The natural inclination of the Church has been internationalist, because our Christian faith does not recognise borders but sees the world and all its people as one. We are part of a world-wide community with a responsibility to one another and the whole of creation. Over recent years, the urgency of taking that international responsibility seriously has become more clear as global poverty, environmental degradation, and the refugee catastrophe call us to find co-operative and international responses.
It feels as though this vote is a vote against that spirit of international co-operation and those who have campaigned to leave have rarely addressed some of the issues that we in the Church of Scotland feel are crucial. Least of all,this vote hardly seems to be an act of solidarity even with our friends in places like Greece, which is going through so much turmoil at the moment both economically and in bearing the brunt of the refugee crisis.
Today, it is important to recognise that those who were our neighbours yesterday are still our neighbours today.
Least of all,this vote hardly seems to be an act of solidarity even with our friends in places like Greece
Really??? Greece owes 320 billion euros in debt, much of it to Germany. It will never be able to pay it back, even as the lenders vow to make the Greek pips squeak by pressing harder and harder. Greek friends tell me that this will encourage a Grexit and new life in Greece free from the Euro shackles and German-led domination of the European project.
By the way nobody seems to be noticing that Spain has elections again this Sunday and that Podemos, the left-wing party, is leading in the polls, with a vow to revoke or severely curtail the Lisbon Treaty. It is this treaty with its drive towards a federal European state which finally snapped British patience. Perhaps Spain next?
I was really stunned by the lack of attention to Spain–their stock market had its largest one day drop IN HISTORY EVER (12.4%) and as you say they have the first (EU) election post-Brexit on Sunday.