Dear Sir,
Jason Freeman overlooks two points in his response to your December Commentary.
Firstly, the appointed officials he cites – civil servants, judges, governor of the Bank of England – have no political authority, whereas the unelected President of the European Commission deals on an equal level with the elected Prime Ministers and Presidents of EU member countries. The Commission has no democratic legitimacy comparable with the UK Government, whose members have all been elected by universal suffrage. The European model reflects the French system, where the elected President nominates ministers who do not have be elected Members of Parliament.
Secondly, and more important for Christians, the EU, while upholding freedom of religion makes no reference to God in its formularies. In some European countries, including Denmark, Norway, the UK and others, a Christian understanding of government is constitutional. Here in the UK it is enshrined in our form of government that Parliament acts under the authority of the sovereign, and that both are ultimately answerable to God. Each session of the UK Parliament opens with a prayer acknowledging that state of affairs.
To what extent this understanding influences a decision to stay in the EU or leave is for the conscience of each Christian voter. We are indeed citizens of heaven, but we are called to try to establish a godly pattern of government while on earth. Our witness to others will be reflected in our personal lives rather than whether we are in or out of the EU. Speaking personally, the creeping liberal secularism that dominates the EU ‘project’ concerns me greatly. My dilemma is to decide whether it can best be countered from within or without the EU institutions.
Yours faithfully,
