Madam, - Gerard Arthurs (October 18th) announces: "The absence of a reference to God and Christianity in the draft \ constitution is no threat". He insists the "invocation of a Christian Europe is offensive". To other believers or non-believers?
Madam, - Gerard Arthurs (October 18th) announces: "The absence of a reference to God and Christianity in the draft \ constitution is no threat". He insists the "invocation of a Christian Europe is offensive". To other believers or non-believers?
His plea for favouring no particular religion in fact favours the forces of secularism, which are equally opposed to all faiths. The latter face a common threat.
Your correspondent comments that Christian practice in the EU is "much less pronounced" than the US. True, Americans are about 10 times as likely to attend church as Europeans. But this is, at least in part, because American authorities are neither afraid nor ashamed to proclaim what they believe in. Whether their practice matches their profession is indeed a moot point. Yet the roots of the Christian tradition and heritage in Europe run deeper still. - Yours, etc., J.A. BARNWELL, St Patrick's Road, Dublin 9.