[Buddha-l] David Lynch and Paul McCartney promote TM in schools

[jkirk]

The situation in Europe is rather complex. To hold a Christian
service and to invoke God during the inauguration of a president
would be thought of as highly inapropriate and a sign of
religious bigotry in most European countries. So the separation
in the U.S. is far from perfect in European eyes. 
In France the duplex ordo is very strict. In the U.K. situation
is more vague, because hte queen is the head of the Anglican
Church. In Germany some liasons exist on local level. In Italy
and Portugal the Pope has real influence, but in Spain there's a
strong atheist movement. The Churches in Skandinavia don't seem
to have much political influence. Whereas in the Netherlands the
separation is corrupted by the fact that the queen is
traditionally protestant and there's still a considerable rural
support for the Christian party who wants to undo the separation.
The fact that religous groups are sponsored doesn't mean that
religion takes part in politics as long as every religion is
treated equally. Sports and arts are sponsored as well.

Erik

Info: www.xs4all.nl/~jehms
Weblog: http://www.volkskrantblog.nl/pub/blogs/blog.php?uid=2950
Productie: http://www.olivepress.nl
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On another list a few of us were protesting the invocationing and
benedictioning going on 
during the presidential inauguration, on constitutional grounds
of course. We also have a 
"chaplain" in both houses of Congress, so there is quite a lot of
religon going on there, too.  
I'm wondering if European countries also have chaplains in their
parliaments?

JK




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