Several generations now have been propagandized by public education unmoored from reality. Since they know no history, these generations are condemned to learn these truths the hard way - by living them.
For them, Zemmour’s words serve as an introduction to a known past of which these generations are ignorant - having been taught these values were instead execrable. They are dismissed in toto as mere “whiteness”. How absurd.
The immediate future of these generations will be informed by the hubris inculcated in them by their teachers and ignorance of the history Zemmour outlines. They will be sorely lacking in these virtues they reject, notwithstanding the fact they were hard-won and evolved over millennia through the lives of millions who strove for survival with dignity for themselves, their families and finally, their neighbors as well. And, I submit it is precisely the extension of tolerance and dignity beyond family and tribe - to others, that is the hallmark of Judeo-Christian values which transformed the course of humanity for the better.
The alternative which the West’s elites seem intent on implementing, is alive and well today in much of the Middle East, where tribe still delimits the humanity and worth of all others. The dysfunction and cultural limitations of such societies are obvious and in plain view. Zemmour makes it plain that nothing less than that choice is at stake in the West. The point comes across without his ever saying so explicitly, signaling - rather than his virtue - his respect for the ability of his listeners to understand history and to think critically.
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I would not reduce Western civilization to the world of Christianity. Far from it and certainly not in France. If your observation with our modern world in particular France is that we lost the sense of values, I am with you.
But I have a feeling that our opinions will quickly diverge when it comes to filling the word “values” with something other than good intentions. Note that this is not a problem since we are here among people of good company.
In the country which has been nourished first of all by the Renaissance and then by what was called the “enlightenments”, then by the fight against the monarchy tyranny, to finally give place to the law of separation of the Church and the State in 1905, it is not possible to pass to the oblivion these centuries which founded modern France, as opposed to ancient France Zemmour refers to.
The caricature of a Marxist/Communist France putting down “good” Christian values has no historical reality (in France) even assuming that there is something left of Christian values after the Sauvé report “Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church”.
Even if I dispute that, Zemmour keeps repeating that France has Christian roots. I would find it appropriate that he does not forget that a tree does not only have roots… His willingness to stick to the roots seems very suspicious to me.
If this today’s France is only marginally Catholic (the churches are basically empty apart at Christmas), it is united by what makes the uniqueness of the French character, individualism and the readiness to revolt. It is certainly not in the country of Voltaire and Victor Hugo (and many others, Lavoisier, Lafayette, Molière) that you will find the slightest chance of a return to Christianity.
Voltaire said: “God is a comedian playing to an audience too scared to laugh”. French people like Voltaire.
Catholicism has phagocyted morality and spirituality. (and Christmas by the way). The French are not fooled, they know that one can have a morality without religion and have understood very well that the opposite is not possible. As an atheist, I have a morality and a spirituality. They don’t make me a superman, not a hero, they don’t bring me closer to God, but they have made me an honest man, as we used to say in the Age of Enlightenment.
Lets’ conclude on Eric Zemmour’s strategic error: he presents these former values as a new goal to be achieved, while for him it is only an instrument. And I’ll agree with @johnwalker Éric Zemmour has naturally no chance to become President of the Republic, his recent instrumentation of the Catholic religion certainly put an end to his slim chance.
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I weep for France.
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[Joke mode ON] As long as you don’t pray, it’s ok… 
[Joke mode OFF]
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I have been a Francophile since 8th grade when I started studying French, which study I continued through high school and 2 years of college. For whatever reason, I had little American accent by the time I moved to Lausanne, Suisse in 1969. I only stayed for 18 months, sadly. Nonetheless, by way of signaling my Francophone credentials (now much diminished by time and age), I often had the following dialogue after I said something in French: “D’ou venez-vous”? “Je suis Américain.” “Mais non”! In a non-linear way, I say this to imply I have some understanding - not only of some linguistic delights - but also of the long and deep anti-clerical sentiment in France; my own is a bit more tempered. Still, I do not presume to understand French politics as a Frenchman.
So, I do understand the thoroughly French viewpoint you express and agree M. Zemmour has little chance of election (small caution: neither did Trump). I want to suggest, though, that the concept of roots transfers quite well from plants to the growth of societies. Admittedly, there have been many more changes of Républiques in France than in the US (beginning at the barricades). Nonetheless, a culture - and the French culture survived several revolutions and remains very distinct and intact (though evolved like all societies) to a large extent since at least the 18th century. A society which does not know its history has no roots and may be toppled and replaced by the winds of mobs with substantial ease by something unrecognizable; not just political revolution, but cultural as well (see Mao). So, I think the analogy has much intellectual force in understanding any society. In the US, the word ‘deracinated’ has been used a fair number of times by conservatives like me to describe the ‘fundamental transformation’ first explicitly promised by Obama and vehemently pursued by his neo-Marxist fellow travelers. Also, we see “who controls the past, controls the present: who controls the present, controls the future”, stated frequently. So much for the macrocosm of the roots of society.
Professional education is a microcosm, which stands for the power of roots in understanding scientific disciplines. It teaches the history of thought which gave rise to the present moment of understanding. When I was a medical student (initially in Lausanne in 1967 when $1 equalled 4.35 CHF!!), I realized that the entire first two years of med school consisted of teaching the history of thought and evolution of understanding in each discipline of basic medical science. This was deemed necessary for there to be progress and so as to not repeat the errors of the past. As with the small, so with the large; intellectually the concept of roots scales up, I think. Maybe it is the same in engineering school?
