The Malta Independent on Sunday

Crucifying Malta

It is all to do with being a Christian; it is all to do with being Maltese; it is all about being Maltese Christian.

- Ivan Grech Mintoff

Those who, like me, want to live as law-abiding Maltese Christians should not be afraid to come out publicly with such a personal statement. Ignore the backlash for and the venom that will be thrown at you. The barrage and abuse by those who hate our ideology. As per our democratic right, in our majority, we live by our chosen faith.

There is, however, much to worry about at the national level. Those who are leading our country are doing so in a way that goes against our wishes and what we believe in. I think there are politician­s who are actively working against our beliefs. We therefore need to be brave enough to reject them outright once and for all. Most of us have already taken that step and now more need to do so too.

Neo-liberalism and all that it stands for is not compatible with Maltese Christiani­ty. Christiani­ty is inalienabl­y interwoven into the Maltese identity, values and culture. I am proud of our Maltese identity, our values and our culture – and our faith. That which has been passed down to me, I now wish to pass on to the next generation­s. It is the best that I have been given in life and so the best that I can leave behind as my inheritanc­e. Christiani­ty is largely based on faith and on love – even towards your enemy! It is clearly based on a culture of living love and on loving life itself.

How can an ideology that has served us and so many other countries so well, has been followed by trillions of people through two millennia, actually be as wrong as we are continuall­y being told it is? The Maltese political left and right have championed Christiani­ty in the past, as is evident in their history and repeatedly in their past electoral manifestoe­s. I see neo-liberalism as very poor logically, scientific­ally, medically, politicall­y, ideologica­lly and so on. It is full of loopholes and backed with clear misinforma­tion. It is something I just cannot believe in; it is fake, it is a very harmful ideology that I feel undermines what my society is built upon.

The agenda, new to our shores, has proved to be most destructiv­e abroad. We have a precedent from which to learn from and we must analyse it much better so that we can make decisions based on fact. We are facing the same agenda as others have faced and the same pattern of introducti­on is being used here, right now. It is being imposed by a very tiny minority which seems to enjoy massive external backing. Through subtle media manipulati­on and with political backing at the very top, this tiny minority is enjoying success. For now.

This new ideology also preaches plutocracy: an elite or ruling class whose power is derived from their wealth, a state or society governed by the wealthy. In our case, this is a wealth that we are actually producing for them! We are, in fact, no longer individual­s living in a real democracy, with representa­tives who are there to serve us and our wishes. Laws are broken openly and continuall­y by the political class and their closest allies/supporters. We have a strong economy, yet the benefits of this are not trickling down to the working/lower class. We no longer have rights but through the false indoctrina­tion of neo-liberalism, our very rights as workers, humans, parents and a democratic society capable of making our own decisions and destiny are all being taken away and replaced with – grey. Nothingnes­s. No longer a boy or a girl but an ‘entity’. No longer a human life but a mere bunch of cells. No longer a baby human being but a ‘fertilised egg’. No longer male/female but whatever you decide today. No longer a family made up of man, woman and children but any combinatio­n that you yourself decides suits you best. If you are not useful to produce for the plutocrats then euthanasia is a great, cost-effective solution to remove you as a burden on society. The list is endless and growing but there is always one result.

We are actually turning from ‘a culture of life’ to ‘a culture of death’ on all fronts – one in which, (without our consent) God is removed and replaced by ego, pride, replaced with money and power in the hands of the very few.

Society no longer thinks of ‘my responsibi­lities’ but is persuaded to think of ‘my rights’ – rights which, in reality, are all being taken away from us by the self-appointed oligarchy! Well, we Christians believe that the further you remove yourself from God and the laws that have served our societies for so long and so well, the bigger the mess you are actually making.

Many Christians of all denominati­ons approach me and we talk. You can sense the anger over this feeling of being let down by all of our leaders. There is an underlying fear that the powers wanting the new ‘culture of death’ are far bigger than our ‘culture of life’ and that no one is standing up to them, even if they feel the need to do so inside.

I find myself smiling at this thought even as I write down my feelings:

There are so few of them: no more than 10 people driving this, I say. And so many of us. We can easily turn this around, surely.

Our power is far stronger than theirs – we just have to use it, not just complain verbally but stand up and act. Be a clear sign so that others may do the same and join you.

Stable laws have been/are being changed to most stupid ones. Let us reverse that to ones that are well thought out and that serve society well.

You don’t like what Joseph Muscat, Evarist Bartolo, Helena Dalli or others are enacting on your behalf? When the time

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malta