Tom Marsland
Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2003

They face overwhelming opposition, and further, it looks as if it's not going to happen. This is all the product of a 13-member panel's drafting of the charter's first six articles, dealing with Europe's fundamental values and powers.

Europe's past moral greatness is now a mere memory. It's hard to believe our continental cousins were once immortalized in these words by Anglo-French historian Hilaire Belloc: "Europe is the faith and the faith is Europe."

As if to punctuate this arduous loss, Jan Zahradil, a Czech parliamentarian, said mentioning God in any EU charter was "a stupid idea [that] will only provoke disagreements. There should be no direct link to religion at all."

Cross the big pond and you now discover a fully transitioned post-Christian, secular society. Just as it is here in virtually all of our government-funded institutions, European Christianity has been supplanted with the aforementioned leftist religion du jour, “secular humanism.”

'Secular' is an adjective meaning “concerning those not members of the clergy.” 'Humanism' is a noun meaning 'an outlook or philosophy that advocates human rather than religious values.' In essence, man has replaced God as the center of attention. The former elevation of a holy and just Creator has been exchanged for the praise and exoneration of enlightened man.

It is my contention that man is a lousy substitute for God. One has little need to adhere to the tenets of formal religion to see that 'man' is clearly guilty of a fallen nature. The 'essential goodness of man' to which humanists refer appears to be a cruel and sarcastic oxymoron foisted upon humanity by self-loathing 18th century, primarily French philosophers.

Honestly, I have no idea how you, the reader, view God. I embrace the traditional, as found in the Bible. The Bible's earliest text dates back nearly four millennia and is still the most widely accepted document postulating God's view of law.

Around 1300 B.C., Moses hiked off Mt. Sinai with ten commandments in hand, written in stone on two tablets. The law ascribed in those immortal words is the basis for all Western justice to this day.

The first and third commandments are daunting ... kind of a 'do it or else' quality in the writing. Paraphrased, they read (1) "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and (3) "Don't you dare let anything replace me as God."

Yes, Europe now questions God's relevance. If I were Europe, I'd be far more concerned about God questioning my relevance.

Eighteenth-century hellfire-and-brimstone preacher Jonathan Edwards preached his trademark sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He stated that God is “just,” meaning that He can tolerate only so much sin, and turning away from Him before His perfection forces His hand in perfect judgment. This means little in the way of good news for man, given our fallen state.

That was not very 'enlightened' of Reverend John, was it? NO, and that's because he lived just prior to the era of 'French enlightenment.' Humanism from its roots has posited the notion of man's essential goodness. This is in direct contravention to our Judeo-Christian roots – roots that affirm man's fallen nature, that we're born into sin, not goodness.

Frankly, I'd like to believe in man's goodness, but don't. As attractive as the idea appears, there is no evidence of it when history's record is accessed.

The abbreviated list of secular humanist failures in the past century have included the former USSR, Communist China, Hitler's National Socialism, Castro's Cuba, Central American communism, Japanese imperialism and Mussolini's Italian fascism.

Europe begat the modern-day humanist movement at the very same time we were founding a nation on godly principles. That is why we are superior ... and yes, we are.

Europe is now first hog at the secular humanist trough, with little appetite for our Creator. If I lived in Europe, I believe I'd duck every time I heard thunder and lightning strike.

Hear Tom Marsland's talk show daily on the nationwide Salem Radio Network's AM 980 KKMS in Minneapolis, Minn., & weekly as U.S. correspondent on New Zealand's Radio Rhema.

Former heavyweight wrestler & corporate CEO, Tom writes cultural, political & religious commentary for the Assist News Service, NewsMax.com, Minnesota Christian Chronicle and others. E-mail Tom at tom@kkms.com.

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