So these days I am spending quite a bit of time in Ireland. It's quite dispiriting to see a whole country of people so crushed: though one can only admire the manful way they have decided to take their bitter fiscal medicine. There are some limited protests (Don't Pay The Septic Tank Charge !) [sic] but it's a world away from Greece or Spain.In the midst of all this anguish, are people perhaps turning to religion ? No they are not: in droves. A recent survey of the Catholic laity reveals:
- 87pc believe Catholic priests should be allowed to get married
- 77pc support the ordination of women as priests
- 72pc believe that married men should be allowed to be ordained
- 46pc oppose the Catholic church's stance on homosexuality
- 75pc believe that the church's teachings on sexuality are irrelevant
In what sense are they Catholics, then ? In the grand old Irish tradition of Father Ted, that's what. In A Song For Europe, Ted hears Charles, an impresario, refer to the compere as his 'partner'.
Fr. Ted: Oh right, you run the production company together?
Charles: No, he’s my lover
Fr. Ted: ... he’s... he’s quite a catch! This is my partner, Father Dougal McGuire – not my sexual partner! I mean my partner that I do the song with
Charles: Yes, I guessed that
Fr. Ted: Of course you did – not that there’s anything wrong with that type of thing
Charles: I thought the Catholic Church thought 'that type of thing' was inherently wrong
Fr. Ted: Yes, it does. The whole ‘gay’ thing ... I suppose it’s a bit of a puzzle to us all. It must be fun though – not the… you know, but the night clubs and the whole, er, rough and tumble of homosexual activity. You know, having boyfriends when you’re a man! Anyway, don’t mind what the church thinks – it used to think the Earth was flat! You know, sometimes the Pope says things he doesn’t really mean. We all get things wrong – even the Pope
Charles: What about Papal infallibility?
Fr. Ted: Yes… er ... Is it for everything? The infallibility, do you know?
Charles: I don’t know
Fr. Ted: Right, anyhow, nothing to do with me ...
Roll that song ! My Lovely Horse ...
ND
UPDATE - Antony in the comments points out that the scale of civil disobedience on the Septic Tank Charge exceeds the vehemence of the demos !
13 comments:
Last time I was there (pre-bust, going back a few years now!) I got laughed at for asking in a small town in the middle of nowhere whether many shops would be open on a Sunday. My hosts thought the question rather absurd.
C'mon Nick, this is poor for you.
Over a million household (over 50%) haven't registered for the septic tank tax.
Hardly a "limited" protest.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0404/1224314347373.html
A.
The Irish have form on property taxes. They never paid rates, not even water rates. They correctly surmised the state didn't have the ability to put a couple of million people in jail; why go on a demo when all you have to do is simply not pay?
I was there on the west coast many years back when they introduced serious drink-driving laws. An old boy in a pub in Dingle told me "tis worse than the penal laws of Cromwell!". He meant it, too.
Where's Bono when you need him ?
busy saving the impoverished victims of globalisation in benighted parts of the world where they can't even afford sanitation
oh ...
Very good.
46pc oppose the Catholic church's stance on homosexuality
54% support it then?
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