Religion’s role in Europe needs to be redefined.

Europe is becoming an increasingly liberal, tolerant, modernized and irreligious continent; however, this transformation does not happen at the same pace in every country.

Besides, we observe a rising trend of nationalism, xenophobia and conservatism that often not only questions the permanency of those changes, but also brings back dark pages of Europe’s history that a lot of us would like to leave in the past.

One of the most remarkable developments that occurred in our continent during the past few decades, is the acceptance of almost of all our minority groups, such as the LGBT community.

While not so long ago, people had to hide their sexual orientation or face imprisonment, exclusion, expulsion from their job, rejection by their families, daily ridicule, bullying and intimidation, nowadays LGBT individuals can finally be accepted for what they are; a valuable asset of every society and equal members of it.

Yet, there are still many that see the change of attitudes towards not just homosexuals, but ultimately every person’s sexuality as a threat, or something that needs to be analysed and explained with anathema or outdated, pseudoscience.

Instead of finally accepting that each person’s sexuality is as unique and different as its personality and it is linked to its ability to identify, express and think itself freely, many want to box this side of human nature into two categories that they have learnt to think as “normal”.

Sadly, among the harshest critics not just of the LGBT community, but any “deviant” form of sexual relationship can still be found among our religious leaders. Funnily enough all those priests, bishops and other church representatives, think of themselves as people of “God”, that reflect somehow the divine love for all humanity, apart of course from those who are born “different.”

In Poland, a country that had initially a promising European path when it joined the EU-before it allowed its religious and political conservatism to get the better of it- the archbishop of Krakow, Marek Jedraszewski has recently made some outrageous public comments.

At a homily to mark the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, he warned of a "rainbow plague", reflecting the ongoing tensions in the country over gay rights. The archbishop compared the increasing demand for LGBT rights, with its communist past that “took control of the country’s peoples’ souls, hearts and minds."

By linking Polish citizen’s human rights to the country’s former communist administration, he intentionally tried to associate LGBT activists to the authoritarian and oppressive past of the country.

Obviously, the only argument he can use to convince his compatriots of his bitter homophobic tirade, is to compare gay individuals to something that the people of Poland have very bad memories of and loath.

The Polish Catholic Church, sadly used to stand as a bastion of national identity, intellectual freedom and hope during the decades that Poland was under communist rule, but now it rather represents all that is bigoted.

As the country made the leap and joined the EU, a club that is comprised by some of the world’s richest and most progressive nations, Poland should have anticipated that together with the economic reforms and benefits, come the social ones too.

And since most of the Western European nations have decided to offer LGBT individuals the recognition and security of the human rights which they deserve, then how can Poland refuse its own citizens theirs?

It doesn’t make sense to have half of Europe offering full rights to members of this minority group, while the other half refusing to modernize on such issues, while maintaining the free movement of individuals and an EU citizenship. Under those circumstances, Europe is forced to resemble America of the ‘50s, when in some states African Americans enjoyed certain rights while in others they did not.

How can the religious elite of Poland justify hate speech towards a considerable percentage of the country’s citizens, portraying them as the enemy, a plague and something as oppressive as the communist regime; the irony in this is that they are the intolerant ones and the persecutors.

Why do they hate LGBT activists so much, people which are only fighting for equal rights with the rest of their society, like recognition and acceptance, something that especially in countries like Poland, a nation that fought so hard to maintain its identity and freedom, should at least be admired.

Yet it is not just in Poland, that religious conservatism has become a toxic, bitter and often laughable example. The same week a Church of Cyprus bishop, Neophytos Masouras, in a speech describing that homosexual (male) children develop when pregnant women are having anal sex!

He went on to claim that homosexuality is a “problem” that is transmitted by the parent to the child by engaging in “unnatural” sexual acts. However, if for a minute we accept that his theory is correct, then how can he explain the existence of lesbian women, or other “problematic” individuals?

His peculiar justifications and explanations are based on the “teachings” of a Greek Orthodox saint named Porphyrios, who died in 1991 and tried to advice all homosexuals that their lives should be dominated by celibacy and constant prayer to rid of their “tendencies”.

Porhyrios believed that when a woman enjoys anal sex during her pregnancy, a desire is created, and then the desire is passed on to the child. Simple as that. Of course, it is doubtable if Porhyrios, Neophytos or any of their naive followers have bothered to study any scientific analysis on homosexuality or listen to members of the LGBT community on their experiences and challenges they are facing in modern times.

These two examples are coming from high ranked religious representatives in Europe in 2019. Both Cyprus and Poland are EU members, relatively developed economically and socially, politically stable, democratic and with a highly educated population.

Yet somehow, it is allowed for priests to speak about things they do not understand, thus should not have a say on, plus project their own bitter, outdated, uneducated and spiteful views on people that often need support, acceptance and love; something the all religions in Europe claim that they offer to their followers.

Members of the LGBT community have proven that are highly valuable in a society, since they are very active and creative-if we only allow them to be. They often hold key positions in politics, arts, education, civil administration, health and medicine, sports, entertainment or science.

