EU concerned by growing use of religious defamation laws worldwide

"The European Union wants to stop the growing worldwide trend of using religious defamation laws to limit free speech. EU diplomats in Geneva are asking United Nations human rights experts Wednesday to suggest ways to protect freedom of expression better in the face increasing legal threats. Slovenia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, says journalists around the world face harsh penalties ranging from indirect censorship to heavy fines. Germany says it is particularly worried about a recently signed Arab charter that limits broadcasters' rights. Islamic countries are pushing for stricter international laws against religious defamation in the wake of Muslim anger over cartoons of their prophet Muhammad."

International Herald Tribune, March 12, 2008

Carroll: America's politics of religion

When Romney and others assert that American virtues, generally summed up in the idea of "freedom," are based on faith, a cruel fact of history is being ignored. The politics of human rights, like the idea of individual freedom, were born not in religion but in the Enlightenment struggle against it.

[...]

In the very years [post war] that majorities of Europeans were walking away from organized religion, they were resolutely turning away from government-sanctioned killing, whether through war or through the death penalty; they were leaving behind narrow notions of nationalism, mitigating state sovereignty, and, above all, replacing ancient hatreds with partnerships. All of this stands in stark contrast to the United States, where the most overtly religious people in the country support the death penalty, the government's hair-trigger readiness for war, and the gospel of national sovereignty that has made the United States an impediment to the United Nations."

James Carroll, International Herald Tribune, December 17, 2007

[Warning] US evangelicals aim to influence European law

”—In Britain, the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), an organization founded by American evangelical leaders, is funding a lawsuit brought by a Christian man who was fired for refusing to work on Sunday. It is also helping to develop the legal strategy.
—In Sweden, ADF played a key role in persuading the Supreme Court to dismiss charges against Ake Green, a pastor who was convicted of hate-crime charges after he delivered a sermon in which he called gays a “deep cancerous tumor in the entire society.”
—In Aruba and the Czech Republic, Pat Robertson’s legal organization, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), helped defeat bills that would have legalized same-sex unions.
—In France, ACLJ affiliate ECLJ (the European Center for Law and Justice), is staging a legal challenge against an antisect law that it says is being used to clamp down on evangelical Christian churches.
—And on the European Union level, ECLJ is lobbying to block funding for embryonic stem-cell research.”

evangelicalright.com April 20 2007

See also Christian Science Monitor Oh, and use protection!

[Stats] Nearly Half of Europeans Don't Rate Religion

"A survey of 30,000 people in 27 European Union member countries found that nearly half of them -- 46 percent -- attach no importance at all to religion. The report came from the statistical agency of the EU, Eurostat (Luxembourg).

[...]

When asked what values they "cherish above all", respondents overwhelmingly chose "peace" (52 percent) and "respect for human life" came second (43 percent). Democracy got 24 percent. Way down at the bottom -- 11th out of 11 -- was "religion" with a meager seven percent."

Humaniststudies.org Mar. 7, 2007

So much for morality's dependance on religion!

[Legal] Britain limits EU religious hatred ban

"Britain has narrowed the scope of a European Union-wide ban on incitement to religious hatred in a proposed anti-racism law, diplomats said on Tuesday."

Scotsman, Tue 17 Apr 2007

Pope Slams EU for Excluding God

Pope Benedict has come down hard on the EU for excluding any reference to God and the Christian heritage of Europe in a declaration to mark the 50th anniversary of its founding treaty on Sunday.

[...]

"Does not this unique form of apostasy of itself, even before God, lead it (Europe) to doubt its very identity?"

[...]

“Europe's Judeo-Christian roots and common cultural heritage, as well as the classic and humanist history of Europe and the achievements of the period of enlightenment, are the foundation of our political family," said the statement.

Christianity Today, March 25, 2007

Some nerve to say that the enlightment was thanks to Christianity when in fact the enlightment was the first step of secularism?

See also:

"Pope Benedict XVI: European Secularism is a Form of Apostasy

The Catholic Church continues to have trouble with the increasing secularism and secularization of Europe. People just don't have as much use or need for religion and traditional churches like they used to, and this has been difficult for ecclesiastical leaders to accept. Recently, an anniversary declaration about the EU failed to mention Christianity and this caused Pope Benedict XVI to throw a fit."

ahteism.about.com