In the drafting of a new constitution for the EU a debate has opened up about whether the preamble should include an explicit reference to Europe's Christian heritage.
To the concern of some Christian Democrats, including Italy's Premier, Silvio Berlusconi, independent Dana Rosemary Scallon, and leading church figures, the current draft only speaks of "drawing inspiration from the cultural, religious, and humanist inheritance of Europe".
The omission is "a silence which speaks volumes", a Vatican-approved editorial in the Jesuit Civita Catholica argues, insisting it "stems from a clear ideological deformation". And the former Taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, has argued for a more Abrahamic reference "to the fact that many Europeans believe, whether they are Muslim, Christian or Jewish in something greater than humanity on its own". Yet any such constitutional reference to God - and why not the Gods of Hinduism or of Shintoism too? - like any language in a constitution, should serve a constitutional purpose. The text is not a historical document but a legal and justiciable contract between the people of Europe and their rulers. If the purpose is to privilege in some way a religious outlook, and, in reality, we are talking about a Christian outlook, then democrats and believers in the separation of church and state have good cause to cry halt. If there is no such purpose, and no desired legal effect, then what would its function be? Protection of religious freedom is already explicitly provided for in the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights.
If there is no good legal purpose, there is, however, a political agenda driving the demand for an acknowledgment of God - specifically a Christian God - in the EU Constitution. A dangerous willingness in some quarters to see the international dynamic of history now as a clash between the "civilised" Christian world and the "backward" Muslim world has the potential to poison Europe's own politics as well as the continued search for peace in the Middle East. In the latter context, the recent assertions by Lieut Gen Jerry Boykin, the US deputy undersecretary of Defence, that the wars in Iraq and against al Qaeda, are wars against Satan, and that "Our spiritual enemy will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus" are particularly alarming.
And with the EU engaged in preliminary accession discussions with Turkey, a majority Muslim state engaged in an important internal struggle to reconcile Islam with secular democracy, it would be entirely the wrong signal to send out that in some way the EU endorses the "clash of civilisations" argument or wishes to give the Christian tradition a special constitutional recognition.
In the words of one of the EU's founding fathers, Robert Schuman, a devout Catholic: "Christianity is not, and should not be linked to any political regime or associated with any form of government, even a democratic one. On this point, as elsewhere, it is essential to distinguish the domains of God and Caesar."