[ql06] PUBLIC: The Crucifix in Italy
- From: "Ken Campbell" <2kc16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <ql06@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 16:06:41 -0500
You know we are heading toward this subject (below) in
PUBLIC/CONSTITUTIONAL
'Tis the logical and legal rationale for getting rid of every piece of
religious effluvium in "public" arenas... "god" like "sex" is something
involving oil and incense and should be kept in the bedroom...
In this article, from The Times of India, I think Italy's judge was
right... it's just them damn ignorant, quasi-constitutionally-ignorant,
majoritarian politicians who don't understand.
Ken. <-- Recovering Catholic
--
On life's vast ocean diversely we sail,
Reason the card, but passion is the gale.
-- Alexander Pope
--- cut here ---
Italy divided on the crucifix
THE TIMES OF INDIA
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2003
AP
ROME: Amid debate over whether to keep crucifixes in Italian classrooms,
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi argued Monday that the cross is not only
a
religious symbol but also a representation of Italian values.
His comments came after numerous Italian politicians and Roman Catholic
Church officials came out against a judge's ruling last week that
ordered
crucifixes removed from a regional school.
Italy is a secular state, but a law from the 1920s says schools must
display
the cross.
"In my judgment, the crucifix has always been considered not only as a
distinctive sign of a particular religious credo, but above all as a
symbol
of the values that are at the base of our Italian identity," said
Ciampi,
whose role is largely ceremonial but who holds great moral weight here.
The ruling came after an Islamic activist went to court to have a
crucifix
removed from his sons' elementary school in the small town of Ofena, 125
km
northeast of Rome.
Several legal experts have said a 1924 law calls for displaying the
crucifix
in schools, and that the judge's ruling was mistaken.
Members of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's conservative coalition as well as
centre-left politicians denounced the judgment.
Some Islamic organizations also opposed it, and tried to distance
themselves
from activist Adel Smith of the Muslim Union of Italy, who launched the
suit.
The secretary of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, Hamza
Roberto
Piccardo, said he didn't approve of having crosses removed from schools,
and
told Monday's La Stampa newspaper that Smith didn't represent most
Italian
Muslims.
"I have five children who go to school," he said. "I have never asked
them
to take down the crucifix."
Italy, a country of 57 million people, has about 1.2 million legal
immigrants, with thousands more arriving illegally every year. One
estimate
says there are now 800,000 Muslims in Italy.
Copyright © 2003 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved.
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