Ever since the European Union came along...things have kinda come down from the EU...on individual countries...and they tended to just accept what was handed down. There is some ability to challenge....but rarely have countries taken any big actions.
This week...things changed.
Some folks in Italy....got a bit upset over a ruling by the European Human Rights Court. The court ordered schools in Italy to remove crucifixes from the classrooms. This was supposed to level the playing field and give the impression that schools were totally neutral.
Folks have taken this in a very negative fashion. Pier Luigi Arnera....mayor of a small town by the name of Sezzadio....came out with a fine...for anyone in the village who removes a cross from any municipal building....to includes schools. The fine? $700.
The logic of the mayor? He says displaying of the cross in “places other than churches does not affect the dignity of anyone, because it is one of our cultural references.”
The thing about Italy....once one mayor does something like this....a bunch of small town mayors get the same ideas.
With Christmas coming up...I'd wager that nativity scenes will be doubling up and folks will carry crosses on their person...and openly display them.
I've spent around a month of my life in Italy. Italians are a different breed. First....no matter what they say....they are absolutely Catholic in nature. They might bend here and there with what the Pope says....but the bottom line is a belief in Christian values. Whatever attitude that Baptists think they have....Italians can carry a fifty pound bag of religious sand a mile further.
As you look around Europe today....various Islamic groups have been successful in different European countries. The one exception? Italy.
The odds of this cross episode being forced down on Italians? I'd give it zero chance. Italians know in the end....they are absolutely right...whether they are or not.
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