EU Starting to Get Religion

European Union Tower of Babel Poster

In a move that we in the Living Church of God have long expected, the European Union took another step to getting religion incorporated into its systems.

Lisbon Treaty strengthens role of religion says EU

EUobserver – May 11, 2009

ANDREW WILLIS

BRUSSELS – Securing a stronger consultative role for European religions in EU policy making is another good reason to support the Lisbon Treaty, say two of the EU’s most senior officials.Speaking after a meeting with European religious leaders on Monday (11 May), European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said such discussions in the future could not be guaranteed without the full ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.Mr Pottering said the annual inter-religious dialogue between European religious leaders and the EU institutions – formalised in 2005 – were carried out on the “basis of good will” rather than because of a legal obligation.

“If the Lisbon Treaty is not ratified, with the new leaderships in the commission and the parliament, they could abolish this dialogue because legally it’s not binding,” he said.

He added that it is the “responsibility of Ireland” to ensure the treaty comes into effect.

The Irish government is set to hold a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty this autumn, following an initial rejection by a majority of Irish voters last June.

However, the document is also facing several legal challenges in Mr Pottering’s home country of Germany and awaits presidential signatures in the Czech Republic and Poland.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who co-chaired the meeting with Mr Poettering, told journalists the Lisbon Treaty would also re-inforce dialogue between non-confessional organisations.

“One of the purposes of these meetings is to highlight how it is important in Europe to keep freedom of religion [and] also the freedom not to have a religion,” he said.

The Church and Lisbon

“[The Lisbon Treaty] is the first time ever that our churches and our religious communities are included in the law of the European union,” Mr Pottering said.

However, the EU’s secularism, in particular politically unwillingness to include a reference to the Christian god in the Constitutional Treaty’s preamble, was one reason given for conservative Christian groups’ opposition to the Lisbon Treaty during the country’s referendum on the document last June.

The Lisbon Treaty is a rewritten version of the Constitutional Treaty rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, containing many of the main proposals but doing away with reference to European symbols such as a European flag and anthem.

Also attending Monday’s meeting was the Catholic archbishop for Dublin, Diarmuid Martin.

Mr Martin has increasingly voiced his support for the Lisbon treaty in recent months ahead of a second Irish referendum on the document this autumn. http://euobserver.com/9/28106

When the Pope likes the agreement, he (or the next one) will take more steps to more strongly encourage Europeans to accept the EU.

Ultimately, a religion that will likely call itself Catholic will be the ecumenical faith that will be forced upon the world through military and economic pressures (as well as signs and lying wonders).

Some articles of related interest may include:

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? What is ahead for Europe?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?