EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brussels officials have turned to religious VIPs to help spread the gospel of an environmentally friendly society and increase awareness of climate change in their parishes, as well as promoting tolerance between different confessions in Europe.

Twenty high-level representatives – 19 men and one woman - from European Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations met in Brussels on Monday (5 may) to discuss the sensitive issues of climate change and reconciliation between peoples...

Prime Minister Jansa, referring to both the Bible and the Koran, said: "Earth was created and given to man, and man has to be respectful of what he has been given," and called for what the late Pope John Paul II described as an "ecological conversion".

"The success in the fights against climate change relies to a great extent on changes in our habits, in our philosophies in our world outlook and the consumer society that has created superficial needs - needs that justify consumption."..

On the second topic of the meeting, "Reconciliation through Intercultural Dialogue", President Barroso underlined the importance of combining freedom of expression and respect for other faiths, in an attempt to sooth both Islamic outrage in recent years and others' fear of Islam.

The above sentence indicates the insanity of moral equivalence or just plain dhimmitude - take your pick. Bat Ye'or talks about dhimmitude as a state of moral confusion, and so it is.

"Islam today is part of Europe. One should not see Islam as outside Europe. We already have an important presence of Islam and Muslims among our citizens," Mr Barroso said, adding that the inter-faith dialogue proved that the "preachers of a clash of civilisations are wrong."

Yes indeed, there will be much less a clash if Europe simply acquiesces and adopts Islam's blasphemy laws - in other words, if Europe institutionalizes dhimmitude. Even so, the problem with Islam would still be just beginning. That's what Mr. Barroso and others like him refuse to see. Appeasement solves nothing.

The grand mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dr Mustafa Ceric pointed to the EU's policy on Turkey.

"Following this logic, Europe has to prove that Islam is part of Europe by not delaying the acceptance of Turkey to the EU," the cleric said...