One can only be encouraged by the decision of the French people to reject the EU constitution.
The constitution promises to protect the status of religious communities in member states and pledges dialogue between political and religious institutions. But this is meaningless, since the constitution has already, in its text, broken good faith with organized religion by deliberately failing to mention Europe's Christian roots and identity.
The road has now been paved for a democratic government that will authorize anything that any group in society asks for, as long as the group phrases the request in the language of "rights." Ultimately there will be anarchy.
Already we have seen the nihilistic yet impeccably democratic result of such contemporary legislation involving life itself. I am thinking here of legislation -- such as that found in the Netherlands -- that legalizes various drugs, prostitution, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, euthanasia and genetic manipulation.
Also, there is widespread concern about moves, backed by Britain, toward Turkish accession to the bloc. From a historical and political point of view, Turkey has always represented another continent that is in permanent contrast to Europe and for this reason should not be included in the EU.
The constitution's missing reference to Christianity shows an undervaluing of historical evidence and of the Christian identity of European peoples. One cannot cut the roots from which one is born.
Paul Kokoski
Ontario, Canada
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