Recently, I have been discussing European culture and civilization to some degree, particularly focusing on its historical ties to Christianity and recent divergence (and even apparent aversion) to it. The other day I stumbled across an interesting study conducted by the Uppsala Institute for Diaconal and Social Studies, which I think is affiliated with the Church of Sweden and Uppsala University. One of the researchers, Ninna Edgardh Beckman, contributed a piece to that document on the relationship of religion and welfare in Europe (I apologize, but cannot find the document online anymore). As part of her introductory remarks, she says the following:

The first observation is that welfare reveals the historic influence of the Christian churches. It is impossible to tell the history of any aspect of welfare--of medicine, of poor relief or of education--in Europe, without taking into account the history of the Christian churches. Through their teaching and practice they have all, in various ways, contributed to the aforementioned European understanding of solidarity and social responsibility and also to the actual formation of the different types of welfare systems that prevail in Europe.

She goes on to note that in several European languages, the word for welfare is actually very closely tied to the word "providence." Semantics, however, is secondary, and she further observes that "the degree to which the historic influence of the churches still makes its imprint, in spite of alleged secularity [is striking]...our present welfare states are the products of long and close relationships between church and state all over Europe." This further bolsters the point I have been drawing out in a number of my posts. Despite the occasional European tendency to historical amnesia (conscious or otherwise), especially in regards to religious matters, this demonstrates clearly the influence of the Church over society, and in a positive way.

You may debate the legitimacy of the modern welfare state, and that is fine. That is not the point here. Instead, the point is that historically the Church has been faithful in fulfilling its obligation to "look after orphans and widows in their distress." Yet, as Beckman later notes in her research, the failure of the Church to continue this task into the modern age is evident as the modern welfare state has grown into an all-encompassing government subsidiary. Granted, her finding is reported much more objectively than I have stated here. The rapid decline of the presence of the Church in Europe has not helped either, requiring something other than itself to take up the task. I think it is quite obvious that this has become a burden far too large for any sort of government to bear.

With the disappearance of the Church, it seems as if it would be natural for the state to take up where it had left off, especially considering how closely the two were wed historically. As I alluded to above, it is easy to criticize the welfare state for what it is, but I think it is a natural progression. With both entities occupying a sort of ultimate place in the culture and society it only makes sense that when one no longer remains in that position, the other will move in to take over that role as well. That is not a justification for its existence, merely and observation. To expect Europe to merely shed the welfare mentality is unrealistic, as well as unfair. Economics is a field in which I claim no expertise, but I do know there is not a "one-size-fits-all" solution to various problems.

Also, this is not to blame the Church for the way European culture has changed in recent history. I will not deny that in some ways blame can be cast in that direction, but I do not highlight this in order to point fingers; I think instead we ought to look ahead. So then, I can say with confidence that one place to start is for the Church to reclaim its mission in its entirety, and to once again practice the religion that our God and Father accepts as pure and faultless (James 1:27). If we want to talk about real cultural revolution, this is where it needs to begin.