Requiem for a Heavyweight

Europe used to be a thoughtful, cultured place. Lately, it seems more like the island in Lord of the Flies, where elite leaders conspire with an army of unelected bureaucrats to produce a society where everything not compulsory is forbidden. Tom Ashcraft addresses part of the problem in today's Charlotte Observer, first about the continent's forced secularization:

For years the countries of the European Union (EU) have been working on a new constitution to replace various agreements going back to the former European Economic Community (common market), established by the Treaty of Rome in 1957.

Before the new text was finalized and submitted to the 25 member states for ratification on Oct. 28, 2004, some countries sought a modest amendment to the preamble of the 265-page document.

In addition to language acknowledging the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe," representatives of Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Greece wanted recognition of the Christian roots of Europe.

They were blocked by former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, on grounds that such a reference would "exclude" and "offend."

France and Belgium were strongest in opposition, supported by Germany, Denmark, Britain, Sweden, Finland, Slovenia and Cyprus. Spain, originally in support, switched to opposition after the election of Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

One critic of the result was Poland's president, Aleksander Kwasniewski. "I am an atheist and everybody knows it," he said, "but there are no excuses for making references to ancient Greece and Rome, and the Enlightenment, without making references to the Christian values which are so important to the development of Europe."

Allied with Kwasniewski was Italy's minister for EU relations, Rocco Buttiglione. He said, "I wanted to add the Christian roots in the constitution in order to make it clear that this Europe is the Europe that has arisen out of Solidarnosc (Solidarity)." Solidarity was the popular movement in Poland, encouraged by Pope John Paul II, that contributed to the collapse of Communism and inspired other pro-freedom efforts in Eastern Europe.

"This is the spirit of Europe [that constitution writers] did not want to recognize," Buttiglione said, according to The Washington Times. "They wanted a Europe that goes back to the anti-clericalism of the Third French Republic."

An even more vivid example is Mr. Buttiglione himself:

Buttiglione, a political scientist and author, was the protagonist in a second 2004 event which highlighted the hard secular edge of European politics. He was named EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security by incoming president José Manuel Durão Barroso, former prime minister of Portugal. During the rough equivalent of Senate confirmation hearings for U.S. Cabinet nominees, Buttiglione, a serious Christian and member of the Catholic Church, was asked about his belief that homosexuality was sinful and how he would enforce EU non-discrimination policy.

He replied (in part), "In politics we do not renounce the right to have moral convictions. I may think that homosexuality is a sin but this has no effect on politics unless I say that homosexuality is a crime." He pledged to enforce the non-discrimination provisions, stating homosexuals "have the same rights as all other human beings in Europe, no more and no less."

On the family, Buttiglione said, according to BBC, "The family exists in order to allow women to have children and to have the protection of a male who takes care of them."

Married for over 25 years to a distinguished psychotherapist who has worked outside the home, Buttiglione said further that "women today are overburdened" and a policy is needed which will allow them both to be mothers and "to develop their own talents professionally."

After these comments and a predictable, superficial media outcry, he was voted down by the relevant committee and his nomination was withdrawn. Buttiglione took it all in stride, however, saying, "I was ready to resign, but not to change my position. It is easier to separate my bottom from my chair than my heart from my Lord."

Forty-five years ago, America elected it's first Catholic President after he promised to separate faith from governance. But that's not enough anymore. What was celebrated from a liberal, Catholic John Kennedy is denounced and spurned from conservative Catholic Rocco Buttiglione. Both Kennedy and Buttiglione were very much in the mainstream of Catholicism of their generation. What's changed is that the left's now hostile to religion even if confined to one's "private sphere."

Either the West is becoming more intolerant to religion, or the media and the elites unfairly demonize conservatives. Or, of course, all of the above. Once a powerhouse of freedom, Europe's intellectual and moral leadership's now strictly welterweight.

(via LGF)