Socialist 'Progressive Legislation'

Homosexual marriage, fast track divorce, punishing people who practice ablation abroad, stem cell research, etc..

The socialist government which came to power in 2004 (and reelected in 2008) on a 'dialogue' ticket, rapidly imposed its criteria on a number of highly explosive issues. Among them are certainly ones with which we might personally have no problems, but the package as a whole is contentious, especially when the government is unwilling to debate and come to consensus on them. Agreed, the previous Popular Party' government looked like the Catholic Church doing politics in a familiarly paternalistic manner. Yet the socialists are hardly showing themselves to be of a basically different metal.

On the BBC web site -in an article about the homosexual marriage law- we read: "the BBC's Katya Adler in Madrid says that since the Madrid bomb attacks in March 2004, Spaniards want unity among their people more than anything." The opposite seems to be the real case. The current political situation shows us that the roots of the 120 years of civil war and periods of uneasy peace leading up to the Franco dictatorship are as strongly ingrained in society now as they were in the 1800s. Questions remain about how strong should be the voice of the Roman Catholic Church and the values that it represents. Until recently, socialists represented 'the underdog', the repressed and suffering poor. Now it seems that they represent an ungodly alliance of extreme elements who have rapidly moved centre stage and claim that they are the voice of the majority. 80% of the population would still claim to be basically Catholics, but they rarely go to Mass -if ever, just for a wedding- and are far more likely to be influenced by the media than the sermons in their local parish church.

For Spanish evangelicals the situation is particularly difficult as it is the first time ever that they have found themselves alongside the conservative Catholics, rather than standing up for the 'underdog'. So much so, that it was impossible for the official body FEREDE to come to a united statement condemning the new law on homosexual marriage.