Aquinas and Sánchez: the medieval quote nobody has actually read
A supposed quote from Saint Thomas Aquinas about Ceuta and Melilla reopens the debate on multiculturalism and national unity in Spain.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Aquinas, Sánchez and the medieval invocation against multiculturalism
A supposed reflection by Saint Thomas Aquinas, dug up to illustrate Spain's handling of the Ceuta and Melilla crisis, has peine the age-old question: does cultural diversity weaken the state? The episode has everything except theology.
The most-cited reading: Aquinas as an alibi
The dominant interpretation holds that the theologian's warning about political unity still stands. Without a shared sense of nation, the argument goes, divisions multiply. Spain, moreover, carries the burden of peripheral nationalisms and an education system that stopped passing on a common story. The argument is rounded off with a glance at the United States: its extreme diversity has not caused collapse thanks to natural resources, military power and a selective immigration policy that grants hardly any social rights to those who do not contribute.
The sceptics: the thirteenth-century context does not apply
On the other side, some point out that Visigothic Spain, the Roman Empire or the Reconquista itself show that cultural mixing does not always end in ruin. The criticism centres on the anachronism: using a medieval friar to justify today's border policy is, at the very least, a textbook exercise in pretext. It is also noted that the real social glue is not ethnic homogeneity but the welfare model: as long as there is debt and taxpayer money to maintain living standards, tensions are postponed. When the money runs out, the revolt will come.
The bottom line: why we keep arguing with ghosts
The paradox is that Aquinas did not write for Sánchez and the quote does not withstand serious analysis. But contemporary politics needs authorities to cover for the lack of data. The result is a debate in which everyone quotes without reading and nobody discusses the real figures on migratory pressure, labour integration or demographic ageing. More than multiculturalism, the problem looks like a reading comprehension deficit.
A supposed reflection by Saint Thomas Aquinas, dug up to illustrate Spain's handling of the Ceuta and Melilla crisis, has peine the age-old question: does cultural diversity weaken the state? The episode has everything except theology.
The most-cited reading: Aquinas as an alibi
The dominant interpretation holds that the theologian's warning about political unity still stands. Without a shared sense of nation, the argument goes, divisions multiply. Spain, moreover, carries the burden of peripheral nationalisms and an education system that stopped passing on a common story. The argument is rounded off with a glance at the United States: its extreme diversity has not caused collapse thanks to natural resources, military power and a selective immigration policy that grants hardly any social rights to those who do not contribute.
The sceptics: the thirteenth-century context does not apply
On the other side, some point out that Visigothic Spain, the Roman Empire or the Reconquista itself show that cultural mixing does not always end in ruin. The criticism centres on the anachronism: using a medieval friar to justify today's border policy is, at the very least, a textbook exercise in pretext. It is also noted that the real social glue is not ethnic homogeneity but the welfare model: as long as there is debt and taxpayer money to maintain living standards, tensions are postponed. When the money runs out, the revolt will come.
The bottom line: why we keep arguing with ghosts
The paradox is that Aquinas did not write for Sánchez and the quote does not withstand serious analysis. But contemporary politics needs authorities to cover for the lack of data. The result is a debate in which everyone quotes without reading and nobody discusses the real figures on migratory pressure, labour integration or demographic ageing. More than multiculturalism, the problem looks like a reading comprehension deficit.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (14 replies).
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