Neutrality guarantee

Prime Minister Robert Abela seems to have successfully made sure that the EU has officially agreed and signed the essential legal documents needed to ascertain that Malta’s neutrality clause in its constitution is respected.

Prime Minister Robert Abela with other EU leaders before the start of a summit meeting in Brussels.

We must remember that we are, after all, full respected members of the EU and, under these circumstances, I personally believe the prime has now done his very best and seriously shown that he did achieve and seriously ascertain on paper that our neutrality clause is respected and safeguarded to the letter at all times.

Jean Vincent Agius – Attard

CAPTIONPrime Minister Robert Abela with other EU leaders before the start of a summit meeting in Brussels.

The future is in our hands

Few events in recorded history have had more far-reaching and devastating consequences as much as the assassination, in Sarajevo, in 1914, of archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary.

The young Bosnian Serb nationalists who carried out the killing could never have imagined that this would lead to a horrendous world war with millions of casualties and the demise of four great, long-lasting empires.

It so happens that we human beings firmly believe that, no matter what we do, we shall always be in full control of any circumstances that might happen in the future. This is just not true and it so happens that, very often, matters take an unexpected turning. 

Christ’s parable of the rich man who decided to pull down his barns, build larger ones to fill with his abundant crops and then lead a life of leisure comes to mind. 

God calls this man "Fool! This night, your soul is required of you." This should cause us to reflect about the wars currently raging on in the world and which, perhaps, could lead to dire consequences later on and upon which we would have no control.

Are we on the brink of a precipice, oblivious of the fact that we could topple over abruptly and irrevocably? Time will tell.

However, there is one certainty in the life of today’s men and women. In our secularised western world, there is an ever-growing conviction that, since God has been excluded from practically all spheres of life, we can run our lives (and those of others) in whichever way suits us better.

Moral norms are often set aside and what matters is the gratification of our whims and desires and other interests.

At the basis of this lies the conviction that both present and future are solidly in our hands to control. Indeed, God gave us freedom to act, to choose between right and wrong but always within well-defined moral norms based upon His eternal laws. Ignoring this can lead to matters running out of hand with unforeseen and serious circumstances.

Jacqueline Calleja – Naxxar

I think, therefore, I am

It will not be unwise to stop the use of "humanity" for a philosophical term. The contemplated legislation on the donation of the human organ will be the onset of AI politics for the new age.

Modern man has stopped thinking “gender”.

Future man will stop thinking of “self-determination” and “free will”.

Francis Attard – Marsa