From: Van oost Kenneth (kennethvanoost@belgacom.net)
Date: Fri 07 Feb 2003 - 19:35:10 GMT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Keith Henson" <hkhenson@rogers.com>
" Must God be inscribed into the European constitution ? "
12 highplaced Europeans under the leading eye of French ex- president
Giscard d' Estaing examined God.
The 13 are writing out the first steps for a future European Constitution.
By the development of art. 2, about the European Values, they encoun-
tered the question if they must refer to the devine or not.
Supporters were Poland, Italy and Germany which evocated the follo-
wing lines " the values of the Union consist out the values of those who
belief in God as source of truth, rightessness, goodness and beauty,
just like the values of those who don 't share such a belief but come
from different sources to respect those universal values. "
Opponents of this formula are France, Holland, Spain and Scandi-
nivian. The French see the reference to God as a return to the Ancien
Regime. Spain sees it as a memory to Franco who's portrait on the
coins was surrounded with the words ' Leader of Spain by the grace
of God '.
An alternative is the text which says that Europeans " are aware of
their history, of indivisible universal values of human dignity, freedom,
equality and solidarity, and of what Europe owed to its spiritual and
moral heritage. "
This choise would disapoint the RK- church. JP II pleaded in favour
for a reference to God. ( WDP)
Translated out of Dutch by Kenneth Van Oost, February 2003
Initial article, Gentenaar 03. 02. 2003
Personal notes,
This has a lot to do with tradition and we can see where tradition
can lead to.
" In india thousand of man are desperate seeking for a woman to
marry. There is a bitter shortage of potential brides because in
most families daughters were/ are not welcome. " ( MDW)
In a country where the birth of a girl is seen as a disapointment,
Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian astronaut, was a female hero,
even a possible jemmy to break down some doors.
Unfortunaly, she died with 6 of her collegues in the Columbia
disaster, leaving behind the convinction among her opponents
that yes indeed it would be better to abort the female fetus.
God don 't play dice !
I am more a supporter of the progress of the culture/ of the
society, of what is cultural/ social and political. I am more
an adept of Onfray's take on Nietzsche, of Toulmins cultural
pluriformality than I am keen on things like religion, religious
thought and tradition.
" Monuments like the Palais of Versailles are part of our
European cultural heritage, but we can 't deny that these are
the remains of aristocrastic abundancy and social inequality. "
( Toulmin)
The progress of the culture has to be the progress of the
society in any visible form. That is IMO, what Nietzsche's
legacy is all about_ self- conventionalism, Vita Activa, the
role of knowledge, self- expression and taking on your life
as a piece of art are in my book the main ingredients to
break with what the heavily tradition stands for.
I choose for a kind of intersubjectivity, individualism that
is not a kind of egoism. We suffer, live and enjoy alone,
but at the same time we are in the mids of others. We all
look at the same movie but we enjoy the performances
individualisticly.
What the devine tradtional way of looking at things stands
for is the repression of inbedded instincts, habits and traits.
I think such a repression is not worthwhile.
What Onfray's proposes, ( a hedonistic morality) I am not
so keen on either_ because he dismisses those traits, habits
and instincts which are unpleasant_ but I do think that the
expression of all of our inbedded traits and instincts can be
the way where along culture develops itself further.
Kenneth
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