Herbert W Armstrong

The heads of government of the 10-nation European Community held a summit conference in Milan, Italy, last weekend. As a result of this conference, pressure is building to rewrite portions of the 1957 Treaty of Rome in order to streamline the decision-making processes — specifically to introduce some form of majority voting in order to overcome the veto logjam, increasingly a problem due to the size of the EC, soon to be 12 members. The prospect of important legislation failing even though eleven states approve of it is troubling to many members, specifically the "original six" continental powers. The method for introducing change, however, is putting the continentals on one side and the British, Danes and Greeks (who can't agree on anything, it seems) on the other. Here is a report (titled "Europeans OK Talks to Revise Treaty") on this development as given by Don Cook in the June 30 LOS ANGELES TIMES:

Over strong opposition from Britain, Greece and Denmark, heads of government of the 10-nation European Community voted here Saturday to convene a special conference in October to draft amendments to its founding document, the...Treaty of Rome, with the aim of strengthening European unity.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher argued long, hard and in vain for two days that leaders of the community, or Common Market, should make a series of simple "pragmatic decisions" now instead of getting into another conference and the problems of treaty ratification. "This has not been an easy conference," Thatcher said at a news briefing late Saturday night. "We from Britain came here with high hopes. We are a very practical people. We have negotiated with our partners for years, and we were prepared to take decisions which would have made progress in the community on practical steps forward."...

However, in prevailing on a 7-3 vote, French President Francois Mitterrand, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi maintained a solid front against the British, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg lined up with them in the determination to go further in changing "the constitution" of the community than Britain is prepared to go.

Never before has a vote been taken in a heads of government meeting to decide any specific question, let alone an issue of fundamental importance such as proceeding to treaty revision. Far from improving the picture of European unity, this summit has reopened the old split between the original six who created the Common Market and the newcomers of the last decade, the British foremost among them.

Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou bluntly told the conference after the vote that his country will have nothing to do with any treaty revision and will not take part in the intergovernment conference.

Although Thatcher was harsh in her condemnation of the meeting's outcome, she made it clear that Britain will "play its full part" in the conference, although she added that she is very pessimistic about the probable results. She pointed to the difficulties of reaching the required unanimous agreement on treaty amendments.... However, Craxi, who chaired this summit at the end of six months of the Italian presidency of the community, called the outcome "a significant success" and declared, "We have today taken a decision that is important, necessary and decisive for the future of a united Europe."

At the heart of the matter is the issue of how community decision-making can be improved with greater of majority voting and restrictions on the use of the veto. All governments, except possibly the Greeks, are agreed that with the entry of Spain and Portugal into the community in January, 1986, majority voting must start to become normal practice, if not a fixed rule.

The British sought to achieve this pragmatically, by agreeing here to new rules under existing treaty provisions. But the original six community members — France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg — plus Ireland, want to amend the treaty and take a new look at other treaty articles, which they believe to be out of date. The continental bloc also wants to draw up an additional treaty on political cooperation in the areas of foreign policy, defense and security that are not covered by the Treaty of Rome — another list of subjects on which the British would prefer to deal, case by case, with cooperative agreements instead of getting involved in negotiations for treaty changes.

Pope Presses Eastern Europe Theme

In this column last week we reported on the attachment of Pope John Paul II to the importance of bringing the Eastern European societies into "spiritual union" with the rest of Europe. In this connection the Pope, who proudly identifies himself as "the first Slavic pope" has designated the brothers Methodius and Cyril, two early Catholic missionaries to the Slavic peoples, as patron saints in Europe.

Following up this process, the Pope on July 2 devoted the fourth encyclical of his papacy to the work of the two ninth century saints. John Paul is obviously pressing hard on the theme of what he calls the church's "spiritual solidarity" with the Slavic world. Here is a report on the encyclical as received over our AP wire on July 2, 1985:

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope John Paul II on Tuesday extended his hopes for solidarity to fellow Slavs in the East Bloc, appealing for religious freedom and for efforts to overcome divisions in Europe. In the fourth encyclical of his papacy, the Polish-born pontiff lauded two ninth century saints who brought Christianity to the Slavs and set down his vision of Europe spiritually united by a common culture and religion.

John Paul said he hopes that "when ideological conflicts have been conquered" Europe "may be for the whole world an example of just and peaceful coexistence in mutual respect and inviolate liberty." The Pope's 47-page letter was phrased in milder terms than he has sometimes used to denounce human rights violations in Poland and elsewhere in the Soviet bloc.

At a news conference, Vatican-based Czechoslovak Cardinal Jozef Tomko conceded the Pope's language was guarded, saying this was due in part to the "delicate situation" the church faced in the east. He did not elaborate. "Tough words would only have been counter-productive," said a Vatican source who spoke on condition that his name not be used.

The encyclical was issued just before a visit to Czechoslovakia by the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, for a commemoration ceremony July 7 marking the work of the saints. Casaroli flew to Yugoslavia on Tuesday en route to Czechoslovakia. The Pope alluded to Czechoslovakia's failure to invite him to the commemorations, saying he desired "to be present at least spiritually."

The encyclical, entitled "Slavorum Apostoli" (Apostles of the Slavs), was issued in commemoration of the ninth-century evangelizing work of Saints Cyril and Methodius. An encyclical is a papal letter informing the church and its members of matters of importance. John Paul, noting he is the first Slavic pope, traced the evangelization of the Slavs in regions that are now Poland, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. He said the whole church "professes her spiritual solidarity" with the Slavic nations.

