God, crisis, the Lisbon EU Treaty and the Irish

God, crisis, the Lisbon EU Treaty and the Irish
Posted By: Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
May 11, 2009 at 17:43:33

Excerpt (emphasis mine):

The Lisbon European Union Treaty will be good for God - or at least His churches.

The Gods Squad - various clerics, imams, vicars, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, grand muftis and rabbis - was back in town on Monday.

They all trooped into the European Commission's Berlaymont HQ for another bout of "inter-religious" dialogue...

...Hans Gert-Poettering, the clappy-happy German Christian Democrat and European Parliament president, could not resist using the gig to link old time religion to the Lisbon Treaty.

The Irish, he argued, should (above all) note that the renamed EU Constitution will institutionalise consultation between Brussels institutions and religious clerics.

"If the Lisbon Treaty should not come into force, with new leaderships in the commission and parliament, they could abolish this dialogue because legally it is not binding," he said.

"With the Treaty of Lisbon when it comes into force, and this is Ireland's responsibility, then this inter-religious dialogue is legally binding for all the EU's institutions."

"This is the first time ever our churches and religious communities are included in the law of the EU. I think this is very important and it is an argument, alongside others, to say yes to the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland."

Mr Poettering's message is clear: if Ireland wants the Church in politics then vote Yes to the Treaty.

This is a mistake. Ireland's referendum rejection showed that the old way of doing things in Ireland was over. Young Irish people are no more likely to trust their priest than Brian Cowen, their prime minister, on the EU treaty - and a good thing too.

In fact bundling up Ireland's backward, priest-ridden past with the claim that the treaty creates a new clerical power to influence EU policy at the European level is more likely to be a negative argument.

But the EU is not really relying on God, or his servants, for a Yes in a second Irish referendum this autumn.

An excellent report from the BBC's Jonny Dymond has shown where the argument is going.
He speaks to Walter Cullen, a trade union official, who, like many others on the left opposed the Lisbon Treaty.

"I think that the next referendum will be about frightening people into voting for the treaty, because [they'll be told] if they don't vote for the treaty things will get worse for Ireland," Mr Cullen told the BBC. Jonny goes on to quote a an Irish official, speaking with "cool cynicism", on a victory, he has already assumed.

"The recession will have terrified everyone into voting 'Yes'," he is quoted as saying.
This is exactly what most people are saying here. Economic crisis is tragedy for many of us. For EU Treaty supporters it is an opportunity to try and frighten people into acquiescence.

Once upon a time, the clerics told pie-in-the-sky or hellfire tales to get people on their knees.
Today, the EU seeks to organise Europeans around increasing consciousness of vulnerability and need for protection.

Officials are using the economic crisis to preach a creed of powerlessness in a world, they claim, is shaped by forces that are outside the control of mere people. They hope the recession will teach Ireland a lesson and get the Irish back on their knees before the political class and experts who know best for them.

Will they get away with it?

What the Bible says about this:
Revelation: The Mystery Unveiled
The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality?
Who or What Is—The Antichrist?