They could be your brothers, your children, sons, daughters, sisters, but also your own fathers and mothers. How can anyone allow such ignorant and hateful comments to be made regarding them, especially coming from the Catholic Church which itself has a lot to answer for, regarding millions of sexual child abuse cases across the world.

As for trying to explain how homosexuals are being born, religious representatives should leave such attempts to science, it is not their field. Religion in modern Europe if it is to survive, it will have to drastically reform itself and stop following doctrine which was conceived by men with limited education, centuries or even millennia before our times.

The purpose of religious leaders in our continent, should not be to judge people of how to be basically themselves or live their lives, rather to offer them guidance in their spiritual search. They should offer unconditional love and support, rather target anyone who does not feel cisgender with fascist-like intolerance.

Times have changed and with them our societies and thus, the people living in them. We cannot allow such men to poison the minds and hearts of people against their fellow humans. Any religious organisation, dogma and sect should discourage their representatives from promoting such doctrine, as it is harmful not only to our society but the religious bodies themselves.

How do they expect for young individuals to join any religion that does not accept them or a member of their family, plus refers to them with such diminutive manner, without any justification or evidence, rather the preaching of men who lived centuries ago in a society totally different than ours.

Can we maintain such attitudes or beliefs in our modern societies and if we accept this for LGBT people and activists, then why not for women, ethnic and religious minorities, people with disabilities, migrants and even children?

If we resist change and progress when it comes to attitudes towards homosexuals, then why not regress to the times when we jailed men who had sex with men, when women could not vote or own property, children had to work, slavery being normal and interracial marriages were forbidden. This is not the Europe we should aspire to live in.

We need to establish across our continent, the same basic human rights of all communities and if that challenges some narrow-minded bigoted fascists that hide their true nature behind religion and priesthood, then shame of the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Muslim, Jewish or any other established religious body and authority that exists in Europe nowadays, for allowing them to hijack religion, in order to spread their hatred and ignorance.

LGBT people do not need to be excused or their existence explained to be accepted, they just need the later. They do not need to be patronized, feared, forced to repent, ridiculed or hated, they need equal opportunities to showcase their talents and contribute to the progress of humanity and its civilization, as they always have done.

Is Macron's plan for a single European army and defense mechanism good for Europe?

Ever since his election in May 2017, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, has been very vocal on several necessary reforms on pan-European level. His overall view is seemingly very keen on deepening the European integration process in the future.

And while some of his plans found strong opposition by Germany and many smaller EU member states, there is one which President Macron is eager to push ahead; the formation of a European single army.

He has repeatedly called for Europe to establish its own defense mechanism and limit its reliance on USA’s military, for its protection. Something of course that has the support of the European federalists in our continent and has been long been discussed in these circles.

Undoubtedly, there is a strong sense of movement towards this direction and goal. The renewal of the Franco-German treaty recently signed in Aachen, pledging deeper economic and defense ties between the two, as well as commitment to the EU, plus the appointment of Ursula von der Leyen as EU Commission President, a German former Minister of Defense and strong supporter of Macron’s plan are seen by many as a prelude.

However, no one can ignore a few problems in this plan. First, what will Europe’s relationship with America be after such development. The two continents have been the two pillars of the most powerful military alliance on this planet, NATO. A rift between the two according to many Euro-Atlanticists, would considerably weaken the West and left it exposed to threats from Russia, China and others.

Secondly, many EU member states have been neutral since WW2 or even before that. How could they compromise their neutrality, to join a military alliance?

Yet, the first step towards a single European defense mechanism has already been taken and it’s called PESCO, which even neutral EU member states like Ireland, Finland, Austria and Sweden have signed. It all remains now to see how this will be developed, progressed and deepened.

A lot of people fear or are skeptical of Europe’s intended militarization, especially in these traditionally neutral nations. But until we have a clear view on what the Franco-German alliance is aiming with this plan, we can only speculate the outcome.

Europe needs a debate on its future defense, although it should not be one of its priorities right now. How can Macron convince the European population that struggles with unemployment, a divided EU with an increasing Euro-skepticism and an overall lack of enthusiasm, populism, xenophobia and an environmental crisis, that the future he promises for them relies on a single EU army?

Well, USA and Europe have had enough differences lately and Donald Trump’s presidency has considerably undermined their alliance. From tax wars and tariffs, to disagreements on NATO’s budget, the Western alliance either many like it or not, has reached a turning point.

Can Europe always rely on America for its protection and with what political and economic cost? If our continent is ever to become a global player, it will need to stop being under America’s shade and that includes its defense.

To achieve this goal, Europe needs its own foreign policy and to do that, it needs to stop relying on USA for its protection. Besides, it is unclear if Americans themselves are willing to pay for it any longer, as President Trump’s remarks on NATO’s budget often suggest.

Another point is the need to demilitarize and cut down on arms expenditure throughout Europe and ultimately the world. Realistically, there are few enemies that can seriously harm our continent, especially if we stay united and establish our own collective defense mechanism.

