I’m sorry, but I just can’t get myself so worked up about this ‘crucifix ban from Italian state schools’ issue. To me, the idea of a secular classroom does not fill me with horror, because I was raised in precisely that environment, and we are all products of the way we were raised. It is at times like this, when I cannot relate to a certain mindset, that I realise just how much I am the odd one out

At school I had friends who were Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, Lutheran, Methodist and the ones with no religion. The absence of a crucifix did not scar me as far as I can see, although it definitely helped to shape my tolerance towards other cultures and contributed to my ‘live and a let live’ philosophy.

Having said that, at home I was raised as a Catholic: we went to Mass every Sunday, I was sent to catechism classes on Saturdays and I did my Confirmation. While religion had no place at school, it did not prevent my family from practising its faith.

I don’t expect others to agree with me on this, obviously.

So instead, let me put myself in the shoes of someone who was born and bred in Malta – who, in fact, has spent their whole life here – with a crucifix staring them in the face everywhere they went. Yes, I can appreciate and understand how shocking all this must seem to them.

It all ties in quite neatly with what I wrote in my column last week. It seems like one minute Malta was this perfectly preserved Catholic country, caught in a time warp, where nothing ever changes and everyone observed the same religious rites – and suddenly, POW! Immigrants! Africans! Arabs! Mosques! Islam! Praying to Mohammed on the Sliema front, for Heaven’s sake!

Yes, I can see how all this would be a jolt to the system.

Except for one small detail.

The persistent lady who challenged Italy’s right to hang a crucifix in her daughter’s state school comes from... Finland.

And she was challenging it not because her daughter was “traumatised” by the image of a dying Christ bleeding from the nails in his hands and feet, but because she is not Catholic and does not see why her daughter should be exposed to Catholic symbols in a State school.

Italy – which tends to treat its version of Catholicism very much in the same way as we do here, i.e. selectively and as it suits them – is up in arms. Even Berlusconi, who hardly leads the lifestyle of an exemplary Catholic, has turned all holier than thou, citing culture and tradition.

In Malta, predictably, and because we love a good juicy controversy to sink our teeth into, people are squealing hysterically that “Malta is next”.

OK, calm down. Breathe.

Let’s say that someone does use this as a precedent and challenges Maltese state schools on the same grounds. Is our faith so flimsy that the removal of a crucifix means that our beliefs will all come crumbling down? Will Malta no longer be “99 per cent Catholic” as some people so fondly (and misguidedly) like to believe?

By sheer coincidence, just as I’m writing this, I received a circular e-mail urging me to write to the Council of Europe expressing my disapproval of the decision by the European Court of Human Rights.

The e-mail ends with the words: “Jesus was not ashamed to be crucified showing his love to you. If you love HIM, don’t be ashamed to send this e-mail as requested. May Jesus be with you and your family.”

I know this is all very well-meaning, but I hate religion being pushed down my throat like this. And all this manipulative talk and emotional blackmail about whether I love Jesus or not – surely that’s between me and Him?

I’m afraid it is e-mails like this that have precisely the opposite effect on me: they don’t make me want to march in a Holy Crusade as a Defender of my Faith. They make me gag. They make me want to run.

Maybe instead of discussing Satan (who is apparently taking over the whole island with his wicked, evil ways), Xarabank should be put to better use and enlighten people about the true meaning of secularism and the separation of church and state. But I forgot, Xarabank has no interest in opening people’s minds – it would rather glorify ignorance with shouting matches and exploit those who are uneducated and gullible.

One step forward, ten steps back

There are times that I feel Malta is moving towards a more liberal outlook, prising itself very s-l-o-w-l-y from the clutches of the Catholic Church. Then something happens which proves that, deep down, we are still a very conservative nation that is determined to cling to the cassocks of priests, because it’s nice and safe.

Now, I expect the older generation to be traditionalist, but where I am taken aback is when I see this trait in young people – specifically those in the 20 to 30-something age group. You would think that they are the ones who would have the most open minds, who would challenge the establishment, who would rebel against the status quo. But no, from what I’ve been hearing lately, when it comes to the crunch, young people seem to be as incredibly conformist as their parents.

Rather than voicing healthy scepticism, I’ve heard them speak in awe about the devil, swallowing hook, link and sinker everything that they’ve heard on TV.

Rather than grasping what the crucifix case is all about, they parrot what they hear at home, hotly protesting that “foreigners have no right to tell us what to do”.

A pornographic short story is published in a university newspaper, and subsequently banned, and instead of the incident developing into a healthy debate initiated by the students, they are silent, waiting meekly to be told what is right and wrong by the university rector. I guess they only find their voice if someone dares to touch their stipend.

I blame it all on two things: an educational system which doesn’t allow room for intelligent debate – you just regurgitate “what the teacher says” to pass the exam. And the fact that young people still live at home until they get married. The only ones who really grow up and open their minds are those who leave home, and those who leave Malta grow up even faster.

There is a world of difference between a 22-year-old fending for herself in London or Brussels, and a young woman of the same age, having everything done for her by Mummy and Daddy, stuck in the same social circle where everyone acts, talks and believes the same things. She doesn’t dare think for herself because life is easier when you are told what to think.

This is the only explanation I can give for the fact that the most liberal people on this island are aged between their late 30s and early 50s. It is because they have lived, and life experience has taught them that the world is not made up of neat little boxes where everyone and everything can be pigeon-holed. And although you start out with all the best intentions in the world, nothing can be taken for granted, people do not always act the way you expect them to and, yes, there will always be someone who will let you down. At the end of the day, you need to be self-reliant, and not expect someone to constantly “save” you when things go wrong.

As for your faith, yes it can console you, it can keep you going when things go wrong, and for many people it has given them the strength to face their worst fears. When all is bleak and forlorn, prayer and spirituality is what most of us turn to.

But that has nothing to do with a crucifix on a classroom wall, or the supposed perils of a Ouija board, or a gold-gilded statue being carried in drunken revelry.

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