EU constitution omits reference to Christian heritage
It seems that it's not only American secularists who have no sense of either history or proportion. The proposed constitution of the European Union omits any reference to Europe's Christian heritage- which, not to put too fine a point on it, is the history and heritage of European civilization.
Any document that presumes to speak for European civilization but declines to recognize the roots of that civilization in the Christian faith is historically dishonest. In the States, theism- but not necessarily Christianity- is foundational to our history and culture; one might get away with a vague reference to Jefferson's one-size-fits-all "nature and nature's God," and everyone would be happy. In fact, as the general reaction among American Christians to the "Prayer for America" travesty in Yankee Stadium in the aftermath of 9/11 shows all too well, most American Christians don't even see the difference. The bottom line is that while a belief in a deity of some sort is necessary to Jefferson's political theory, pretty much any old deity would do- despite the claims of the more zealous and less historically literate members of the Religious Right (and that includes a goodly percentage of it, I fear)- who, for all their naive claims about America's supposedly "Christian" roots, prefer Christianity and water, to use C.S. Lewis's phrase, when it comes to actually worshipping in the public square.
As "A Prayer for America" and its aftermath showed, a goodly proportion of America's Christians have actual attitudes toward the First Commandment more or less equivalent to those the average street walker holds toward the prohibition of adultery further down the list. In a pinch, any god will do.
You don't get to talk about the intellectual, political or spiritual heritage of Europe, though, without using the "C" word. European civilization is not founded on convictions regarding some generic nature-deity. It's founded on Christianity, warts and all.
Any document that presumes to speak for European civilization but declines to recognize the roots of that civilization in the Christian faith is historically dishonest. In the States, theism- but not necessarily Christianity- is foundational to our history and culture; one might get away with a vague reference to Jefferson's one-size-fits-all "nature and nature's God," and everyone would be happy. In fact, as the general reaction among American Christians to the "Prayer for America" travesty in Yankee Stadium in the aftermath of 9/11 shows all too well, most American Christians don't even see the difference. The bottom line is that while a belief in a deity of some sort is necessary to Jefferson's political theory, pretty much any old deity would do- despite the claims of the more zealous and less historically literate members of the Religious Right (and that includes a goodly percentage of it, I fear)- who, for all their naive claims about America's supposedly "Christian" roots, prefer Christianity and water, to use C.S. Lewis's phrase, when it comes to actually worshipping in the public square.
As "A Prayer for America" and its aftermath showed, a goodly proportion of America's Christians have actual attitudes toward the First Commandment more or less equivalent to those the average street walker holds toward the prohibition of adultery further down the list. In a pinch, any god will do.
You don't get to talk about the intellectual, political or spiritual heritage of Europe, though, without using the "C" word. European civilization is not founded on convictions regarding some generic nature-deity. It's founded on Christianity, warts and all.
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