The rapid decline of Spain

This past Thursday I came upon this discouraging article about sad state of Spain.( To read the article in its entirety click here.) The article spoke about the the powerful CGT transit union which announced that it would be holding a one day strike on Nov. 7 to protest the Pope's visit to Spain next month.  The CGT announced that it, "is calling a strike against the spending of public money during the visit of the pope."  The union proposed the strike on the grounds that the Spanish government should not fund the trip because of its great expense to the state. The CGT proposed instead that all of the money should be spent instead on helping the unemployed by granting them free, public transportation.  Lost in the shuffle in all of this is the fact that the 14 million euro estimate was greatly exaggerated by the union.  The actual cost was somewhere nearer to 600,000 Euros, with half of that money being raised already by private donations.

This event highlights the radical agenda of the socialist/secularists in Spain. Even if all of the money was given to the unemployed instead of funding the papal visit, would it really help the plight of those unemployed?  Would more jobs all of a sudden be created? Would more people be miraculously hired because now they could travel for free to their employment destinations?

Another argument often times used by these types of groups is, that maybe if the Vatican would sell most of its investments and give that money to the poor instead then global poverty would magically disappear.  History has taught us that this simply doesn't work. Just take a look at Africa where billions of dollars have been already poured into its impoverished nations.  Has poverty been eliminated? Has Africa entered a new period of economic prosperity because of the humanitarian efforts of the secularist/socialists?

The root issue here is not that the these secularists are concerned about the welfare of the poor, rather the central issue here is that these groups want to destroy any vestige of Catholicism in Spain. Why? Because the Catholic Church is the only institution that stands in the way of their secular, Utopian vision.  Eliminating the church would provide these socialists free passage to spread their materialistic vision. 

This secularist, socialist trend is very disturbing given Spain's history.  During the bloody Spanish Civil War secularist - socialist groups who joined forces to form the Popular Front, did unspeakable atrocities to the entire Spanish population.  If one reads the history of this terrible war one will see that many of the current secularists tactics are eerily similar to the ones employed by the socialist/secularists prior to the war.  (To read more about the Spanish Civil War click here.)

I believe that Spain is already in the midst of a cultural decline. I believe that a great part of this is the fact that Spain is shedding its Catholic/Christian roots for an all encompassing secularism. (For greater context read my post titled Socialism and Christianity don't mix.)  What makes this tragic is the fact that Spain has prospered and contributed much to the world because of its historical alliance with the Catholic faith. To sever these vital ties would be catastrophic to Spain, the rest of Europe, and to the world.