In sum, I don’t understand Zemmour to be calling for a return to prior practices or values of Christianity or Catholicism. I think he merely traced important strains of history and emphasized the positives - like tolerance and a certain unity, which made much of modernity possible. As you observe, there were surely some large negatives to Christianity and Catholicism as well (I was not raised Christian, BTW). So, I don’t share your suspicion of roots. Maybe it is different in France, but in the US we have a loud, insistent and sophisticated new version of Marxist class warfare being perpetrated by elites - who are in a distinct minority, but who control all the influencing institutions after “the long march” through them. Not a moment passes when someone with access to “media” support is not demeaning and uprooting the Founding principles which led to all the benefits of today in favor of not equality but “equity” (their idea of imposed “fairness”). They forget that these benefits are not the natural order of things and that, once uprooted, they will quickly perish.
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I am ok with you remarks, I share them. If I can try to summarize my thoughts about the current state of France, i would say it’s a fantastic country to live in, I am like Zemmour proud of our rich history, but unlike him, I know that we are descendants of Christianity as much as of paganism, as much as of the Enlightenment, and that what can be called “the French spirit” is for sure a direct descendant of the philosophers of the Enlightenment and of their malice to denounce tyrannies, or at least abuses.
This has left very concrete traces. The permanent revolt of the French and their permanent, almost sickly, conflict/polemic mode is certainly not an avatar of the Catholic religion whose greatest enemies were derision and instability (more than laughter, by the way).
Let us note that this did not prevent Voltaire from believing in God, who always distinguished well between God and the clergy.
I have no problem describing our French propensity to revolt as sickly, I am rather amused by it, I used to say that the French are always revolted even when they have no idea what they are revolting against. It is what is called a principle, which has its utility and which avoids us many hypocrisies. Like any principle, applied, it has its excesses.
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The sad part of all of this is that it does not much matter who becomes President of France – or indeed leader of any other European nation. Western Europe’s day in the Sun is over, and I fear that North America’s day is also rapidly approaching twilight. The future will be driven by what happens elsewhere – China (of course), Russia (hopefully), India (maybe), perhaps Brazil (wild card).
The moving finger writes …
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Two things about France I admire, particularly: 1. Her (must I now remove gender and say ‘it’s’; what are France’s pronouns??? Haha) good sense to rely heavily on nuclear electricity production. 2. Her competent civil service cadres. While I regret the need for the state, to the extent it is necessary, it ought to be staffed with competent individuals. In France, the education of civil servants, I understand is competitive and serious. You attract serious people into civil service schools and have competent bureaucracy. In the US, by comparison, mostly those who cannot compete in the private sector become government employees. Competence and thoughtfulness are not among their characteristics.
p.s. I used to visit my Swiss son in Zurich once or twice a year, before the Covid reset. In those halcyon days, I would seize upon any excuse to get on a TGV (another French masterpiece). IF there is ever ‘normal’ travel in the foreseeable future (before I become too decrepit), I hope we might possibly meet in person. I love to visit France and could share some entertaining stories from prior visits, which I would not dare to put down in writing. @ johnwalker knows to take such musings regarding visits seriously.
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Certainly, I live in Lyon, the ancient capital of Gaul, which the Romans chose for its central position. It still is, there is no lack of means of communication and the TGV is my favorite, I took it for the first time in 1982 shortly after its opening between Paris and Lyon. I would be happy to meet you.
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Here, from Le Monde, are preliminary results for the first round of the French presidential election. Under the French system, the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, advance to the run-off on 2022-04-24, where the winner becomes president.
Eric Zemmour recommended his supporters vote for Le Pen in the run-off.
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It would be delicious if Le Pen pulled a victory out of her skirt.
Interesting. With a surprisingly high 74% of eligible voters participating, the highest scoring first choice (Macron) gained only 28% of the votes cast. Assuming Macron goes on to win the run-off, that means the leader of France will have been the first choice of only about 1 in 5 French citizens eligible to vote. Of course, if LePen wins the run-off, the leader of France will have been the first choice of barely 1 in 6 citizens.
Isn’t “democracy” wonderful!
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Apparently, this is low turnout for France’s Presidential contests.
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I’ve been watching France24’s coverage, and they are discussing the “abstention rate”. 78% participation in 2017.
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It does have the advantage that whoever ends up in the presidency cannot claim a “popular mandate” when it’s clear that far less than a majority of voters preferred them in a wide-open contest, as opposed to “the lesser of the two evils the system spit out this time”.
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You got to think Zemmour did the job he was given - to be a spoiler for Le Pen. So that mainstream media could continue to call her the “far right” candidate and lay a path for Macron to issue dramatic proclamations about how it is imperative to safeguard la Republique (source)
Back in 2017, the gap between Le Pen and Macron was tighter after the first round. Melenchon’s grown a bit, while Les Republicains have fallen dramatically. In 2017, Melenchon would only instruct his voters to not make the “terrible error” of voting for Le Pen (link).
It will be instructive to find out whether the French electorate will reward Macron with a second term even after the terrible COVID policies enacted during his first term (link).
2017 first round results (Wikipedia)
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Unfortunately, the Political Class in most countries do not seem to have enough modesty to admit that they do not have popular mandates for what they do. But they do it anyway.
Democracy as it has evolved in the West is dysfunctional. As the media rarely reports, Zelensky was elected president of the Ukraine as the “peace candidate”, committed to bringing an end to the Ukrainian government’s war against Russian-speaking citizens in the east of Ukraine – we know how that worked out.
Democracy works in a New England town meeting or in an ancient Greek city with a voting population of a few thousand – but it is proving to be a very poor reflection of popular will in modern societies.
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