The Lisbon Treaty

How to vote in the upcoming Lisbon Treaty referendum on October 2nd? Last time around almost all the discussion in Irish Christian circles was on voting no. However we decide to vote in October, there is another side to the discussion that for some reason has not come into the debate so far. And, we have a big difference this time as well, with guarantees from the EU on Abortion, Military Neutrality, and other issues which we didn't have before. This has caused me to reflect on how the EU has helped the cause of Irish Christians.

Membership of the EU has ushered in equality for religious minorities in a way that had not existed for us in Ireland before. Irish Christians are no longer a tiny marginalised minority who have to keep their heads down dealing with a pro catholic government that is suspicious of so called "new religions". The EU has changed Irish attitudes, sometimes for the worst with a very liberal agenda, but also for the good, as Irish Evangelicals/Pentecostals are seen as a minority to be respected & if necessary, to be protected. This was very evident last year when the Department of Education came up with plans to open non catholic primary schools for the children of African Pentecostals. What a sea change! For us at Grace we see how everything from the right to legally marry people in our church, to the ability to be recognised as a registered charity has come about only by equality legislation directed from the EU. I'm old enough to remember both the suspicious official attitudes and the legal impediments that existed in Ireland against religious minorities before EU equality kicked in.

The opening up of free movement for people to live & work anywhere within the EU has seen a huge influx of Christians from central & eastern Europe, and elsewhere, into the Irish Churches. Our numbers in the State as a whole have doubled, mainly due to immigration. This has been a great blessing to most Irish churches as many of these brothers & sisters have been eager to help & to give to the local church. If it were not for the previous EU treaties, they would not have been able to come to live in Ireland.

Almost all economists agree that full EU membership remains the best hope for Ireland to achieve economic prosperity again. I know some Christians think this is a terrible thing to hope for, but the alternative is worst. I do not relish seeing decent Believers unemployed and struggling to make ends meet or for the awful 1980's reality to return of our young people having to emigrate again. The word of the Lord to His people in Babylon was "pray for the prosperity of this city, for if they prosper, you too will prosper".

I'm not advocating either a yes or a no vote for Lisbon. But I would like to see the debate take place with a bit more balance and an honest recognition of the effects the EU has had on Irish Christians, both the positive as well as the negative.