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| Europe | ||
| Buttiglione confims plans to set up Christian coalition To Take Back Europe | ||
| 2004-12-04 | ||
| Rocco Buttiglione, the Italian politician who was forced to withdraw as a candidate for EU commissioner, has confirmed to the BBC that he plans to set up a Christian coalition in Europe. At the beginning of November, newspapers reported rumours that he planned to form a religious lobby group to "battle for the freedom of Christians". Senior aides to the Italian minister told the Sunday Telegraph that the new Christian network would not take the form of a political party, but would be a kind of "movement or association" committed to a greater role for Christian principles in public life. They added that the political professor, who will remain in the Italian government, was inspired by the role of Christian voters in the US Presidential election. One close adviser said: "Mr. Buttiglione is thinking of a novel idea: a kind of resurgent Christian political movement in Europe. The success of President George W. Bush in mobilizing the Christian vote in America...is a sign of what can be done."
Mr Buttiglione's nomination as EU justice commissioner came under fire after he expressed views condemning homosexuality and abortion, with opponents accusing him of bringing prejudices into the political process. But he told BBC World Service's Reporting Religion programme that he would now be forming a Christian lobby group dedicated to bringing 'Christian principles' into the European decision-making process. And he claimed he had "enormous" support for this proposal. "When I resigned, my political career was over, and I was alone," he said. "All of a sudden, I found an enormous number of people sending me e-mails, calling me by phone, clapping their hands when they met me in the street. "Some friends organised a moment to meet me in Milan - and there were thousands and thousands of people." Mr Buttiglione also claimed he had support from many European countries, naming the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Latvia. "It is quite apparent that a free Europe is one in which homosexuals can do what they want - but also we are free to say that what they do is wrong," he argued. "A Europe in which one of these two pillars is missing is no longer a free Europe." At the time of the controversy over Mr Buttiglione's nomination, fellow EU commissioner-designate Peter Mandelson said Mr Buttiglione was "unwise" to express his views on homosexuals at an EU committee hearing. Mr Buttiglione himself later seemed to apologise for his comments, saying, "I deeply regret the difficulties and problems that have arisen." Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi finally withdrew him, naming foreign minister Franco Frattini to replace him. Mr Buttiglione told the BBC he felt that Christians were being "discriminated against for having the moral position of the Church," and that they were "no more first-class citizens in Europe." But he also said that his lobby would not present the case only for Christians. "We need a liberal lobby, liberal not in the modern sense but in the traditional sense, a lobby for the freedom of conscience and the freedom of speech," he said. He said he felt his views had been "falsified" by other people. "Many people believe that I introduced the concept of sin into political debate - I didn't," he said. "I've always said that I may think homosexuality is a sin, but it has no impact on politics because I stand in politics for non-discrimination."
"He failed to explain this to the European Parliament and was therefore rejected because of actions and not his personal beliefs." | ||
| Posted by:tipper |
| #5 In the U. S. Church attending vs. non-church attending. In Europe, Islamizing vs Christianizing. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-12-04 2:19:28 PM |
| #4 Take extra socks Aris, 4 good pair woolies. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-12-04 1:51:48 PM |
| #3 Or soliders vs cowards per capita. WV, OK, AL v. NY, WA, Con. That was fun and easy! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-12-04 1:50:51 PM |
| #2 Time to get out the crayons and try to divide Europe into flyover country and the coastal elites Doesn't really work. From what I understand the division line in USA is more or less the same across several criteria with few exception or abnormalities in each -- donor states vs beneficiary ones (Texas a notable exception), urban areas vs rural ones, socially liberal states vs socially conservative ones, Democratic states vs Republican ones. Add in the regional criterion of coastal-vs-central, and you have the makings of a meaningful division that extends through several issues. In Europe, however, no single issue seems to divide countries across the *same* lines. For example: Donors-vs-beneficiaries: UK, Germany, France, Benelux ---Portugal, Greece, eastern Europe War on Iraq: UK, Italy, Portugal, Denmark, eastern Europe --- France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Greece, Scandinavia Social conservatism: France, Benelux, Denmark --- Italy, Greece, Ireland, Poland, rest of eastern Europe. And so on. The only point where issues seem to converge is that the more Europhobic countries seem to be wealthy nations of the North -- UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-12-04 11:58:05 AM |
| #1 Time to get out the crayons and try to divide Europe into flyover country and the coastal elites. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-12-04 9:15:39 AM |