What place for God in Europe?

Europe has been seeing a steady decline of church-going for much longer than is acknowledged. In my opinion, the easiest solution for the churches of Europe and the rest of the world would be to start teaching astrotheology, which, I maintain, is closer to the truth behind many religious concepts than what is being taught today in the so-called houses of worship. It is apparent that people would like to hear something different, beyond the tired nonsense about a man of a particular ethnicity being the God of the cosmos and dying for our sins 2,000 years ago. It seems that many Europeans have become too sophisticated for this patent malarkey. Perhaps they are currently accepting the Da Vinci code premise of Jesus being "a cool guy" who married Mary Magdalene and hung out in France living "La Vie Folle."

Not a bad start, but, again, enlightening the masses to the widespread veneration of natural forces such as the sun, moon, earth, planets, stars and constellations may just ignite their fervor for learning and life. In doing so, there is no need to insist that anyone share in this veneration or awe, but it would be beneficial for humankind to be aware of these ages-old astrotheological myths and rituals designed to impart knowledge about our world from one generation to another. As may be obvious, I find this profound apprehension of the world and cosmos to be fascinating and inspiring. In fact, the knowledge of the world's most extensive and longest-lived religious concepts is a major source of my own joie de vivre, and I do believe that many others would benefit mentally, emotionally and spiritually from being illuminated as to the significance of astrotheology. For those of us who find abhorrent the biased concepts of organized religion and therefore who do not attend any church, temple or synagogue, we may at last find community in just such an "International Church of Astrotheology."

What place for God in Europe?
By Peter Ford
Across Europe,the conflicting currents of secularism, Christianity, and Islam are compelling Europeans to wrestle with their values as never before. In this first installment of a three-part series, the Monitor examines the forces that are shaping European identity - and explores why the Continent is debating what role, if any, religion should play in public life...