Not necessarily paganism, but the distinct attributes that have resulted from the thousands-year long development of European people, separate from those of other continents (before, during and after Christianity's widest influence upon Europe).
If we remove the European man from the Christian context for a change, and allow ourselves to think, what was it that has allowed the European to survive in the European region for the past several thousands of years? Do Jesus's teachings necessarily have anything to do with Europeans having come to possess these attributes, that make him distinct him from the Asian, or the African, or the Semitic people?
The Roman Empire and the Greek civilization existed before Christianity ever did. The pagan Germanic people and Vikings came to spread around various corners of the world, without being influenced by Christianity.
It is obvious that there is more to the European man than simply Christianity and its teachings. I believe the Europeans need to get to the bottom of which ideals represent their genetic determination, and which do not. When they follow ideals that represent the code imprinted into their DNA, they will succeed, when they follow ones that do not, they will fail.
I believe that as of the current date, the Middle Eastern and the Asian people have done a better job cultivating ideals that represent their genetic will, which is why they are generally a more "willful" people as of this moment, than the Europeans.