Madam, - Seven of the 25 EU member States want some reference to Christianity in the European constitution. The problem with this aspiration, however innocent the intention, is that mentioning any one religion, even in the preamble to the constitution, would be seen by some as bestowing primacy of respect for one religion over all others. And who could blame them?
I don't know what the French Prime Minister Mr Raffarin means when he says he would be ready to compromise on the question as long as it was done in the "right way" (The Irish Times, May 25th). There is no right way to refer to a specific religion in a constitution that will directly affect the lives of 500 million people in Europe, both east and west, from a variety of religious backgrounds and none. Religion of any hue, and particularly Christianity, has been in retreat right across Western Europe for many years now and has become an irrelevance for great swathes of its population.
If only for the sake of lasting harmony in the melting pot of diverse cultures in the new and expanded Europe, mention or inclusion of any specific religion or belief should be avoided like the plague. - Yours, etc.,
NIALL GINTY,
Killester,
Dublin 5.