Ireland's Law Against Blasphemy Voted Down

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the reversal of old religious dogma in Ireland reflects what is happening in the U.S. Ireland has had two ground breaking national referendums recently. One legalized abortions. The other legalized blasphemy. Both passed by two to one margins.

We all know Ireland has been known as a rock solid Catholic country. The Catholic Church has had an out-sized influence on laws and life. But, the big as the margin of public support for church ideas has evaporated and the majority opposes laws that come from religion. Catholic hierarchy put lots of money and effort to keep laws against "sin" in place, only to be laughed at.

Making blasphemy legal is a most interesting development. Blasphemy is defined in various ways but a typical one is "defiant irreverence." Jesus is quoted as saying that to doubt the "Holy Spirit" is blasphemous and unforgivable. Another version might be cursing God.

In the U.S. hardly a person would think today that cursing God or the Holy Spirit would be a crime. Many countries in the world have such laws, it is especially common in Muslim ones. It is hard to fathom a "Christian country" like Ireland would still have such a law. Now it is gone there.

What remains troubling, however, is that the Catholic hierarchy of Ireland tried so hard to keep a law against blasphemy from being voted out. It illustrates how similar the much the extreme fringes of Christianity are to those of Islam.

Both use the power of government to make their absurd religious views the law of the land.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make...
Read more

Who Suffers from a "Hardened Heart"

Image
Some years ago on this blog there was a discussion about what the Bible calls "The hardened heart." The "hardened heart" was the explanation given for why people like me cannot accept the tenets of Christianity. We are unable to believe there are floating spirits and gods or imaginary places people go when the die. Now, a prominent Christian preacher and author has given us a way to diagnose the "hardened heart." It contained some surprises.  Rev. John Piper, who spoke about the hardened heart, said we can see this in a person who lacks "ordinary tenderness and compassion." He went on to describe the characteristics of a person without the affliction of the hardened heart. A healthy person displays empathy and sympathy. Those with the hardened heart are like stone. Jesus wanted compassion for the poor. The hardened heart discussion referred to atheists only if they are sinners and then it was indirectly. Sin, Piper said, hardens one's heart a...
Read more

Young Women can see Bull$hit a Mile Away

Image
Republicans including their Forced Birth subgroup is bother by recent election results and polling. All show young women going to the left. A poll shows young women are 30% more likely to be very liberal than young men. The link advises the Forced Birth community to give young pregnant women an uplifting message. The message suggested is, "Buck up. You've got this. You can give birth and have a happy life." Another way of saying this is, "It will be OK if you miss work and/or are fired because of the birth. If you cannot make your rent payment, it's OK. Somewhere out there is another place to live. We don't know where but be optimistic."   This is an add on to the new version of the Forced Birth message, "We're for both the baby and the mother." They are not and never have been for the mother. Their message has always been to condemn women who have abortions. Now, the "thoughts and prayers" message, which costs no money, it the me...
Read more