Robert Christian on Pope Francis at Strasbourg | National Catholic Reporter

Robert Christian on Pope Francis at Strasbourg | National Catholic Reporter by MSW. MGB: Europe is interesting, because it is much more communitarian than the United States.  It is now moving toward a more Lockean version of rights - that they are inherent rather than granted by the State - which is the American view - a view that is also influencing the Church - indeed it helped bring the Church into the twentieth century at Vatican II when it finally accepted a right to religious freedom (even if that meant the freedom not to be Catholic).  Still Europe is not yet like us - its members still cling to sovereignty - much like the states did prior to the Civil War.  Hopefully, it will not take another war for Europe to form a more perfect union - including a common tax and Treasury.  As for the attack on consumerism - one must always remember that without such things, workers will radicalize into a more Marxian paradigm. In one way, consumerism lets capitalism continue - but in another way it transforms capitalism to benefit the workers that would otherwise be exploited.