A spectre is haunting Europe (and the Western world). It’s not communism like since Marx’ Manifesto 1848 and until 1990, but today it’s the spectre of populism. All are afraid of it, but they don’t know it very well. It’s time for looking at it openly. There is no democracy without populism – as well in the past as today. When the demagogues in the Athenian democracy incited the poorer people, they created populism. Since the ancient governors called themselves “benefactors of the people” without being it, Jesus recommended that we should act differently by conviction: “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave”. The statesman should be the servant of all people. The paper points out that it is not secularism what solves the problem of populism, because real values need really more genuine motivational power.
Keywords: Populism, Democracy, Secularism, Globalisation, Christianity
