Religion and politics

By Jason Moore POLITICS and religion is quite a lethal mix and therefore I was amazed that the Catholic Church in Spain decided to call for their faithful not to vote for any party which has negotiated with the Basque terrorist group, ETA. Quite outrageous if you think about it because the only party who has held talks recently are the ruling socialists of Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero. Now the Catholic Church has suffered under Zapatero, who has introduced legislation limiting religious studies in schools and has also allowed gay marriage. The Church has been quite vocal on both subjects and has also criticised the Zapatero government. But getting involved in a general election campaign is just stupid and could lead to trouble in the future. While it may be difficult to accept, the only way to solve the crisis in the Basque Country is through dialogue. Zapatero, like John Major and Tony Blair in Northern Ireland, was right to negotiate with the terrorists. The peace talks ended following the terrorist attack on Madrid airport and Zapatero was placed firmly in the spotlight. The Partido Popular, now in opposition and allegedly close to the Church, also negotiated with the terrorists when they were in power 10 years ago. The present line from the Partido Popular is no talks with ETA until they renounce violence and lay down their weapons. The socialists are making similar statements. But for the Church to get involved is simply wrong and in some ways rather silly.