Germany to take the EU bull by the horns

As 2007 fast approaches, with Germany in command of the rotating presidency of the European Union for the first half of the year, Germany is setting the stage to perform thunderous acts and stun their audience with lightning speed and awesome ability.

The German accelerant to European unification will seize the moment and ignite the imagination to consolidate the continent in their no-nonsense manner, getting down to business and wasting no time, serious that the Islamo-fascist threat targets Rome and Vienna - "Western Christian Civilization" - and that only the cross can repel the crescent. Germany will invoke and wield assistance from both industrialists and politicians, ministers of state and religion, especially the Vatican who champions Germany as the "Defender of the Faith."

Offering a stark glimpse of where Germany will lead Europe, the world's most powerful woman (according to Forbes), Angela Merkel, following a private meeting with the Bavarian pope - weighed in:

"We spoke about the role of Europe and I emphasised the need for a constitution and that it should refer to our Christian values," she said. "I believe this treaty should be linked to Christianity and God because Christianity was decisive in the formation of Europe."

Such calculated comments led to charges that Merkel resurrects ‘holy’ EU constitution row, as can be expected, but to her credit she didn't shy away from the controversy or conceal her convictions. However, much more is at stake in the heart of Europe than first meets the eye. The German chancellor's endorsement is only the tip of the iceberg.

Catholic politicians are going on the offensive against secular resistance to mention of Christian heritage in the Preamble of the European Constitutional Treaty with their Association of the Europe Foundation. Giorgio Salina, president of the new organization, states its purpose is to counter the "widespread and manifest hostility that Christian culture -- considered a subculture -- meets within European institutions, specifically, in Parliament".

Salina is also the vice president of the Convention of Christians for Europe, who plan on meeting once or twice a year with "deputies, Christians and those sensitive to Christian, national and European values."

Mario Mauro, vice president of the European Parliament, has stressed the importance of the foundation's mission of building a Christian identity in Europe.

Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has revealed that Germany has every intention of making the EU constitution a priority next year, telling German diplomats "We need a constitution as soon as possible." The heat is on. The politicians have received their marching orders.

We can expect the Bavarian pope and his politico-religious puppets to forge ahead with their plans to remodel Europe after the "holy Roman Empire of the German Nation." Sound far-fetched? Not at all. Laying the foundation for it in fertile minds, helping to shape public perception and policy, just in time for Germany's ascension to the throne, Germany hosts An Empire Revisited 200 Years After Its Demise. Germany's information services describes it as "two major retrospectives featuring historic documents and artifacts in Berlin and Magdeburg, along with several related exhibits in Frankfurt and other cities, aim to bring this empire back to life 200 years after it was declared dead in Vienna by Kaiser Franz II in the Europe of Napoleon."

Yet some, failing to connect the dots, or unable to believe that truth is stranger than fiction or Germany capable of backsliding, lament The clothes have no emperor, that Europe "does not, it cannot, seem to speak with one voice: it cannot even agree to speak through one person...to speak collectively with a single voice...the advantages of speaking and acting authoritatively with the collective weight of the world's largest trading bloc are so self-evident and overwhelming ...".

Germany will get down to the brass tacks and prepare the way for the emperor to fill the clothes that yet hang limp. Europe's strong man, with the pope's promotion, will emerge as the grand design demands. However, Europe is not only taking a monumental risk that such a leader will always adhere to its ideals, it is gambling with world peace. Is a world dictator about to appear? Based upon both the Bible and history, I would say, yah.

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.