The worse threat that we are faced with now is not a military one, rather cyber-attacks or internal security and perhaps that is one field that we need to spend money on. There is no need to use bogeymen like Russia, Turkey, China or some Arab and Middle Eastern states still, in order to excuse large military expenditure and industries.

And if we use better diplomacy and trade ties instead, Europe could eliminate any potential threat. Why keep Russia for example always as an enemy that we need to protect ourselves from-with expensive missile purchases and installments of course- while it is unclear if Russians really want to destroy Europe, one of their largest trade partners for their oil and gas.

In addition, it is questionable in we truly need NATO currently. This alliance has been unable to protect Greece from another of its members, Turkey. The two countries have been in an ever-increasing arms race, to the detriment of both nations’ economies and the benefit of those arms industries of their allies.

For decades the two countries were “encouraged” to buy more arms to protect one from the other, while belonging to the same alliance. Even when Greece was seeking a bail-out from its European partners and the IMF, some of its EU creditors allegedly offered their help in return for arms sale deals.

While under its bail-out program, Greece still purchased two dozen F-16 fighter jets from USA, two submarines from Germany and several helicopters and frigate ships from France. All at the cost of billions of euros.

One could wonder how Greece’s allies could be happy with those transactions, then have the nerve to lecture the country on its “irresponsible” expenditures. At the peak of the euro-zone crisis, when words exchanged between the Greek and German government officials turned sour, a lot of allegations were made about dealings and corruption that involved Greek arms purchases from Germany.

The indebted country is one of the largest military equipment importers of the world, behind only India, China, UAE and South Korea. It has double the number of tanks than that of Britain and one of the largest submarine fleets in Europe. All that, with the excuse that it needs to protect itself from its NATO ally, Turkey.

It is evident that this military alliance, serves no other purpose anymore than a huge market of arms, that weaker countries are encouraged, forced, coerced or bribed to buy military equipment that they do not need, in order to make the richer countries, well even richer.

Greece’s three main arms providers are USA, Germany and France, with Italy, Britain and the Netherlands following; all its NATO allies. Greece is coming second only to USA in the alliance, of the countries that fulfill the 2% NATO guideline on its members GDP share on expenditure.

Most others, even much richer countries like Luxembourg, Norway, Germany itself, Belgium, Denmark or Canada fall short of this guideline, with only Britain, Estonia and Poland contributing to the alliance’s expenditure requirements, their agreed share.

So if you asked me if I would like to maintain Greece’s NATO membership the answer would be a resounding no. Many Greeks see the formation of a European army as a hope, a NATO alternative to which perhaps we would not have to contribute as much and spent a large share of our GDP on weaponry that we don’t need, only to maintain this alliance and enrich its most powerful members.

But would a European army offer Greece such relief, or we could end up paying double, maintaining two alliances for “protection”? One of the main reasons that many of my Irish friends are skeptical of a European army, is that they see it as Europe’s militarization attempt and a trap set by the Franco-Germans to make them pay more into their arms industries.

If what President Macron has in mind is another European version of NATO, with the only difference being, the French or the Germans are in command instead of the Americans, forcing smaller nations to enrich their arms industries-just like they have been doing to Greece all of these years, then naturally no one should support such idea.

However, Europe needs a new or alternative defense plan and that is impossible under the current arrangements to achieve. With strong US arms industry interests involved, plus the competition they face from their European counterparts, our continent is doomed to this circle of high military expenditure, that we don’t, or we should not need.

While I stand with the neutral EU member states in opposing further militarization and arms expenditure, they also need to understand that other nations were not as lucky as them during the post-war arrangements in our continent. Besides, how could they enjoy the stability and peace in the continent, if others did not secure Europe’s borders?

Greece found itself in NATO for better or worse, which in the past served as a buffer zone for the expansion of the Soviet threat. Now that the Soviets are gone, why do we still need to invest so much money on weaponry?

Since our EU partners want to appear as good Europeans, they should understand that helping Greece and other nations at the borders of Europe is crucial, yet not with more bailouts. Countries like France and Germany should stop using smaller nations to support their own economies, while neutral nations like Ireland, should allow-even if they opt out in the end- the consideration of a NATO alternative, if it is beneficial to the economies of their partners.

And if you question why should you help Greece, if it wants to spend its money on German submarines, then accept the fact that the next time that its economy will fail because it is forced to support the NATO arms industries, it will be your money that will be used to bail it out and ultimately you will be inevitably contributing to the purchases of US F-16s.

Once PESCO and the Franco-German plan offer an alternative defense mechanism for Europe, a renewed version away from the outdated, riddled with corruption and arms sales NATO, which coordinates the existing European armies rather solely forces them to increase their expenditure, plus it focuses on cyber security and policing, then it gets my vote.

We should not fall for scaremongering about forced conscription and “militarization”, upcoming wars and expansionist invasions, that many of the plan’s dubious opponents often use as arguments to stop such development. There is no evidence that such things are on the agenda. We need to think rationally and preferably collectively on what is best for our future.