Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Europe: Anti-Christian intolerance alert

Last 9 November, the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe sent the OSCE (the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) a report on the situation of religious tolerance across the continent.

The dossier shows a growing an effective hostility towards various Christian denominations. 

The Observatory recorded over eight hundred cases of intolerance and discrimination against Christians “west of Vienna” over the past six years: more than 130 a year. This is a dramatic change if we look at what the situation could have been like until 1989, when problems for believers, particularly though not only Christians, were concentrated beyond the “Wall”.

Now the coin seems to have flipped. “Christian events, prayer gatherings and liturgical celebrations, as well as Christian demonstrations are interrupted or attacked.” 

The Observatory revealed that such incidents have taken place in Austria, Germany and Spain. 

One case was that of a Dutch girl who received verbal and physical abuse from a group of anarchists during the 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid. “They started shouting at me and the others in my group at a metro station. One of them wanted to hit me, but members of my group protected me.”

According to the Observatory, the most aggressive groups “include extreme leftists, anti-religion groups, the so-called “antifa” groups, radical feminist groups and groups of radical LGBT activists. Some of them get financial backing from governments.” 

Their methods include insults pronounced in chorus, for example: “If Mary had aborted we could have done without you.” Some placards depict a crucified pig. 

“Calls inciting violence, deafening noise to prevent speakers from being heard, blocking roads and the entrances to events, material damage and physical attacks are not unusual.”

The Observatory focused on one concern in particular and that is pro-life demonstrations. 

“We fear that governments or local courts are thinking of creating a no-access area around buildings where abortions take place, where demonstrations cannot take place. This in itself would be a violation of the freedom of association. This kind of ban is not justified unless there is a very good reason.”

In its resolution of July 2011, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly advised member States to introduce laws that guarantee freedom of association “to guarantee Christians the right to participate fully in public life.”

One of the recommendations the Observatory presented to the OSCE was that pro-life groups should not to be banned from organising demonstrations close to places where abortions take place. 

It also recommended that checks should be carried out on funding to radical anti-religion groups, radical feminist groups and radical LGBT groups, including NGOs, and that funding be withdrawn if these groups are found to be violating the freedom of association principle.

One final recommendation regards the forces of law and order. “We advise improvements in training and increased awareness among agents, so that whoever violates the law is made to face justice, because what is going on is not simply a matter of differences in opinion expressed in a civil manner.” 

And the incidents witnesses are not isolated cases: “A concerning picture is being drawn in this fragmented landscape of social hostility, negative stereotypes, vandalism, acts of hatred and government restrictions that are more or less subtle.”