OPINION

Political amoralism

…Until recently, the conflict between the «old» and the «reformist» fractions of the Socialist party had, at least formally, a clearly ideological and political character. In a way, it also had a beneficial effect in the sense that the old PASOK represented the fundamental electoral core of the party while the reformist penetrated into the center field. This was a legitimate, if not inevitable, phenomenon for a party that draws from different fields. On the contrary, the battle that has erupted over what is the most suitable PASOK strategy (fierce attack on New Democracy using the weapons and tactics of the past, as the party general secretary, Costas Laliotis, wills it, versus that of substantial political confrontation) is motivated by petty political objectives. For even those who support the latter strategy are not prompted by political morality or credibility. They rather openly state that they adopted their stance considering which policy is in the interest of PASOK and which could favor the ND opposition. In other words, both sides accept the cultivation of a climate of political tension would be artificial while the adoption of a milder approach would also be pretentious even while beneficial for the party… The new conflict inside the party bears all the characteristics of political amoralism, based on the principle that «whatever is beneficial for the party and can guarantee electoral victory is right and mandatory…» Some Chrysopigi members have attacked the archbishop, warning that they have decided to fight to the end in order to maintain their influence over ecclesiastical affairs and have received Christodoulos’s Christian parables in response. The archbishop may have violated the principles of the religious organization but has acted in accordance with the rules of conduct pervading the Ecumenical Synod. The metropolitans ought to realize that they are standing on the verge of vilifying the Church itself. The fact that their behavior is being treated as a scandalous reality shows that, rather than being scandalized, the Christian flock should discourage an escalation of the unacceptable style of their attacks and should make them realize that they are all aboard the same ship, which is being jeopardized by self-inflicted turmoil.

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