Saturday, December 16, 2006
EMAIL FROM ROBERT DUNCAN
Minocracy is creating acute indigestion in Spain
The Spanish Socialist government's support of 'Minocracy' ignores a seismic demographic shift that could rip apart the country's social fabric
By Robert Duncan
Spero News
http://www.speronews.com
Minocracy is well and alive in Spain , and from the stench in the Moncloa vicinity one wonders if the country isn't also experiencing a case of acute indigestion.
The residence of Spain ’s prime minister is in the Moncloa neighborhood. The inhabitants claim to be Socialist yet favor "Minocracy" - or the rule of the minority - by blatantly disregarding their political base and election year promises.
For example, the government appears to be more concerned about garnering the support of fringe voters, when it is not settling decade’s old scores such as the rewriting of history. In one scheme the Socialists have dredged up past horrors of the Spanish Civil War to focus on the Republican victims, while failing to acknowledge that barbarities were committed on both sides. Such legislative stunts and others - like removing statues of the Dictator Francisco Franco at midnight - tend to lessen the Socialists' credibility: after all, if a statue needs removed, why not in plain daylight?
In other areas, instead of worrying about promoting families, the Spanish government has introduced fast-track divorces and embryonic testing.
Even with respect to terrorism, the Socialists have ignored the pleas of victims and instead expressed a willingness to negotiate with ETA, ignoring that for all purposes the Basque terrorist group is actually blackmailing the Spanish state.
Logic is not this government's forte.
This is also a government that is opposed to freedom of speech, and has repeatedly attempted to censor the voice of the Catholic Church by suggesting that those who practice the Christian faith should only do so in private.
The Spanish Bishop's recently exhorted Catholics to live their faith both in private and public. The Socialist party, in turn, responded with a document that stressed its intentions of imposing a system that advocated laicism.
That Socialist document serves to further explain why this government insists that Catholic Religion Courses in public schools should no longer be under the jurisdiction of the Church. Under the Socialists’ program the teachers who would be imparting these classes could actually be people who are opposed to the Catholic faith. To understand the gravity of this, the vast majority of Spanish schools are affiliated with the Catholic Church and it is where many students receive some formation for First Communion and Confirmation, both of which the Catholic Church considers to be sacraments.
In this era of inclusiveness, the Socialist government has also included the possibility that there are religion professors teaching Islam.
This is also the government that turned a deaf ear to the million-plus persons that marched in Madrid petitioning it to not pass legislation to legalize same-sex marriages and under the guise of being inclusive allowed the very definition of marriage to be redefined. At the same time, the government ruled that judges must perform the same-sex marriages, and could not opt out on the grounds of conscientious objection. Socialist law is apparently on a higher moral plane than that of one’s conscience.
There has not been a collapse of homosexuals rushing to get married in Spain , despite very high-profile exceptions. In Madrid in 2005 there were 259 same-sex couples married, 201 of which were between men, and the remaining 58 cases between women. Interestingly, of the Gay marriages, 182 were between Spaniards, 35 were with a South American, 15 included a North American partner, while 10 were with Central Americans, seven were with Europeans, and there was one Asian.
Those figures highlight not only the apathy toward the institution of marriage on the part of the homosexual subculture, but also the government's consummate desire to seek votes in detriment of enacting legislation to foment a higher birth rate and to protect the family, not to mention its ignoring large Spanish families.
These "numerous" - or large - families need help. Help that the Socialists promised while in opposition in the form of tax incentives and subsidies. Of the over 1 million families that qualify as being numerous - having more than three children - only around 6 percent qualify for a monthly pittance of roughly 52 euros that the government provides in the form of aid. There are no real tax breaks, and certainly no incentives on par with other developed countries to encourage families to have more children. Instead, the government promises that in January electricity rates will rise 6 percent across the board - once again punishing those with large families in an exorbitant manner.
Furthermore, instead of providing incentives to help Spaniards have more children, the current government is playing peek-a-boo with a seismic demographic shift that will rip apart its social fabric. According to a recent report, immigrants will represent over 25 percent of the population by 2050, sharply higher than the current 8.5 percent.
With the country becoming increasingly dependant upon immigration and one of the world’s lowest birthrates, the government absurdly turns a blind eye to the active abortion tourist trade operating in Madrid and Barcelona , and where the price includes airline fare, abortion and hotel. No word if the drinks are on the house. Even the Dutch and English have been appalled at the ease with which late-term pregnant women can get an abortion in Spain - the flashing of money can almost always find a willing doctor to forge a document that the pregnancy had to be terminated as it was a risk to the woman.
It's not surprising that under such a hodgepodge of a platform that one can find an abundance of misguided politically correct measures throughout Spain: from renaming a public school to not offend Muslim students - which had the audacity to have been inaugurated with the name of a past Pope - to ridding school calendars of Christmas celebrations.
It smells like sulphur around Spain 's PM's residence. And it's not just the nearby sewage construction contributing to the fine fragrance.
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Robert Duncan is a journalist and ombudsman for foreign press in Spain. He is a board member and honorary vice-president for the Organización de Periodismo y Comunicación Ibero-Americana. Robert was the bureau chief for an international news agency in Madrid for many years, and was published regularly in Dow Jones Newswires, with articles appearing in The Wall Street Journal.
He has also been published in World Catholic News, National Catholic Register, Renew America, Lifesite.net, as well as Capital Hill Coffee House, Common Conservative, The Conservative Voice, Enter Stage Right, News By Us, Conservative Crusader, World Net Daily, Mens News Daily and others.
He is News Editor for Spero News, blogs at Pelican Press, and maintains the Santificarnos website.
