Secularism creates a dangerous void

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that hanging crucifixes in classrooms violates the European Convention on Human Rights. Italy must now pay a fine of 5,000 euros to a woman who argued that crucifixes violate the secular principles schools are meant to uphold. The daily Die Presse is critical of the judgement: "What if someone wants for example certain teachers to be replaced because they oppose the teachings of that person's prophet? ... There is no such thing as neutrality in such matters. Every solution will go against the interests of one group or another, taking something away from someone and benefiting someone else. Secularism as a state religion is perhaps the vision of the European human rights judges. But it's a sterile concept from which nothing can grow but a void into which other, more powerful beliefs will penetrate. Then that will also be the end of our concept of human rights - which by the way are also the offspring of Christianity, even if unloved initially."

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