World News and Trends: EU member endorsement of constitution focuses on Britain
Ten EU member countries will be holding referenda to ratify the new European constitution. All others will ratify it in their parliaments. Hungary and Lithuania have already done so.
Ten EU member countries will be holding referenda to ratify the new European constitution. All others will ratify it in their parliaments. Hungary and Lithuania have already done so.
In a major feature article, the Financial Times evaluated the likelihood of a positive vote in all 10 nations. While some qualified misgivings were expressed about expected passage in a few of these countries, the United Kingdom received the only outright negative evaluation. The article tersely stated: "Opinion polls predict a no vote."
This is not at all surprising to those who understand what the Bible foretells for Europe and the national origins of the British people. (To understand further, request our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.) The Channel gap between Britain and Europe is psychological as well as geographical.
Nonetheless, both the European Union and Britain's Labour government plan a massive effort to turn the tide. In fact, the EU is forming a "rapid reaction force" to influence Britons and convert them to European constitution supporters before the expected vote in the first half of 2006.
Britain's minister for Europe, Denis MacShane, expressed the Labour government's point of view: "The government has a secret weapon up its sleeve. These are the facts on Europe. For years people have just heard the myths, propaganda and the antiEuropean arguments from the isolationists. For eighteen months the facts about Europe will be put to the people and I'm confident they will not want to isolate Britain from Europe" (emphasis added throughout). A massive effort is obviously being planned.
The following questions should be asked: Will Britain finally approve the European constitution and perhaps eventually embrace the euro as its currency as well? And if it does, what will that do to the United Kingdom's special transatlantic relationship with the United States?
Britain's national newspapers are divided on these issues. The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and two or three tabloids basically support the euroskeptics. The others either come down on the side of approval of the EU constitution or are divided in their opinions. Curiously, one popular tabloid has opened a new office in Brussels to "expose the waste, greed, corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the European Union" (Financial Times).
To comprehend the ultimate significance of these momentous events, request our free booklets You Can Understand Bible Prophecy and The Book of Revelation Unveiled. (Sources: Financial Times, The Times [both London].)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: March - April 2005
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