John Paul said the two saints — brothers who were born in the Byzantine city now called Salonika in Greece — were "the connecting links or spiritual bridge between the Eastern and Western traditions, which both come together in the one great tradition of the universal church.... Not even today does there exist any other way of overcoming tensions and repairing the divisions and antagonism both in Europe and in the world which threaten to cause a frightful destruction of lives and values," he wrote.

Pornographic Rock

The following is a shocking article showing just how bad rock music is becoming. Titled "Stop Pornographic Rock," it was written in the May 6, 1985 issue of NEWSWEEK by a guest columnist, Kandy Stroud. Mrs. Stroud is a free-lance journalist who also sings with the Washington D.C. Choral Arts Society. (Mr. David Hulme referred to this article in his sermon on liberalism that was circulated to the churches. Because of the explicit nature of some of the quoted material, I caution you, as did Mr. Hulme, in how you handle this information publicly.)

My 15-year-old daughter unwittingly alerted me to the increasingly explicit nature of rock music. "You've got to hear this, Mom!" she insisted one afternoon, fast-forwarding Prince's "Purple Rain" to the song "Darling Nikki." "But don't listen to the words," she added, an instant tip-off to pay attention. The beat was hard and pulsating, the music burlesque in feeling, as Prince, who has sold more than 9 million copies of "Purple Rain," began:

"I knew a girl named Nikki; I guess u could say she was a sex fiend; I met her in a hotel lobby; masturbating with a magazine."

Unabashedly sexual lyrics like these, augmented by orgasmic moans and howls, compose the musical diet millions of children are now being fed at concerts, on albums, on radio and MTV. Rock stations may play Sheena Easton's latest hit, "Sugar Walls," as many as a dozen times a day. "I hate this song," my 13-year-old, rock crazed son muttered on the way from school one day as he inadvertently tuned in Easton's lewd and crude song about genital arousal. My own Mr. Cool was visibly embarrassed. Embarrassed? I almost drove off the road....

Rock... [did not take] an erotic turn overnight. Elvis Presley was bumping and grinding his way through "Heartbreak Hotel" 30 years ago. "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," by the Rolling Stones, was no innocent ditty. But innuendo has given way to the overt....

"Feels so good inside," squeals Madonna on her triple-platinum album, "Like a Virgin." Rock's latest "it" girl hardly touts virginal innocence, as one can gather from her gyrations and undulations on Friday-night video shows. "Relax when you want to come," the English group Frankie Goes to Hollywood wails on "Relax," now the fourth-best-selling record in British history, a lofty position that being banned by the BBC did much to ensure. On the album "Defenders of the Faith," the group Judas Priest sings "Eat Me Alive," which deals with a girl being forced to commit oral sex at gunpoint. In "Ten Seconds to Love," Motley Crue croons about intercourse on an elevator. In concert, W.A.S.P.'s lead singer, Blackie Lawless, has appeared on stage wearing a codpiece [a flap over the fly] with a buzz-saw blade between his thighs. During "The Torture Never Stops," Lawless pretends to pummel a woman dressed in a G-string and black hood, and, as fake blood cascades from the hood, he attacks her with the blade.

Aristotle said music has the power to form character. The Bach B-minor Mass can be a link with the eternal. But while music can ennoble and inspire, it can also degrade. Some drug programs forbid teen-age patients to attend rock concerts or even to sport the T shirts of rock groups. Some schools where smoking and drinking are prohibited have added rock music to the list of taboos....

Dr. Joseph Novello, director of a drug program in Washington, says one of the questions he asks his teenage patients is what kind of music they listen to. Whether it's satanic, sexual or drug-oriented — it tells him something about the child's state of mind. In like manner, he says, parents have an obligation to be aware of their children's musical tastes and "if you take exception to the words, don't allow them to listen."

Surprisingly, the majority of parents I've spoken to have expressed partial or total ignorance of the music their children are dancing to, doing homework to, falling asleep to. Most claim they don't listen to rock or can't understand the words if they do. They also admit that they don't want to add another item to the laundry list of things they already monitor — movies, books, magazines, parties, friends, homework.

Are the parents of our young people also ignorant, almost willingly so, of what their children may be listening to?

The Soft West

Finally, we present two paragraphs from a book I purchased while in San Francisco for the U.N. review conference. Titled THE GERMAN WARS, it deals primarily with the 1914-1945 period. However, in the last chapter, the author, D.J. Goodspeed, reflects on what has happened to Western society in the four decades since the end of the last global conflict.

In the "liberal" societies of the West the eunuchs are inheriting the earth. This can be seen in a new and excessive tenderness toward criminals, in the abolition of capital punishment, in the rejection of all forms of discipline, and in a softness that denounces the validity of all objective standards and the renunciation of all sanctions.... Nor is it surprising that the softness that has crept over the West since 1945 has been accompanied by cowardice and cruelty, the hallmarks of the soft. It's no accident that the same states that refuse to put a murderer to death have generally been ready to encourage the murder of unborn innocents. Morality has been stood on its head in the name of compassion....

Probably what the world is witnessing in this century is the death of a civilization.... The [world] wars were not entirely responsible for this, though without them life could probably have been maintained. What was begun by murder is now being completed by suicide [a reference, perhaps, to the famous book about liberalism, James Burnham's THE SUICIDE OF THE WEST]. Major military confrontation between communism and democracy has been rendered less probable by the threat of nuclear annihilation, and, as the West continues to decline, conflict becomes less necessary for a decision. The heirs of Christendom have become more materialistic than the dialectical materialists, and are therefore less vital and less able to sustain life. The East can afford to sit by our sickbed for a time, secure in the knowledge that softness and corruption are the harbingers of death.

It should come as no surprise that a culture that slaps criminals on the wrist would have difficulty in knowing how to deal with international criminals such as hardened terrorists.

— Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau