Luigi Tosti was kind enough to leave this comment on my post (translation mine):
Thank you all for your solidarity and support. I’m an atheist. At first I placed the symbol of the UAAR (Italian Union of Atheist and Agnostic Rationalists) next to the crucifix, claiming as an atheist the same rights as Catholics. This symbol was immediately removed because it was deemed offensive to Catholic sensibilities. Later I asked permission to place a menorah next to the crucifix as a reminder of pope Ratzinger’s words, which assert Europe’s “Judeo-Christian” roots. I did this because I know that Catholics are racist hypocrites and they’d never have allowed a Jewish symbol to be placed by the crucifix. And, in effect, I was right, because I was denied even this. Evidently, this is because the menorah, too, offends the sensibilities of the “superior” Catholics.
There it is, in a nutshell. His was a brilliant gambit which exposes this hypocrisy for what it is. He attempted to bring other symbols – atheistic and religious – into the arena, knowing full well they would be objected to. That’s discrimination, plain and simple. You can’t force someone to submit to your symbol, deny them their own symbols, then claim the moral high ground. Tosti calls them “racist hypocrites” – a term I thought was a bit strong, until I watched a few debates he did on TV. He was basically attacked by a rabble of priests and Catholic politicians, who called him “ignorant,” “a slacker,” and “intolerant” and obsessively refused to let him speak. But the truth is, they’re squirming. Watch:
(You don’t have to know any Italian to get what’s happening.)
So the second guy to interrupt him keeps asking if he knows why we swear on the bible in the USA and claims that it’s because the founding fathers wanted it to be so.
Unfortunately Luigi Tosti doesn’t realize (at least right then and there) that in US courts you are not required to swear on the bible. Of course it doesn’t matter because the guy is just yelling at him for “being ignorant” and telling him he needs to learn some philosophy of law. It was really a sad display on everyone’s part who tried to shout Tosti down.
Robert, my guess is that Tosti didn’t wish to indulge this man’s screaming ignorance. It’s a bit like not wanting to indulge a creationist who keeps screaming about “missing links”. Of course he knows this, the man is a judge. Thanks for your comment.
That was Alessandro Meluzzi? And he’s a psychiatrist?
Just found a paragraph that explains him:
‘Meluzzi is a popular media personality in Italy, an author, television host and commentator, who holds a Bachelor in Philosophy and Spirituality from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome. He is known to have “reinvented” himself many times, starting in his youth as a member of the Italian Communist Youth Federation, before moderating his views to socialism. A convert to Catholicism, he has over the years been a well-known environmentalist, Freemason, New Age guru, Parliamentary deputy and senator and psychiatrist, who is invited regularly to speak on hundreds of television programs.’
Freaky. I’ll have to look into this. How did you find that out?
I’ve mastered Google. But listen, I tried posting two more links about Meluzzi that go together really well and your security on the blog must have rejected them. I’ll mail them to you and maybe you can put them up.