For a country steeped in Catholic tradition, these are alarming times.
Public schools are being told by judicial order to pull crucifixes from their walls. City buses with billboards espousing atheism have been rumbling through the streets here, prompting yowls of blasphemy from Catholic leaders.
“Probably God Doesn’t Exist,” bleated an ad plastered last month across Bus 14, a normally sunny mode of transport past this city’s harbor. “So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life.”
The so-called godless buses ”” which copy a campaign begun in Britain ”” have appeared in Madrid and Malaga, Spain, and are planned for elsewhere in Europe. For Spain, the stunt is a provocative sign of the times.
I welcome the “godless” buses…atheists paying money to have people consider the existence of God.
Yes, I agree with robroy. Most people who do not go to church are not atheists but indifferentists. The adverts might just set them thinking. What a pity though that journalists seem unable these days to recognise or control their own depreciatory language (eg ‘yowls of blasphemy’ – it seems to me to imply that Christians are, err, dogs.) Journalism training standards were higher in the past, I suppose. Or do I get older and fall into the old man’s trap of believing in a golden age? I was a journalist before entering the RC priesthood and I can tell you that if I had written like that the Features Editor would have slung it back at me and told me to take out the unprofessional use of language. Even so, the article does remind us of the perils of bringing together Throne and Altar, State and Church. People will identify the Church with authority, and the Church will be tempted to misuse the link with the state. When the people get a choice, too many of them will choose to walk. Although I am on the other side of the pond I have always been impressed by the vigor/vigour of the Church in the US. I concluded long ago that it be at least partly because of the separation of church and state.
Spain and France which are “culturally Catholic” seem to be suffering the same post Christian malaise as the Scandinavian countries Where I have traveled. I have attended several worship services in both countries and find the attendance meager at best. I attended concerts on Saturday nights in some of the cathedrals that were well attended only to see few parishioners on the following Sunday. The Homily in the Cathedral in Toledo was read in a monotone in about ten minutes with the priest never looking up. These are personal observations and subject to correction. The buildings are magnificent, historical and display some of the best art and craftsmanship I have ever seen.